I am Paulette Watson MBE, a dyslexic Black woman from South East London, who has turned every barrier I met in education and industry into a springboard for change. My journey began in 2005, when a master’s in ICT introduced me to the power and perils of artificial intelligence. Realising how rarely people who looked like me shaped that future, I dedicated my career to building inclusive pathways into tech.
Overcoming and leading
Living with dyslexia forced me to break complex problems into clear, teachable steps, skills I later used to train hundreds of teachers as a PGCE/NQT lead and to coach women entrepreneurs for Santander Bank. In 2018, an epiphany about the persistent marginalisation of Black women compelled me to found the #BeMeDigitalinclusion programme under Academy Achievers, where I serve as Managing Director and Global AI consultant.
Building the #BeMedigitalinclusion impact engine
#BeMe has grown from a Saturday mentoring club into a multi-continent ecosystem:
• 12-week mentoring sprints delivered in 40 schools per cohort, pairing students with industry mentors and culminating in #BeMe Tech London office visits.
• Virtual internships, apprenticeships and bootcamps that have placed participants at Ciena, Colt, KPMG and Google Cloud.
• She Disrupts Africa events in Accra, Lagos and Nairobi, spotlighting AI’s role in entrepreneurship and reaching over 5 000 livestream viewers.
• A growing Slack and WhatsApp community that now supports 40 00+ girls and women across the UK, Africa and the Caribbean with weekly peer learning and virtual career clinics.
• Rigorous fundraising led by my team and me that has generated £1.5 million to date, allowing 70 % of our participants to access programmes at zero cost.
Early evaluations show that 83 % of #BeMe alumni progress to STEM A-levels, university courses or tech apprenticeships, and 68 % return as mentors creating the very pipeline the sector says it lacks.
Thought leadership & storytelling
My best-selling book “She Disrupts: A Black Woman’s Journey in STEM and AI Industries” (2019, 2025 update in press) blends lived experience with policy analysis and is now used in university EDI modules. I host London Python Nights and the upcoming podcast “She Disrupts, and publish the newsletter She Disrupts, and deliver global keynotes on responsible-AI governance, including for UN Pulse and TEDx Africa.
Awards & appointments
These contributions have been recognised by a range of cross-sector honours that mirror the Inclusive Awards’ commitment to every strand of diversity:
• Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), King’s Honours List 2024, for services to STEM & AI education worldwide.
• Honorary Freedom of the London Borough of Newham (2024) for civic leadership.
• KPMG Black Entrepreneur Award winner (2022) with a £25 000 prize reinvested into #BeMe scholarships.
• Perplexity AI Business Fellow (2025) and Innovate Now Now “Critical Friend” (2025) for championing ethical AI adoption.
• Data Ambassador for Newham (2025), bridging open data, health and community strategy.
• Elektra Awards, Women Leaders in Electronics Awards & Digital Education Awards judge, ensuring fairness in categories spanning age, gender, disability and race.
• TEDx Talks Africa – Strategic Business Partnerships Lead (2025).
• National Diversity, Black British Talent and Business Award Finalists
Systems-level influence
At the governance table I serve, or have applied to serve, as a Non-Executive Director for Companies House and Innovate UK, advocating for data integrity and inclusive innovation. I advise KPMG Ghana, Thales and African Women in Tech on apprenticeship levies, AI frameworks and semiconductor talent pipelines.
Measurable ripple effects
• Policy & Advocacy: My policy briefs on AI inclusion and copyright inform UK parliamentary consultations and the UN SDGs 4, 5, 8, and 9.
• Economic mobility: Alumnae have secured roles ranging from Junior Python Developer to Data Scientist at median salaries 25% above the sector entry level.
• Cultural change: By normalising images of Black women in lab coats, hoodies and hijabs on conference stages, #BeMe has shifted perceptions of who “belongs” in tech.
• Community health: Our Sustainable Tech events combine climate action with employability, aligning with SDG 13 and inspiring green-tech startups founded by young women.
Why this matters
A diverse workforce is not a moral luxury; it is the engine of resilient innovation. My life’s work proves that when Black women and girls gain the skills, confidence and networks to lead in AI, everyone benefits: algorithms become fairer, products reach broad markets, and profits rise alongside social value.
By 2030, #BeMe aims to empower one million African women and girls into AI, cloud, and Web3 careers through a scalable digital platform (MVP built on Airtable, Zapier, Tally.so, and Teachable) that I am currently refining for VC-backed expansion.
