PRESS RELEASE
John Michael, CEO, iStorage Limited, has today been announced as one of the top 100 most influential Black, Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) leaders in the UK tech sector. The list, produced by board appointments firm Inclusive Boards, will be released today at the House of Commons as part of the official launch of the Inclusive Tech Alliance.
The Alliance has been set up in response to new research by Inclusive Boards that will show the sector is significantly lagging others on diversity within senior leadership.
The founder of the Inclusive Tech Alliance (ITA), Samuel Kasumu, who is also a member of the Prime Minister's Race Disparity Advisory Board said:
“Technology is increasingly playing an important role in driving our economy and there is a great need to ensure that everyone can fully participate in the jobs and opportunities technology brings. John Michael and others featured in this list today are role models that will inspire the next generation, and hopefully help to improve diversity within the sector.”
Says John Michael:
“I am honoured and privileged to be recognised as a Top 100 BAME leader in Tech – I remember starting the business from my garden shed…fast forward to today, where I developed a ground-breaking range of industry leading products, consisting of USB flash, hard disk and solid-state drives in capacities up to 14TB, which to this day is designed and developed in the UK, but more importantly offers something unique to everyone. My advice is to follow your dream, work hard and don’t hold back – technology is vital in today’s modern society so put your ideas down and make them happen!”
Those featured in the top 100 include senior leaders from Facebook, LinkedIn, IBM, Twitter and financial services firm EY. Judges include Tim Sawyer CBE (COO, Innovate UK), Sandra Kerr OBE (Race Equality Director, Business in the Community), and Catherine Muirden (Director of HR, Co-Op Foods).
Inclusive Boards are the UK's leading board appointments firm, specialising in attracting high level diverse talent through a network of over 60,000 professionals. They operate across sectors including sport, to charities and social investment. Inclusive Boards’ cutting-edge research has featured in the Independent, Guardian, Daily Mail and more.
The Inclusive Tech Alliance is a new membership body dedicated to increasing diversity in the UK Tech Sector. Members include Global IT solutions firm Larsen & Toubro Infotech and owners of Candy Crush – King. Attendees at the launch will include Ministers, Parliamentarians, as well as senior leaders representing members of the Alliance.
About iStorage Limited:
iStorage is the trusted global leader of award-winning PIN authenticated, hardware encrypted data storage devices. Delivering the most innovative products to securely store and protect data to military specified encryption levels; safeguarding valuable business information whilst ensuring compliance to regulations and directives.
Industry Awards won: 2013 UK IT Industry Awards Winner, 2015 UK IT Industry Awards Winner, Computing Security Excellence 2016 Awards SME Solution Award Winner, 2017 UK IT Industry Awards - Highly Commended, PC PRO Security Product of the Year 2017 for diskAshur PRO² and 2018 Security Today Magazine New Product of the Year – Winner in the Tools and Hardware Category.
iStorage is also featured on The Hiscox Sunday Times Tech Track 100 2016 List of Britain’s fastest growing tech companies, FT 1000 Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies 2017, London Stock Exchange Group’s 1000 companies to Inspire Britain 2018 and 2018 FT Future 100 UK list of the fast-growing businesses that are shaping the future of their sector and making positive impact on business and society.2018 John Michael, recognised as Top 100 BAME Leader in Tech.
