From newsroom to Boardroom: via tech, trust and integrity
with Kerensa Jennings
Episode #55: From newsroom to Boardroom: via tech, trust and integrity with Kerensa Jennings
Series 8, Episode 3, Wednesday 12 March 2025
In this episode, Joy Burnford interviews Kerensa Jennings. Kerensa is a business leader, non-executive director and adviser, and has previously held senior roles at the BBC, the Royal Household, BT and Sky. She’s also written a bestselling psychological thriller, ‘Seas of Snow.’ Kerensa shares tips and advice on promoting gender equality within organisations, drawn from her incredible and wide-ranging career.
Key takeaways
Be bold in seeking out opportunities: Kerensa talks about how she was lucky to have supportive mentors and colleagues throughout her career who took the time to listen and believed in her. She admits to being an introvert by nature and being shy earlier on in her career, but later becoming bolder in seeking out opportunities. Don’t be scared of asking because people can say no, but generally speaking, people do say yes.
The challenges of being underestimated: Kerensa talks about the challenges of being underestimated due to her soft-spoken nature and feminine presentation, particularly when working in male-dominated industries like technology, engineering, manufacturing and real estate. Kerensa’s advice for women is to be values-driven, brave, and to speak up when you have something important to contribute.
Women face a double bind when it comes to confidence: Women can be criticised for being either too confident or not confident enough. Kerensa shares advice that was given to her: “Just believe in yourself a bit more and be prepared to wing it.”
Women in tech: There is still slow progress when it comes to increasing women's representation in tech. It’s important to highlight and showcase diverse role models and take personal efforts to mentor and coach others.
Maintaining focus on diversity and inclusion: When it comes to the backlash against diversity and inclusion initiatives, Kerensa highlights the need for continuous effort and support from senior leaders even without specific initiatives. Leaders still need to ensure they are thinking about inclusion and doing their best to make sure that voices are heard, that people have seats at the table, and that they are helping create the right conditions for change. For example, she used to work with a leader who started all one-on-one meetings with “What’s on your mind?” which is a really powerful question. Her advice for younger professionals is to be brave, seek mentors and help them see things from your perspective, because it’s really hard for people to to know what they don't know.
Transitioning to non-executive roles: Kerensa’s advice for people transitioning to non-executive roles is to be true to yourself, follow your interests, enjoy learning, and be prepared to work hard.
Insights from Kerensa
“I have very often been surrounded by men, and it's been a challenge to make sure that I can still have a voice, have a seat at the table, hold my own and not be intimidated, and to believe in myself enough to feel that my opinion matters. And I think it has helped a lot that I'm a very values driven person. So I would encourage anyone else who's also, of whatever gender, if you are a shyer person, or if you aren't someone who's bombastic, but if you really believe in what you think, and you feel that there's something that's missing in the conversation, take that mettle and be brave and say something because your opinion matters, and you will add something to the conversation, and you might even change the shape of what happens next because you've been brave. So it's very, very important to kind of listen to your gut and to your heart and be bold when you can. If you think something's not quite right, then add your voice.”
“I think you can only be the change that you see. And I think that matters across all areas of diversity, so across gender, across race, across your socio economic background, across your sexuality, across your faith, we are all very, very different, and we are often all a big smorgasbord of all of those things. And so it's about people in positions of power and influence taking the time and the effort to make sure that they are showcasing the work of those who are either coming up and the bright rising stars, and also people who've done amazing things with their lives.”
“It's incumbent on anyone in a position of authority and seniority in these organisations to make sure that even if it's not got a label and it's not got an initiative with a shiny sticker on it, that you are doing your bit, and you're encouraging those around you to do their bit to make sure that we are still thinking about these things and doing our best to make sure that voices are heard, that people have seats at the table, and that we are helping create the right conditions for change. Whether or not there is an initiative and a particular team leading the charge, it just means it's even more important that everybody else steps up.”
“If you are a younger person coming into organisations, be brave and try and adopt a couple of mentors and help them see things from your perspective, because they can't necessarily walk in your shoes, because it's really, really hard, even if you want to give empathy, there's a lot of unconscious bias out there, and it's really hard for people to know what they don't know.”
Keywords
Gender equality, career progression, mentorship, non-executive roles, tech industry, diversity and inclusion, leadership, board meetings, workplace challenges, female retention, professional development, communication skills, role models, initiative fatigue, collective intelligence.
Resources
Kerensa’s recommended podcast: When It Hits the Fan by David Yelland and Simon Lewis, which discusses PR disasters and communication strategies.
Kerensa’s recommended book: Collective Intelligence: How to build a business that’s smarter than you by by Jennifer Sundberg and Pippa Begg, the founders of Board Intelligence.
How Encompass Equality can help you
Book a call with Helen Beedham, our Head of Programmes, to find out more about you can retain and progress female talent in your organisation.