Equal Ambition. Equal Opportunity.
Equal Ambition. Equal Opportunity.
Talent is everywhere. Opportunity should be too.
The best ideas do not belong to one gender. Neither does ambition.
Yet access to the capital, customers, networks and opportunities that turn those ideas into high-growth companies remains far from equal.
That is not simply an equality problem. It is an economic one.
When exceptional founders are overlooked, we leave talent, innovation and growth on the table.
Equal Ambition. Equal Opportunity. brings together founders, investors, entrepreneurs and industry leaders to examine where opportunity is being lost, why the gap persists and what it will take to build a better system for identifying and backing potential.
We’ll hear from people who have built and scaled businesses, deployed capital, created networks and opened doors for others, alongside founders building the next generation of companies.
Because a stronger economy is not built by backing more women for the sake of representation.
It is built by making sure the best ideas and the most capable founders have the opportunity to succeed.
Back talent. Back ambition. Back the best ideas, wherever they come from.
The line-up
🔹 Opening: Tracey Johnson
Project Director at TECH SY, working at the heart of South Yorkshire’s technology ecosystem and helping create the conditions in which technology businesses can start, scale and succeed.
Tracey will open the evening and set the context for why access, opportunity and who gets to participate in growth matter to the future of South Yorkshire’s economy.
🔹 Fireside: Helen Milner OBE
Founder, Chair and Non-Executive Director who led Good Things Foundation in the UK and Australia for 15 years and was named Computer Weekly’s No.1 Female Founder in 2025/26.
Helen also chairs the TECH SY Women in Tech & Investment Taskforce, bringing extensive experience of leadership, inclusion and creating systemic change.
🔹 Panel: Jillian Hughes
European Operations Director at Silicon Catalyst and Head of Semiconductors at TechWorks, with more than three decades of technology industry experience.
As Co-Founder of Women in TechWorks, Jillian brings insight into how networks, visibility and opportunity can unlock talent and leadership.
🔹 Panel: Christina Vaughan
Sheffield-born entrepreneur with more than 30 years’ experience building international businesses across visual media, technology and AI.
Christina is the Founder & CEO of Cultura Creative, a female-led Sheffield company creating ethically sourced, rights-cleared and representative visual content and datasets for global technology and creative companies.
Previously, she founded Image Source, growing it into an international business with distribution across 80 countries and recognition through a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade.
Christina brings first-hand experience of scaling internationally, securing major customers and building the networks, relationships and credibility that enable ambitious businesses to grow.
🔹 Panel: Michael Ekpechue
Founder & Executive Director of Black Tech Expo, a technology and entrepreneurship platform connecting talent, businesses, innovators and communities across the UK and internationally.
With more than 20 years’ experience across technology, business development, partnerships and innovation, Michael is focused on creating practical pathways into opportunity for underrepresented entrepreneurs.
Through Black Tech Expo, he is building an ecosystem spanning business, education, mentorship, technology and investment, turning inclusion from conversation into tangible access, participation and economic opportunity.
🔹 Panel: David Richards MBE
Co-Founder of Yorkshire AI Labs and experienced technology entrepreneur and investor, focused on funding and scaling frontier technology businesses.
David brings both the founder and investor perspective on who gets backed, how potential is identified and what it takes to access the capital and networks needed to scale.
🔹 Keynote: Zandra Moore MBE
Founder & CEO of Zygens, technology entrepreneur and investor with more than 25 years’ experience scaling technology businesses.
Awarded an MBE for services to gender equality in business, Zandra brings a powerful perspective on investment, opportunity and backing overlooked talent.
🔹 Hosted by Andy Hanselman
Sheffield-based business growth expert Andy Hanselman returns to The Digital Forge to host the evening and Pitching @ The Foundry.
🚀 Pitching @ The Foundry
Talking about access matters. Creating it matters more.
Four founders will take to The Foundry stage to put their businesses in front of an audience of investors, entrepreneurs and industry leaders:
Elaine Galston | Bettii
Developing an innovative washing solution for reusable menstrual cups and discs.
Sirinda Bhandal | Simply Connect
Building technology focused on connection and access.
Gabrielė Barteškaitė | Future Greens
Building solutions focused on the future of food and sustainability.
Nicola Towse | Risqly
Building a new approach to risk and opportunity.
Short pitches. No slides. Followed by questions from the room.
This is what access looks like in practice: giving ambitious founders the opportunity to be seen, heard and connected.
In partnership with TECH SY
This event is delivered by The Digital Forge CIC in partnership with TECH SY, South Yorkshire’s technology ecosystem development programme for SYMCA, which is currently leading a Women in Tech & Investment Taskforce.
Together, we’re bringing founders, investors, entrepreneurs and industry leaders into the same room to move the conversation from representation to opportunity, and from conversation to action.
Because creating a stronger innovation economy requires more than recognising that talent exists.
It requires opening the doors that allow it to succeed.
Event details
📍 Cutlers’ Hall, Sheffield
📅 Thursday 24 September 2026
🕔 17:00–21:00
Guests are also invited to join an exclusive private tour of Cutlers’ Hall at 16:30 ahead of the main event. Please email louise@yorkshire.ai to book.
Talent is everywhere. Opportunity should be too.
Back talent. Back ambition. Back the best ideas, wherever they come from.
Please note: Photography and filming will take place at this event. Content captured may be used across The Digital Forge and partner marketing and communications channels.