Anne-Marie Imafidon passed two GCSEs at primary school.
Aged 11, she became the youngest girl ever to pass A-level Computing.
In 2013 she founded and became CEO of Stemettes a social enterprise promoting women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers.
Now, Anne-Marie has become a Visiting Professor at the University of Sunderland where she aims to contribute her unique skills to research projects and teaching programmes.
She said: “I’m so excited to be working with a University, and a Technology faculty, that is already doing so much in the area of STEM.
“There’s limitless opportunity for us to work together – to be better, to do better, and to make a real difference to people’s lives.”
Stemettes has a clear agenda: that all girls will be able to make informed decisions about careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), so that eventually women can be proportionally represented in the field.
The organisation wants to see 30%+ of the UK’s STEM workforce being female, as opposed to just 21%.
It might seem like a big ask but Anne-Marie insists it’s far from an impossible goal.
“This is about changing hearts and minds,” she says. “It’s not just about changing policy, but we do require investment.”
The University’s new visiting professor comes armed with an envious CV including positions at Goldman Sachs, Hewlett-Packard and Deutsche Bank. Then there are the Honorary Doctorates from Open University, Glasgow Caledonian University, Kent University, and Bristol University and an Honorary Fellowship at Keble College, Oxford.
Speaking about her three year tenure as a visiting professor at Sunderland, she said: “It’s exciting to be involved with a university that is doing such intentional work in the tech space.”
Professor Alastair Irons, Academic Dean for Faculty of Technology at the University of Sunderland, said: “We’re very excited to welcome Anne-Marie as a Visiting Professor.
“Her experience and background from Stemettes will be a wonderful addition. She is already helping the faculty tackle the gender imbalance in recruitment, as well as giving her support to our Athena Swan agenda and our commitment to the Tech Talent Charter.”
