Our story
Project F helps clients find and remove the systemic barriers to achieving sustainably gender-balanced technology teams.
We saw progressive businesses across Australia struggling to scale without acquiring already problematic ‘diversity debts’. Boardroom and investor focus, along with increased media scrutiny on equality, has made it clear it is time to take meaningful action. Project F’s Program 50/50 is exactly that.
Technology leaders are under pressure to build, scale and develop their products at speed and the challenge of hiring and retaining female tech talent is a daily reality.
The good news is there are so many amazing women in the technology sector who simply want to grow and progress their careers in inclusive environments with great career prospects.
The time to bring these two communities together is now and Project F is building the bridge.
“56% of women leave tech at the mid-point in their careers, and it’s not to have kids.”
“Technology is a subculture where real business benefit can be realised when teams are diverse and balanced. ”
Purpose & Mission
Project F is driven by purpose. We began as a small team of dedicated experts, passionate about solving the problem of low gender diversity in technology.
Our mission is to provide a laser-focused solution that effectively addresses this persistent global phenomenon.
A long-standing tendency to pay lip-service to diversity and inclusion has been to the detriment of making progress in this, the most challenging subculture in any organisation.
Our accreditation program is designed to remove the lip-service. It is a strategic and progressive program that surfaces the primary, systemic drivers that cause women to seek alternative careers.
Participants experience improved retention of their female technologists, increased applications from female tech talent and improved competitive advantage by making them clear employers of choice for women in tech.
Some of the most critical benefits are realised in improved creativity, problem-solving, speed of innovation and profitability.
Vision
Program 50/50 is the catalyst that is bringing about the change the world needs to see in technology, reversing decades of an outdated stereotype and giving women the equal playing field they need if progress is to be made.
Put simply, technology created by diverse teams is better technology. We want to see a world where women are flourishing in careers in tech alongside men, where organisations are thriving because of it and where there is no gender gap to mention.
“Gender-balanced teams are the most likely to experiment, be creative, share knowledge and fulfil tasks.”
“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”
Leadership
Emma Jones, Founder/CEO
Emma Jones’ career in talent acquisition, management and strategy spans over 25 years across global markets. Originally from London, Emma has lived and worked in the UK, US and for the last decade, Australia.
It was in her role as Global Head of Talent for a fast growth Australian SaaS firm that Emma experienced first-hand the challenges around building gender balanced technology teams.
Emma went on to found prolific talent strategy consultancy Future Of Work Australia and the thriving not-for-profit tech community, Men Championing Change (Sydney & Melbourne), before establishing Project F in late 2018.
Our brilliant advisors
Our advisory board consists of high profile, quite brilliant individuals who are passionate about equality. The group meet regularly to advise in their area of expertise to add value and accelerate Project F’s charter.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
Ted Tencza
VP Engineering, Prospa
Laura Ford
Senior Director of Growth, Indeed
Inga Latham
CPO, Siteminder
Matt Aberline
Principal, Aurecon
Roisin Parkes
CTO, Gumtree Australia
Natasha Sheppard
CMO, Insynergy
Is gender balance important to you?
We’d love to hear your thoughts.
Committed to being part of the solution
Project F is a social impact business with a clear purpose of enabling the world's technology to be built by gender-balanced teams
Pledge 1%
Project F is a proud member of corporate philanthropy Pledge 1% movement.
Robogals
Project F gives a percentage of profits from recruitment fees and all proceeds from ticket sales for F Factor events to not-for-profit organisation Robogals who are bringing girls into technology careers.
We believe we are as obligated as our clients to seeding the future pipeline.
In Australia women make up 28% of the STEM workforce, with only 14% in engineering. Decreasing the gender disparity in STEM fields provides more opportunity for women to generate fair income, as well as encouraging professional environments that are safer and more productive for women.
Robogals is global not for profit who run engineering and technology workshops free-of-charge in their local communities, focusing on encouraging girls from primary to secondary school to explore an interest, as well as cultivate self-confidence, in these areas.
Introducing female engineering students to girls at a young age also provides visibility to female role models, of which there is a significant deficit in the STEM field. The lack of relatable role models has been identified as a cause of low uptake for minorities in all professional and academic fields.
Regional initiatives such as The Robogals Challenge (EMEA) and Pathways Into Engineering (APAC) provide engagement outside of our workshops. These programs encourage self-learning and foster a long-term exposure to the engineering community at large.