Belinda Parmar

Belinda Parmar OBE
Born (1974-03-12) March 12, 1974
Occupation CEO and Campaigner
Website http://theempathybusiness.com

Belinda Parmar, OBE (born 12 March 1974), is a British entrepreneur, campaigner and activist.

Parmar is the founder and CEO of "The Empathy Business", formerly known as "Lady Geek", a business that "embeds empathy into companies"[1] and has published an annual 'Global Empathy Index' which claims a causal relationship between empathy and commercial performance.[2]. Parmar now runs the campaign The Truth About Tech, claiming that tech is having a negative impact on mental health, despite previously being described as "the high priestess of tech empowerment"[3]

Parmar led the Little Miss Geek campaign, supported by forty MPs, which aimed to inspire women to follow careers oriented towards technology.[4][5]

Campaigning

Her campaign The Truth About Tech provides support for parents, including workshops[6]. As part of this campaign, Parmar has stated that "we no longer control technology: it controls us", "we have become slaves to technology" and talks about the dangers of "junk technology", comparing the effects of too much technology to the ill-effects of junk food. She aims to "hold to account the tech giants who are profiting from our over-engagement". [7][8][9]

Parmar's previous campaigning mission, through Lady Geek, was "to end the stereotyping and patronising of women within the technology" and the “pink it & shrink it” approach of selling to women.[10][11]

Honours and awards

Parmar was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to women in technology.[12][13]

In 2014 Parmar became a member of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leader.[14] She was also named one of Business Insider's "The 100 Most Influential Tech Women on Twitter".[15] In October 2014 she was placed in Fortune's "55 most influential women on Twitter".[16] In June 2015 Parmar was named by The Guardian one of the "One of the UK’s leading campaigners to get more women into tech".[17]. In 2017 she was included in The Cranfield Female FTSE Board Report '100 Women to Watch 2017'[18]. Parmar is listed in the Computer Weekly Most Influential Women in Tech 2018[19].

Media

Parmar caused controversy in her Guardian column by claiming that her language degree had been a "waste of time", calling for more girls to challenge the presumption that there are 'girls subjects' and 'boys subjects' by taking up coding and pursuing degrees in the technology sector.[20] This was followed up with a video debate between Parmar and Adrian Searle, questioning the value of arts degrees and the wider financial return of a degree as a whole.[21].

References

  1. ↑ "how to deliver bad news with dignity". Forbes. Forbes.
  2. ↑ "The Most (and Least) Empathetic Companies".
  3. ↑ "Meet the tech evangelist fearing for our mental health"". The Guardian.
  4. ↑ The Empathy Era.
  5. ↑ Ajit Niranjan. "We don't really understand empathy, but we know business could do with a little more". New Statesman.
  6. ↑ "Revealed: first child to be diagnosed with Internet addiction by the NHS". The Telegraph.
  7. ↑ "Belinda Parmar, la pionera de la tecnología que prohíbe los dispositivos y las pantallas en su casa". El Mundo.
  8. ↑ "Revealed: first child to be diagnosed with Internet addiction by the NHS". The Telegraph.
  9. ↑ "Meet the tech evangelist who now fears for our mental health". The Guardian.
  10. ↑ "Belinda Parmar". The Huffington Post.
  11. ↑ "The Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network". Bloomberg Link. Archived from the original on 2012-06-13.
  12. ↑ "No. 60895". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 2014. p. b14.
  13. ↑ "Queen's birthday honours list 2014: OBE". The Guardian. 2014-06-13.
  14. ↑ "Young Global Leaders Class of 2014". World Economic Forum.
  15. ↑ Rebecca Borison. "The 100 Most Influential Tech Women On Twitter". Business Insider.
  16. ↑ Caroline Fairchild; Colleen Leahey; Jennifer Reingold (2014-10-06). "Fortune's 55 most influential women on Twitter". Fortune.
  17. ↑ "10 of the best female role models in tech – in pictures". The Guardian. 2015-06-22.
  18. ↑ "Female FTSE Board Report 100 Women to Watch 2017".
  19. ↑ "Computer Weekly Most Influential Women in Tech 2018". Computer Weekly.
  20. ↑ Belinda Parmar (2013-08-23). "I wasted four years of my life – don't make the same mistake". The Guardian.
  21. ↑ "Is an arts degree worth the tuition fees? - five-minute video debate". The Guardian. 2013-09-30.
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