Tamara Chehayeb Makarem is a Women in Tech Excellence Awards finalist!

We’re delighted and proud that Lead UX Designer Tamara Chehayeb Makarem is a finalist in the ‘Outstanding Returner Award’ category at the Women in Tech Excellence Awards 2021.

These awards recognise top-performing women from across the technology space and provide inspiration for younger women looking to build a career in our industry.

For Tamara, being a mum isn’t the only thing that defines her, and she was keen to return to her job after six months so that she could keep her skills up to date and continue to build her network.

In her nomination, Tamara emphasises the complementary nature of her professional role and her responsibilities as a mother. Since having children, she has noticed improvements in her professional role in relation to her negotiation skills, empathy, planning and time management.

Scott Logic supported Tamara during her maternity leave, with regular check-ins to see how she was doing and to check whether the amount of leave she had initially requested was still going to be sufficient, as circumstances can change. She values the work-life balance at Scott Logic, which allows her to manage her childcare responsibilities alongside her professional responsibilities.

As well as Tamara’s shortlisting, several other Scott Logic consultants were longlisted in the Women in Tech Excellence Awards in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the business in the last twelve months: 

• Jennifer Hall in the category of ‘Team Leader of the Year’ for being a beacon of leadership and a linchpin of our Bristol office’s culture; Jenny is a go-to person for guidance on a wide range of technical, consultancy and company matters
• Martha King in the category of ‘Graduate of the Year’ not only for making high-quality contributions to client projects soon after joining us as a Maths grad, but also for her contribution to the Scott Logic community as a mentor and to the wider community by volunteering with the Altitude Foundation
• Hannah Pretswell, Laura Warren and Ciara Gardiner in the category of ‘Lockdown Legend of the Year’ for their fantastic contributions – both across the company and for their individual office communities – in organising activities throughout each lockdown designed to lift everyone’s spirits, support mental wellbeing, and keep our community cohesive and strong 

Congratulations to all the Scott Logic consultants recognised in these awards, and best of luck to Tamara as an ‘Outstanding Returner’ finalist! The winners will be announced on 24 November – you can find out more on the awards website.

Tamara will be giving a talk on Tuesday 21 September on ‘Cultivating empathy’ as part of the Leeds Digital Festival. She’ll explore different types of empathy, the ways it can empower us and its practical application in our day-to-day software jobs. You can book your place here.