20-22 May 2025
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Patricia
Gestoso
Inclusion Strategist | Coach | Director of Scientific Support at Gestoso Consulting
"From Overwhelmed to Empowered: Breaking Free of the 'Good Girl' Manual"
"From Overwhelmed to Empowered: Breaking Free of the 'Good Girl' Manual"
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Session: From Overwhelmed to Empowered: Breaking Free of the 'Good Girl' Manual
In 2016, I was Head of Tech Support when I first dreamed of starting a website about diversity and inclusion (DEI) in tech. That’s when I realized I had an imaginary “good girl” manual, shaped by my upbringing, education, and societal expectations.In this manual, it wasn’t okay to have engineering, MSc and PhD diplomas and at the same time want to focus on DEI, coaching women, or writing a book about their success in tech.
I’ve now done all of that and more—becoming a Director, a charity Trustee, and winning awards for my inclusion work.
In this session, I’ll explain how we all carry invisible rules that limit us, show you how to recognise yours, and teach you a method to rewrite them. Together, we’ll explore how to stop feeling stuck, break career barriers, and find success on your terms.
Key Takeaways
- Gaining awareness of how your upbringing creates a mental manual of what you can and cannot do.
- Understanding how that unconscious “good girl” playbook limits your career success and prevents you from achieving work-life integration.
- Practical tools to challenge your manual so you can stop feeling overwhelmed, break the glass ceiling, and achieve success on your terms.
Bio
Dr. Patricia Gestoso is an award-winning inclusion strategist and technologist with over 25 years of experience leading digital transformation in industries ranging from life sciences to consumer packaged goods.Founder of Gestoso Consulting, she empowers leaders to leverage AI for sustainable growth and ethical innovation. Patricia also serves as Director of Scientific Support at Dassault Systèmes BIOVIA, where she bridges advanced technologies with impactful business outcomes. Her previous leadership roles include Global Head of Training and Contract Research.
Patricia is also a certified work-life coach that helps ambitious women in tech to break the glass ceiling and achieve career success without burnout. She leads partnerships in the UK for European Women on Boards, an NGO that aims to increase gender equity at the board and executive levels, and an advisor for We and I, a British non-profit focused on activating diverse communities to make artificial intelligence work for everyone.
Featured among the most influential women in UK tech, she is a recognised expert in computer simulation, AI, and inclusive design of tech workplaces and products.
