Women In Immersive Tech IT’s Muki Kulhan: “We want to burst these doors open and keep the conversation going.”

The last year has seen diversity, equality and inclusion programmes rolled back amid anti-woke rhetoric, fear, and misinformation, but that isn’t cowing leadership in the industry.  

“The headlines we read are not always representative of what we feel or our company’s values,” said Muki Kulhan, UK Ambassador at Women In Immersive Tech IT (WIIT). “We wanted to come back to IBC and be unapologetic about who we are. We want to burst these doors open and keep the conversation going.” 

Shariat Hussain, Researcher and Computer Scientist, started out in Pakistan. “It’s been a long journey.  I have achieved so many things and lost so many things, too. What matters are the people who supported me when no one else did – my father, my professor and WIIT.” 

Hussain is now working in Austria, having persisted in applying to study in Europe and having her visa cancelled multiple times. The Insta account she set up to record her progress has more than 6 million views and 7,000 followers. 

“So many people can relate to me. You don’t have to be privileged to come here if you are talented. It makes me so happy that I inspire others.” 

Oana Burka, a Creative Technologist from Monks, grew up in Moldova, “facing preconceptions about what women and men should do. I wanted to prove them wrong.” 

She applied for tech tech-heavy degree and ended up in a male-dominated environment. “I did not always feel welcomed or supported, so I changed from engineering to working at the intersection of tech and art, which was more inclusive.” 

However, that first experience left its mark. She continues: “I wanted to prove that it’s possible to build an environment where you are valued for your ideas and not judged on your identity. Internal resilience is important, but so is how we shape where we work.” 

Originally from China, Tori Bai, Associate Director Strategy at Shure started her career 18 years ago in the US as a software engineer. “Career change can be challenging. It took a lot of trial and error and some frustration, but my advice is to keep going. In the end, I looked for the culture of the company I wanted to join. If you find the right one, you can then give back to society.” 

Carol Bettencourt, Vice President (VP) of Marketing at Chyron, has had a storied career, from research analyst and tech writer to systems integrator, but her formative experience was seven years as a classical ballet dancer. 

“I worked as a dancer at Disneyland in Orlando and learnt about the importance of discipline, perfection, and striving to please your audience – and that this applies to literally everyone in the business.” 

Now she nurtures her own teams by valuing every single life and work experience that they have had. “I hire people I trust, with good energy and a willingness to learn. Those things are harder to teach but necessary as more work is done remotely.” 

Mentoring and advocacy groups like WIIT and Rise are building the tech and the people of the future, noted Regina van Tongeren, fellow WIIT Ambassador. She added:, “I hope someday we won’t have to have campaigns. 

Adrian Pennington recently spoke to Nexus Studios, Hartswood Films and Filmsat59 about JP Morgan’s Top 200 Women-Powered Businesses report. Discover more here.