What we’re about
HER+Data MCR ("Her plus Data Manchester") is a community working to connect, inspire, support and empower the NW UK’s Women in Data! We meet on the 2nd Thursday of each month.
HER+Data MCR is a Meetup group which brings together anyone who identifies as a woman or non-binary and has a connection to data - whether they work with data, would like to work with data, and/or simply have an interest in data! The scope is intended to be broad to include as many gender minorities within STEM as possible while also maintaining a focus on the topic of data - we talk data science, analytics, research, visualisation, software, applications and experiences women share working in male dominated environments. We have members whose backgrounds range from academia to industry, students to CEOs, neuroscientists to idea implementers. We meet once a month (on the 2nd Thursday), provide ample time for networking, and showcase 2-4 women/non-binary in data speakers who talk about their career paths, role models, challenges faced and data projects that they work on. We also conduct masterclasses a few times each year on topics such as CV writing, interviewing techniques and salary negotiation to empower women to progress in data roles.
HER+Data is a space where everyone can share their stories and develop. We're volunteer driven so we keep our events simple and informal. There will be great content, laughter and a room full of data women and non-binary people from various backgrounds. So come along, ask questions, and get inspired! And if there are specific topics that you would like to see discussed then please let us know. We are always happy to explore new ideas and new collaborations. HER+Data was originally founded in Dublin, Ireland as XX+Data by Karen Church and the Manchester chapter was founded by Rachael Ainsworth.
Connect with HER+Data MCR:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/herplusdatamcr
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/herplusdatamcr
Youtube: https://tinyurl.com/herplusdatamcr-youtube
Email: herplusdatamcr@gmail.com
By joining our community, you are agree to abide by our Code of Conduct.
Upcoming events (1)
See all- Celebrating our 8th birthday! - HER+Data MCR Meetup - September 2025AutoTrader, Manchester M15 4FN
HER+Data MCR is a community working to connect, inspire, support and empower the NW UK’s Women in Data. Our goal is to bring together women and non-binary people who work in data or who would like to work in data - to support one another, share experiences and talk data - big or small! Whether you’re a student just embarking on a career or a seasoned data professional, this group is for you. We want to connect and inspire amazing data women with diverse expertise and experience.
This event is very generously hosted by Autotrader.
✨ Please note:- Due to venue policies, this event is for 18+ attendees only.
- Food will include vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. If you have any other dietary requirements, please let us know in advance and we’ll do our best to accommodate you.
- If you have any access needs, please get in touch beforehand so we can ensure you have the best experience at the event.
Agenda
(All times in BST)
18:00 - 18:30 Networking with food and drinks
18:30 - 18:40 Welcome and announcements
18:40 Lightning talks and Q&A
20:30 CloseSpeakers
Maria Root is a recent MSc Data Science graduate from the University of Salford with a background in biomedical sciences and 9 years of experience working in health and life science policy roles in the Civil Service. She has built supervised and unsupervised models for clustering, classification and NLP in Python and Azure ML Studio, used R for statistical analysis on large datasets, and designed multi-table SQL databases. In her talk “An example of network analysis (or, how I learned to love 300,000 government contracts)”, Maria will share insights from her internship project, where she analysed over 300,000 UK government procurement contracts spanning 10 years. She identified vulnerabilities such as over-reliance on certain suppliers, and opportunities for rationalisation where buyers could achieve economies of scale. She’ll introduce the basics of bipartite graph analysis and showcase Gephi visualisations – expect good visuals, bad jokes, eyeballs, hairballs and lighthouses. Outside of data, Maria is also the founder of Woolly Club, a queer-friendly knit and crochet group in Manchester.Ashwaq Salim is a Data Scientist at Moonpig, specialising in recommender systems that help people discover what they need (or didn’t know they needed). She builds and maintains large-scale recommendation engines, bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and real-world impact, and was recently awarded the Early Career Tech Champion award for her contributions to the field. In her talk “Becoming a Recspert – The Hidden Logic Behind What You Watch, Listen and Buy”, Ashwaq will peel back the curtain on how recommender algorithms work, unpacking the basic concepts and components that drive them, and showing how they shape our digital experiences every day. Passionate about sharing her journey into tech, she’s excited to continue building her career and identity in the recommender systems space while making the field more accessible to others.
Jade Oakley is the Founder of We Move Travel, a data-driven travel platform focused on making travel safer, more inclusive, and more personalised for underrepresented groups. A veteran solo traveller with a passion for exploring the world, Jade combines a background in technology strategy consulting and product delivery with a mission to create more equitable travel experiences. She was named to the Northern Power Women Future List 2023 and regularly speaks on topics including diversity, intersectionality, and the future of travel. In her talk “The Hidden Complexity of Travel”, Jade will take an honest look at how bias in travel data quietly impacts journeys -- leading to extra planning, fewer choices, and higher risks for those who don’t fit the “default” traveller profile. She will shine a light on the data gaps that rewrite every journey and the lived impact of being left out of the numbers.
By registering for this event, you agree to abide by our Code of Conduct.
Follow us on LinkedIn for updates!Our Meetup page is very generously sponsored by KrakenFlex!
