Professor Sue Black

Professor Sue Black was the recipient of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at the Lovie Awards 2018. She is an Honorary Professor in the Department of Computer Science at University College London and a senior Research Associate at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge.

Passionate about platforming women in computing, Sue founded the BCSWomen network, the UK’s first online network for women in tech. Additionally, she founded #techmums, a social enterprise which empowers mums and their families through technology.

Crediting social media platform Twitter as instrumental in her campaign work to save Bletchley Park, Sue wrote a book about the process entitled, ‘Saving Bletchley Park – how social media saved the home of the WWII Codebreakers.’ In 2017, she received the Social Impact ABIE Award at the Grace Hopper Celebration, was made an OBE in the New Year Honours list 2016. She sits on the Government’s advisory board for improving digital services and the Board of Comic Relief.

As a keynote speaker, Sue talks about leaving school at 16, being married by 20 with 3 children at 23, then becoming a single parent at 25. She recounts how and why she developed the motivation and resilience she found to change her and her children’s lives.  Sue’s motivational speeches focus on her determination to bring her family out of poverty to build a successful career through the golden combination of education, technology and a drive to succeed.

She was a guest on the iconic episode of Desert Island Discs, covering all things tech and how to “be your best self on social media,” Sue also appeared as a panellist in the special edition of Woman’s Hour recorded live at the British Science Festival in Brighton.

Sue is the focus of a film made by Universal and another as part of the BBC Ideas online platform in which she tells her story and shares her advice for being successful and finding the superhero in yourself.