Top industry bosses including Neil Sawyer, Apay Obang-Oyway and Hayley Roberts give their views on the validity of Women in Channel in 2020
Do the achievements of women in our sector warrant recognition in an awards ceremony of their own?
That's the question CRN's editorial team has wrestled with since even before Women in Channel was launched in 2018 - and a topic industry bosses including HP's Neil Sawyer and Distology's Hayley Roberts chew over in the video above (which we are running today as part of our Women in Channel Awards - which you can view live by here).
Celebrating and promoting female talent is one of the simplest steps tech providers can take if they are serious about moving the dial on this issue. And there is good reason for firms to care about this as evidence mounts that there is a positive correlation between workforce diversity and performance.
However, this year has seen more scrutiny on 'women in....' events as the debate shifts to encompass diversity more generally, particularly in light of the Black Lives Matters movement.
While we will look carefully at our events and editorial programme next year, the record 800 nominations we received this year for Women in Channel shows it also remains a topic that is close to the hearts of our audience.
Of course, as one female leaders says in the video above, we hope that one day soon Women in Channel is no longer neeeded, but until that day comes we will do our bit to celebrate and promote female leaders - and diversity more generally - in our industry.
