ACS Awards Leoni Warne Medal to Juliette Major

It is with pleasure that we announce the recipient of the Leoni Warne Promotion of Women in ICT Medal for 2016 is Juliette Major, Head of ICT teaching at St Clare’s College.

Recognising her dedication to advancing the needs of women in ICT, the award was presented by ACT Deputy Chief Minister and ACS Canberra Patron, the Hon. Andrew Barr at the ACS Annual Canberra Conference dinner at the National Convention Centre.

ACS CEO, Andrew Johnson, said: “Juliette is an incredible mentor in the ICT world at large but her contribution to promoting the female role in ICT is particularly praise-worthy. Most notably, her position as guide and mentor to current and future generations of female ICT practitioners, demonstrates her passion and determination in this field.

“She has spent a lot of her efforts promoting women in ICT through leadership, demonstrating the potential herself and by supporting and promoting women in ICT roles.

“One of the main reasons Juliette’s contribution makes such a difference for women in ICT is largely due to her passion, commitment and leadership in everything that she does.”

She has been a member of the InTEACT and the Digital Careers Education Advisory Committees, where her voice contributes to the ACT and national agenda on addressing the need to engage more students in STEM careers.

Juliette works in the Intel Galileo project, and as a result had her girls invited to present their learning to a forum of Australian federal politicians at Parliament House. The girls also submitted their projects to the Young ICT Explorers competition, where students could showcase their work to industry professionals and academics, giving them a genuine audience for their learning.
 
She is also one of the consulting teachers working with the Australian Department of Defence on the planning and delivery of the Girls Programming Network - a recent initiative that aims to connect girls in school with female role models and ICT professionals, and create an environment that encourages them to learn and enjoy programming.

Her influence and engagement extends well beyond her experience being in the trenches so to speak with school girls. She actively promotes more women in ICT at many levels and much of her time is volunteered.

She has elected to join the ACS this year to strengthen her connections with industry and access additional professional learning opportunities.

The Leoni Warne Award is in honour of late Dr Leoni Warne, who was a prominent ICT activist at both the ACT and National level. She was a founding member of the ACS-Women Board, the Deputy Director of ACS-Women, the ACS Canberra Women in ICT Representative and a much valued member of the ACS.

This prestigious medal, recognises the contribution of individuals acting above and beyond their official employment to promote women in the ICT industry. It is not awarded annually but when an individual shows exceptional leadership and dedication to helping further women within ICT.