Unapologetically Visible – Women in ITSM 2026

This International Women’s Day, join the itSMF UK Women in ITSM Community for an empowering, face-to-face experience at the Bombay Sapphire Distillery on 5th March, where we celebrate visibility, voice and impact in our profession. Guided by this year’s International Women’s Day theme, #Give to Gain, this event is about giving our experiences and insights to fuel collective growth and positive change, and gaining confidence, community, and clarity in return.

Unapologetically Visible brings together a line-up of exceptional women leaders, practitioners and thinkers from across the service management world to explore some of today’s most relevant topics:

how to navigate change as a female professional, breaking down bias in ourselves and our organisations, understanding and valuing neurodivergence in the workplace
how to thrive through change, building personal brand and presence, strengthening resilience and support networks, and thriving in male-dominated environments.

Through inspiring keynote talks, engaging sessions and shared stories from those who have walked the path, we’ll explore what it truly means to show up, without apology, for ourselves and for one another.

Whether you’re looking to expand your perspective, sharpen your leadership skills, or connect with a community that gets it, this day is designed to leave you feeling refreshed, empowered and ready to step into visibility, for your career, your voice, and your future.

And to cap it all off, at the end of the day we’ll celebrate together with a complimentary drink (non-alcoholic options will be available), where you can relax, network and toast to the gains we make when we give, in expertise, encouragement and shared experience.

Agenda & Presentation Overviews

Agenda

09.00 – Registration opens
09.50 – Event opening (Valerie Wilson, Women in ITSM Community of Practice Chair)
10.10 – Presentation 1: Invisible No More – The Hidden Patterns of Neurodivergent Women at Work (Sarah Morgan, Luceat Coaching)
10.40 – Break
10.55 – Presentation 2: Personal Branding – From Expertise to Influence (Sue Carey, My Brighter Life)
11.25 –Presentation 3: You Don’t Look Like You Work in IT – Micro-biases and their Massive Impact (Chelcie West, Premier League Football Club)
12.00 – Lunch
13.00 – Presentation 4: Beyond the Glass Ceiling – Leading IT in a Male-Dominated World (Amie Smith, Formula 1)
13.40 – Presentation 5: Leadership – Holding your Nerve Through Change (Valerie Wilson, BT)
14.10 – Break
14.25 – Presentation 6: Using Principles to Build Confidence (Vicky Hunter, PeopleCert)
14.55 – Presenter Panel Session
15.15 – End of day drinks & networking
16.00 – Event close

Presentation 1: Invisible No More - The Hidden Patterns of Neurodivergent Women at Work

Women often succeed by blending in. Masking, perfectionism and quiet overwhelm can hide neurodivergent traits from view. This talk looks at why late diagnosis is rising, how these patterns shape confidence and careers and what real visibility can mean for women working in IT service management.

Sarah Morgan is a leadership and performance coach with more than twenty five years of experience in technology and customer operations, including long standing involvement with IT service management. She specialises in neurodiversity at work, with a focus on ADHD, resilience and psychological safety, and is known for her straight talking and practical approach. Before founding Luceat Coaching, Sarah held senior roles across the energy and technology sector (Ovo Energy, ASOS, Yahoo!, and T-Systems, to name a few), and has been part of the itSMF UK community for many years. She now works with organisations and leaders to create cultures where people can thrive without masking who they are.

Presentation 2: Personal Branding - From Expertise to Influence

This session will help you define and own a personal, authentic brand that increases visibility, influence, and opportunity. You’ll shape a compelling professional story and learn practical ways to increase your visibility with confidence. Expect fresh insight, real examples, and clear actions you can use immediately to strengthen your presence at work and beyond.

Sue is an experienced transformation and wellbeing coach who helps individuals uncover the best version of themselves, and organisations to implement engaging and impactful wellbeing programmes in the workplace.

Sue spent much of her 25 years of global corporate experience as a senior learning and development professional working within IT, ensuring staff had the skills and capability to deliver exceptional service and support to the organisation.

Presentation 3: You Don't Look Like You Work in IT - Micro-biases and their Massive Impact

This session explores the everyday micro-biases that women in technology face, how stereotypes shape our experiences and the tools we can use to challenge assumptions and rewrite them through and authentic personal brand.

Chelcie West is a senior, strategist IT Leader with 12 years in Technology. She brings a pragmatic, people-first approach shaped by experience across retail, hospitality and sport, and currently applies her expertise in a Technology Leadership Team at a Premier League football team.

Chelcie’s work focuses on embedding business partnering into IT, strengthening supplier and service governance, and using data-driven operations to improve reliability and user experience.

Presentation 4: Beyond the Glass Ceiling - Leading IT in a Male-Dominated World

In this session, I will discuss how I have navigated from stepping on the ladder as an IT Service Desk Analyst to developing my career, confidence and influence into the leader I am today. I will discuss how to build influence through delivery, create allies and sponsors, and navigate bias with confidence.

Amie Smith is Head of IT Systems & Support at Formula 1, leading a team that delivers critical employee platforms and service operations at the pinnacle of Motorsport. Over her 12‑year career, Amie progressed from the service desk to senior leadership, driving initiatives that modernize IT systems, enable strategic and commercial benefits to the business, and most recently enable secure AI adoption. Passionate about inclusion and operational excellence, she champions practical ways to build credibility and influence in technology environments.

Presentation 5: Leadership - Holding your Nerve Through Change

In a world where change is constant, personally and professionally, it can strengthen us or completely unsettle us. In this session, Valerie shares why staying steady matters when everyone else is wobbling, and how we can move from simply surviving change to thriving through it. As Transformation Director at BT, leading the implementation of AI into the ITSM world in BT Business, she draws on real, recent experiences to show how practical mindsets and behaviours that helped her navigate changes and uncertainty with clarity, courage and calm.

Valerie Wilson has been leading service management teams for a decade. Based in Belfast, she currently oversees all the managed service front line service desks across BT Business globally, leading a team of over 1500 people across 15 geographies. Valerie is passionate about leadership and service management, with a special focus on supporting and empowering women in this field. She also serves as a non-executive director on the board of itSMF UK and chairs the Women in ITSM Community of Practice.

Presentation 6: Using Principles to Build Confidence

In a world of constant change, confidence doesn’t come from having all the answers, it comes from having clarity in how you think and decide.

With ever evolving expectations many professionals feel pressure to be certain, decisive and always right. In this session, Vicky Hunter explores how grounding yourself in clear, consistent principles can provide stability when everything else feels uncertain. She shares how a structured way of approaching challenges can reduce ambiguity, strengthen professional judgement and build personal confidence. Framed through her experience of working with women navigating dynamic careers, this session highlights how principle-led thinking serves as a steady reference point helping individuals move through change with clarity and confidence.

Vicky Hunter is the Portfolio Director for ITIL at PeopleCert. She has worked in the education sector for 20 years and has diverse experience in a broad range of product and qualification development roles in both commercial and not for profit organisations. She is passionate about best practice and the value of lifelong learning.

Why Attend?

Gain valuable insights from your peers.
Network with fellow service management professionals.
Stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices.

How much does it cost?

This event is FREE for all itSMF UK members. However, due to anticipated high demand, we may need to limit the number of attendees per organisation. Our goal is to ensure that as many member organisations as possible benefit from this event.

Not yet a member? You’ll be shown a price of £165 + VAT which includes an ‘Individual’ level annual membership – you can find more information about membership benefits and team membership options by clicking here.

Members, remember to log in first to book your place for FREE.

Getting to THE EVENT

By road:

Laverstoke Mill is situated between Overton and Whitchurch on the B3400 (London Road) in Laverstoke. If your Sat Nav does not recognise the postcode RG28 7NR, then use RG28 7PH and please park in the main distillery car park next to the entrance.

By train:

If you need to get a taxi from either Overton, Whitchurch or Micheldever station to the distillery, we recommend booking in advance as due to the rural locations of the nearby stations, there are no taxi ranks or taxis waiting.
If you need to get a taxi from the distillery, we would also recommend booking in advance due to our rural location.