The Oxford chapter of 85 Broads, a global women’s networking group, is happy to announce another alumni speaker event in collaboration with the Oxford Union. Please join us for an exciting evening speaking to one of Oxford’s successful women grads as she gives her insight into a career in IT and how Oxford has influenced her life and career paths. Our termly alumni speaker event looks at women in various industries and how Oxford helped them get where they are today. They were once faced with the same choices we are today and have moved past tutes into the “real world”. Come and find out how at this discussion where you’ll have plenty of time to ask your own questions. Get to know more about the possibilities our network offers by logging onto www.85broads.com.

This term’s speaker: Chris Brown
Chris Brown graduated from Jesus College in 1982 with a degree in English Language and Literature. Now a freelance IT consultant, Chris fell into the IT industry by accident and has worked in it for the last 25 years, during which time she has gained broad experience of the impact of technology in the retail, telecommunications and financial services sectors. She spent eight years in senior management roles followed by appointment as CIO in 1998, at BT Cellnet. There she gained first hand experience of the impact of the explosive growth of consumer mobile communications in the UK, rapid product to market timescales and the launch of mobile data services. She was also part of the management team that successfully demerged the firm from British Telecom to become O2. She has subsequently spent three years as European CIO for Marsh with responsibility for IT in over 40 countries, bringing technology innovation to a ‘paper driven’ business model. Here she also was an active participant in management leadership and mentoring programmes. Chris is an active member of the UK e-skills business advisory board that is helping to restructure the technology curriculum for 14-19 year olds to ensure a better match between education and the needs of UK business. She was a finalist in the Blackberry UK ‘Women in Technology Awards’ in 2005.