Emili Budell-Rhodes
Lead Evangelist
London, United Kingdom
I have always felt incredibly supported as a woman in technology at RELX. The Women in Technology Mentoring Programme has been a valuable source of support and encouragement while I was finding my way in a new field. Direct sponsorship by several senior managers in tech over the years has helped me build my confidence, has opened doors and continues to guide me as I grow my career.
I started my new role in tech with Legal on International Women’s Day in 2021. I joined RELX in 2014 working within the corporate responsibility team building our global community programme. I had never worked in technology but was always interested in how it shapes people’s lives. So, when I had a chance to do an internal secondment where I got to follow my passion and add value to the business at the same time, I jumped at it. Despite the unknowns.
I was invited to do a secondment creating our RELX-wide Responsible AI Principles and a risk-based governance framework underpinning them. The secondment wasn’t just a formative, amazing experience, it was the result of being supported by colleagues across the RELX family, allowing me to explore and follow through with an idea that I was convinced would make a difference for the company. Today I report to the chief engineer and evangelise LexisNexis’ engineering culture change where technology drives the rule of law around the world.
Gender diversity doesn’t just introduce diversity of thought. It introduces different lived experiences. That means broader perspectives, fewer assumptions and more empathy for customer needs and what the technology will do once it has been released into the real world. At RELX, our solutions often form part of the fundamental fabric of society in many countries around the world, so gender diversity matters. I think the prospects for women in tech are great too. My guess is that there’ll be ever more diversification and new types of jobs we haven’t even conceived of yet, as solutions and applications get more sophisticated.