Co-founder of UK hosting firm says CRN Women in Channel awards can showcase role models for young women to look up to
UKFast's Gail Jones has been confirmed as the latest judge for CRN's inaugural Women in Channel awards.
Jones co-founded UKFast, which this week announced annual revenues of £47m, in 1999. She is currently the Manchester-based hosting firm's managing director.
She joins a judging panel that already includes a raft of big hitters, including Dell's Sarah Shields, HP's Neil Sawyer, Cisco's Angela Whitty and Insight's Emma de Sousa.
Jones said: "Whilst I would always want women to compete on a level playing field in gender-neutral award ceremonies, right now that isn't how the land lies. There is undeniably a problem with the gender split in the industry. We see young girls excited about technology but when they get older, that engagement drops off.
"Having awards like this, that really showcase role models for these young women to look up to, is only going to be a good thing. I'm proud to be a part of the judging panel to recognise and reward women who are changing the industry and redressing the gender balance in the channel."
Jones claimed UKFast works with 60,000 young people across Greater Manchester to encourage more of them to choose a career in tech.
