Marketing, advertising and tech industry leaders share thoughts on barriers shaping women’s careers and why inclusive systems and measurable goals are important for equitable innovation.
Across marketing, advertising and technology women in leadership reflect on the structural barriers that persist and the responsibility leaders carry to create systems where women have influence. All these leaders echo the same sentiment that equitable innovation does not happen by accident. It is built intentionally through sponsorship, measurable goals, inclusive product design, flexible work structures and the courage to challenge outdated norms.
Kathy Lu, Account Manager, Client Services, Nexxen
International Women’s Day is important to celebrate no matter what industry we are in, it fosters a culture of inclusion, empowering women to speak up and advocate for themselves
It becomes most poignant in the tech and ad-tech industry, as we are helping to shape the future world we live in. To programmatic media easing the process to selling and buying digital ad spaces, to tools like Meta AI, Galaxy AI ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Apple Intelligence, Claude (and so on and so forth) helping us write better emails and drive better outcomes, advocating for women’s voice amongst the madness is more important than ever.
Equity in innovation means designing systems with fairness, and ensuring AI reflects the diversity and values of the society it serves, where “all are equal before the law”. I want to look into the future career progression and know I have the rights to equal access, so that women like me can contribute meaningfully without having to justify our presence at every step.
AI and Marketing Career Pathways
Pip Stocks, Founder of the Startup Muse
It’s also important to look at balancing the scales in women’s careers as a whole in the age of AI. AI is removing many traditional entry-level jobs especially the repetitive, process-driven roles that used to be a young person’s way in. Pretending otherwise doesn’t help anyone.
The real question is whether we respond with fear or redesign. We need to stop preparing young women for ladder-based careers and start preparing them to build, direct, and collaborate with AI.
The future belongs to those who can think critically, create value, and use intelligent systems as leverage, not those waiting for permission to enter through old doors.
Diversity Fuels Innovation
Georgina Ryan, Senior Sales Manager, Nexxen
Whilst I do believe the gender representation gaps are closing, and women are entering the industry in greater numbers, some long-standing cultural and structural challenges remain.
It would be remiss not to acknowledge the disproportionate challenges the gender diverse community may face on International Women’s Day and the representation of First Nations women in the industry.
International Women’s Day is important to celebrate in the media, marketing and advertising industry as a whole, as it is imperative that women are represented in an industry which thrives on diverse perspectives.
Gender-diverse teams can challenge assumptions and design campaigns that resonate with broader audiences. Many women still don’t see obvious entry points into programmatic, data engineering, or platform roles. Highlighting female leaders during IWD makes success visible, which helps normalise women in technical and commercial leadership positions, which is a powerful signal to the next generation.
Tipping the Scales and Sharing the Load
Dr Anna Harrison, Founder, RAMMP
“Balance the scales” to me means designing systems, at home and at work, where neither side collapses under assumed obligation.
Women are not underrepresented because they are less capable. They are underrepresented because the total system load is uneven. And that load starts at home.
Someone has to make the children’s sandwiches. Someone has to leave early for school pickup. Someone has to carry the mental inventory of who needs new shoes. As long as that remains coded as “women’s work,” workplace equality will plateau regardless of policy. Real change is creating networking formats that don’t default to masculine-coded rituals and teaching our sons to share the load, and make killer sandwiches.
Collaboration vs Compliance
Fabrizia Roberto, Fractional CMO, Founder, www.fabriziaroberto.com
Women are often encouraged to be collaborative and consensus-driven, until that collaboration turns into compliance. When women challenge assumptions or hold a firm line, they’re more likely to be labelled “difficult” or “uncollaborative”, rather than decisive.
I’ve experienced this firsthand: being seen as collaborative when I agree and uncollaborative when I don’t – in particular when refusing to say “yes” simply to protect someone else’s ego. That’s not collaboration; that’s appeasement. And it’s a standard rarely applied evenly across genders.
International Women’s Day creates space to name these dynamics out loud and to reset expectations. If marketing and tech truly want better outcomes – better products, stronger brands, more sustainable growth – then they need leaders who can challenge thinking, place smart bets and act with conviction.
How to Accelerate Change
Bel Lloyd, Customer Success Lead, Amperity
We need to set measurable goals for gender balance, not just in entry-level roles, but in leadership and technical decision-making positions. We also need to Invest in bias awareness and inclusive leadership training so teams understand how to build and nurture truly inclusive environments. This will further encourage businesses and leaders to commit to real action, not just discussion, from inclusive hiring and mentorship programs to addressing bias in how teams and tools are built.
Change Needs Proactive Energy
Caitlin Stephens, Chief of Staff APAC, Eagle Eye
Change requires an intentional and proactive approach to ensure women receive access to the same opportunities. Who gets recommended for the stretch assignment? Who gets introduced to the investor? Who gets amplified in a meeting?
One of the most powerful tools I have in leadership is the ability to provide sponsorship, to be someone who highlights and amplifies the talents of women based on their merits and unique perspectives and to back this up with policies, and structures within organisations that aim to remove some of the traditional barriers that can hold them back. Think parental leave, flexibility, Women’s ERGs and our very own “Purple Women” initiative at Eagle Eye, mentorship and leadership development.
Geoff Main, Marketing Director/Founder at Passionberry Marketing
In marketing, technology and business, 2026 International Women’s Day is not the opportunity for a branding exercise. It poses a systems question.
The logic is straightforward. Fairer systems create better performance. Better performance creates stronger economies. Stronger economies create broader opportunity. And, broader opportunity advances society – for everyone in it.
As Emma Watson put it: “Gender equality is your issue too.” If that’s true, then this isn’t just about intent. It’s about how we hire, source, fund and build.
It’s time we all spoke up about the key issues raised around International Women’s Day, and we had more men contribute to the narrative. Gender Equity is more than a one day social marketing or PR campaign, It is a long term cultural shift that is critical if we want to build progressive systems that in the corporate world, ultimately also build more valuable companies.
Bios for International Women’s Day
An experienced Senior Programmatic Sales Manager in the Ad Tech Industry, Georgina has a deep understanding of the programmatic advertising ecosystem, including ad tech platforms, programmatic buying and selling, and data management.
Georgina has developed and executed successful programmatic advertising strategies that have driven significant revenue growth, with a proven track record of achieving revenue targets, managing successful sales team members, and fostering strong relationships with clients. Georgina’s ability to analyze data and market trends allows her to identify new revenue opportunities and refine programmatic advertising strategies.
Georgina has been an experienced Television and Digital Sales Executive with an extensive history of working in broadcast media. Skilled in working with both Agencies and Direct in Sales, Account Management, Digital Media, Sponsorships and Client Relationship Management.
Kathy Lu is a business executive, experienced with a range of media and marketing tools. Kathy completed a Bachelor of Commerce focused in Marketing and Finance from University of Melbourne.
Bel Lloyd is a contributor in the Australian Martech landscape and the Customer Success Lead at Amperity, where she operates at the intersection of people, technology, and data.
Recognised as the 2023 Digital Marketer of the Year (Women in Digital), Bel drives impactful growth for enterprise brands by unifying complex customer data to deliver personalised experiences and measurable business outcomes, including leading the charge in closed-loop attribution, having facilitated a first-of-its-kind industry partnership with MixIn by Endeavour Group and Criteo to bridge the gap between digital advertising and verified in-store sales.
Beyond her technical leadership, Bel is a dedicated advocate for Women in Tech. She serves as a Lead Mentor in the She Codes community, empowering women to transition into technical roles, and is a frequent industry speaker on the role of diversity in fueling innovation. Through her advocacy and technical expertise, Bel continues to champion inclusion and share forward-thinking perspectives on the future of the digital economy.
Caitlin is Eagle Eye’s APAC Chief of Staff, leading teams to help brands benefit from the future of loyalty and one-to-one personalisation. With over a decade of people and culture expertise across Australia and the UK, she brings a unique generalist perspective to driving business transformation and growth.
Throughout her career spanning HR leadership roles at SS&C Technologies, Unigrain, and now Eagle Eye, Caitlin has developed a passion for helping people and businesses to be successful whilst creating great places to work. Her experience ranges from developing HR strategy and talent management to leading L&D, employee engagement initiatives and supporting high-growth technology businesses.
Dr Anna Harrison, Founder, RAMMP
Dr. Anna Harrison is Australia’s foremost consumer interaction specialist and ‘Brand Relationships Therapist’. She is a built-form Architect and digital technologist who has spent a lifetime navigating how humans engage with the world.
A published Author, Speaker and Academic, Dr Anna pioneered the ADORE ProcessTM; an evidence-based process that draws parallels between romantic love and consumer decision-making. She has systematically helped hundreds of businesses increase their marketing ROI by up to 40% and continues her work in the media, advocating conscious commercial engagements by demystifying brand/consumer relationships and their impact on consumption patterns, environmental sustainability, and individual contentment.
Fabrizia Roberto, Fractional CMO, Founder, fabriziaroberto.com
Fabrizia Roberto is a Fractional CMO and founder with over 15 years of leadership in marketing, communications and innovation. Her career spans agency to media owner, insurer to insurtech. She led a high-performing marketing team of 30 at a major insurer, then co-founded and ran an insurtech startup, building the brand, raising venture funding and setting strategy from the ground up.
As a Fractional CMO, Fabrizia helps scale-ups move from marketing chaos to clarity by aligning brand, team and go-to-market strategy. She partners with CEOs, CMOs and leadership teams to sharpen positioning, optimise budgets and build scalable marketing functions, bridging marketing, product and UX to ensure the customer experience delivers on the brand promise.
Geoff Main, Marketing Director/Founder, Passionberry Marketing
Geoff Main has over 20 years of marketing and commercial experience managing creative agencies, leading multiple global projects and working with large scale budgets to deliver client results.
Geoff’s experience and consulting work engages him with businesses across FMCG, Manufacturing, Services, Startups, Marketplaces, Sport and Tourism. Geoff has created and restructured brands by integrating existing business models and creating NPD and large scale marketing campaigns. Geoff’s creative communication method allows brands to create authentic connections and share their story across a range of platforms.
Pip Stocks, Director, Pip Stocks Consulting
Pip Stocks is an entrepreneur, brand strategist and board director with a background in marketing and psychology. After a decade in London refining her brand and consumer expertise, she built and scaled BrandHook into a three-city consultancy helping major Australian brands rediscover their customers and reignite growth. She then founded Hearsay, an AI platform designed to capture and operationalise customer conversations.
Today, Pip is founder and CEO of The Startup Muse, an AI-powered platform that bridges the gap between female founder ideas and real-life businesses. Her strengths lie in brand strategy creation and revitalisation, CX operationalisation and transforming founder-led ideas into scalable, insight-driven brands. She mentors first-time entrepreneurs, particularly women in tech and AI, and is an advocate for gender equity and neurodiversity.
For more expert articles and industry updates, follow Martech News
