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Mandy Tucker
Mandy Tucker is a strong female leader in tech, currently acting in a senior position for a global organisation. Also a career strategist, she uses her experience and knowledge to support and educate women along their path to climbing the corporate ladder and attaining boardroom level positions. She also acts as a mentor to women, organisations and graduates who need guidance in navigating the workplace. In short, Mandy is an advocate for the underdogs and the under-represented; those who find it harder to enter the corporate world and gives them a voice.
Mandy’s journey in the tech industry began almost three decades ago where she was a hands-on technician for NatWest. She was the youngest and the only woman of colour. She quickly realised that being at the forefront of technology wasn’t where she wanted to be and instead, she wanted to take up a management position, where she would essentially be leading from the back. This was where she found her niche and her home, which for Mandy was serving others. It is at the heart of all she does.
Through the course of her journey, she realised that not only were women under-represented, which was common knowledge, but there was also under-representation for black women in tech. As she went through her journey, she remembered thinking “this is really hard, hard to get the promotion. It's really tough to get noticed. What am I doing wrong? And I think what I started to do halfway through my career was to start to implement and research how to get on in the corporate world.”
Now at Director level, she has dedicated many of her years to coaching both men and women on their corporate journey. “That's really about, ‘OK, where are you in your corporate journey?’ Usually they're kind of hovering around middle management, not sure how to really step into that leadership space and confused about just how to find their voices.”
For Mandy, it’s really about how she can help and support with strategies like networking, becoming more visible in the workplace and refining your executive presence. “I think there's really a gap. If university is your route - and it's not for everybody, there's a gap between there and actually going into the corporate world. I see myself in that space trying to bridge that gap, because I personally think that alongside all of these university degrees that people are securing, there needs to be another model as to how to launch into your corporate job or role, and really be able to to fly.”
For Mandy, sending the ladder down is most important to her, as a legacy is being left for the next generation. “It's a challenging world out there and we need to arm them with all of the empowerment that we can. I look at my own 18-year-old daughter, and I want her to go out into this world armed with all the knowledge, the skills and the mechanisms to be able to forge her way in the world.” Mandy sends the ladder down by coaching different groups, mentoring university students and identifying the groups that may need the support and the sponsorship. “So, even in my corporate role, it's about how can I be a sponsor to those other women in my community, who may need me to speak up on their behalf or look for opportunities on their behalf.”
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