International Women's Day 2025: Inspiring insights from women in adtech

Tomorrow, March 8th, is International Women's Day and this year's theme is “accelerating action”. Inspiring women in the media, advertising and tech industry are chiming in on how best to take action as we work towards gender equality. Female leaders share their answers on how the media and tech industry can step up to better support women…

Cristy Garcia, CMO, impact.com

The best way these industries can support women is to amplify their voices and ensure they have a seat at the table. This means prioritizing female leadership in hiring decisions, giving women opportunities to spearhead major initiatives, and actively increasing their presence on conference stages and panel discussions. While representation at industry events has improved over the past two decades, more progress is needed. True innovation comes from diverse perspectives, and we should be intentional that women are not just part of the conversation—but leading it.

Savina Parvanova, Global Marketing Director, Limelight Inc.

“I feel in some ways torn about IWD. On one hand, it’s great to take a moment to applaud and celebrate the fantastic contribution that women make to society. On the other, the fact we need to call it out says to me that we are still not making enough progress. There are still too few women occupying senior positions in companies. We still have the pay gap between men and women of equal abilities performing the same type of work. And on a day-to-day level, I still see too many male-dominated conference programmes at events, from keynotes to panels. We need to kick back on all these issues. There’s no silver bullet here, but as the recent about-turns on DEI initiatives from big tech have shown, this is no time to take our foot off the pedal.”

Jess Aylett, Head of Agency Sales, GumGum

For me, the biggest thing the industry can do to support women is around maternity leave, and there are two simple things that could go a long way to levelling things up. The first is to offer better levels of paternity leave so that the responsibility doesn’t all fall solely on the mum. The second is around how we re-integrate mums – and dads – returning to the workplace after having a child. In an industry that moves as fast as adtech, a lot changes over the course of a year, so there’s a real need for support, mentoring and retraining. We can’t just expect people to come back to the job after a significant amount of time off, spend a day catching up on their emails and then be fully back up to speed. Companies need to put programmes in place to get employees back up to speed when they are returning to work.

Suzanna Chaplin, CEO, esbconnect

If we want more women in tech – not just as employees, but as founders – there needs to be better education on how to raise capital. And that education needs to be delivered in spaces where women feel welcome, and at times that accommodate primary caregivers – not just at after-work networking events.

Women-led startups receive just 2% of venture capital funding, which placed me in a small minority when I founded a tech business and raised capital. I was lucky – someone introduced me to the right person to help, but before that, I was struggling. I had no idea how to structure a fundraising process, so I focused on one VC at a time. I was not comfortable overselling and exaggerating the term sheet I had received, which appeared to be the norm with my male counterparts.

I’ve always been gender-blind; I never noticed I was the only woman in the room until I thought about it. However, not every woman feels comfortable navigating a male-dominated space, especially when discussing the vulnerabilities that come with raising investment. Let’s assume the industry really is serious about supporting female founders. In that case, it needs to create opportunities that acknowledge and address these barriers, rather than expecting women to adapt to an outdated status quo.

Sarah Flannery, VP Media Strategy, Jellyfish

This International Women’s Day 2025, we face a critical inflection point. While the theme is “Accelerate Action”, recent months have seen companies scaling back diversity programs, remote work, and even questioning DEI’s value - claiming it compromises safety and excellence.

The data says otherwise. In the UK, women make up 30% of entrepreneurs, yet receive just 2% of VC funding. Women hold only 24% of STEM jobs, dropping below 20% in AI - an industry shaping our future. Diversity isn’t a trend; it’s smart business. Companies with diverse leadership outperform in innovation, risk management, and financial returns. Progress requires recognising diversity and excellence as complementary forces.

Rather than reverting to outdated systems that exclude women, true equity demands flexible work, meaningful part-time roles, and workplace cultures that acknowledge caregiving responsibilities. Women still carry the bulk of caregiving responsibilities, and are stretched by competing expectations. As AI streamlines workloads, why not shift to a four-day week for better balance?

Practical solutions include career accelerators at key life stages, backed by coaching, networks, and strong policies (leadership, motherhood, menopause). Most importantly - advocacy. When women feel genuinely supported, they thrive, and that’s where breakthrough performance happens.

Jessica Knoblauch, Talent Operations Manager, impact.com

Working in recruitment, I can see how important it is to ensure opportunities are created for women at all levels. It’s not just about hiring more women, it’s about making sure they have the support and visibility needed to thrive in their roles. International Women’s Day is a great reminder that real change happens when we continue to open doors, challenge biases, and champion women in every part of the industry.

Also published in: The Drum