Kate Craig-Wood

Kate Helen Craig-Wood (born 1977)[1] is a British IT entrepreneur and the co-founder and managing director of Memset Dedicated Hosting. She has received a number of awards, including being listed 4th among the 25 most influential women in UK IT in 2012.[2] Craig-Wood is a transgender woman, and she is known for promoting energy efficiency in IT, women in IT, and transgender acceptance.[3]

Kate Craig-Wood
Craig-Wood in 2010
Born1977 (age 43–44)
OccupationIt entrepreneur
Years active2002 –
EmployerMemset
Known forIt Entrepreneurship, Transsexual activism & being transgender
Board member ofIntellect, Gender Identity Research and Education Society
AwardsNatWest Women in Business: Young Director 2010
Websitekate.craig-wood.com

Career

Craig-Wood taught herself various programming languages and internet technologies, and after completing an MSc is in Biomedical Science[4] joined Arthur Andersen business consulting as an IT consultant.[2] She later became head of business development for Easyspace Ltd., one of the UK's largest web hosting companies.[2]

In 2002, Craig-Wood left Easyspace and founded Memset with her brother, Nick.[5] Memset has grown rapidly since its inception. Memset is Britain's first carbon neutral ISP.[6] Memset has been voted best UK Web host six years running (2006–2011)[7] and has won a number of other awards for innovation, environmental awareness and IT strategy.[8]

Craig-Wood is a proponent of energy-efficient computing and was a UK finalist in the 2008 BlackBerry Women and Technology awards for "best use of technology by a woman in a small to medium business".[5] She is a director of Intellect UK, the UK's high-tech trade association,[9] and chairs its climate change group.[10] She is also involved with the British Computer Society's efforts on green IT via her committee membership of the Data Centre Specialist Group.[2]

Personal life and trans activism

Craig-Wood was born in 1977. Craig-Wood was educated at the Royal Grammar School and attended the University of Southampton obtaining a 2:1 in Biomedical Science and a master's degree in the same field.[11]

Craig-Wood married in 2000 and divorced in 2006. The divorce was a result of her beginning her male-to-female gender transition, which she undertook between October 2005 and November 2006.[5]

In March 2008, she came out in the Sunday Times Magazine "in the hope that she might be the role model to younger transwomen that she never had, and also to try and dispel some myths about [transgender people]."[12]

She is an executive committee member and trustee of the Gender Identity Research and Education Society, and is working with the group with a focus on improving medical care in the UK for young trans people.[13][14]

References
  1. Simpson, Aislinn (4 July 2009). "Award-winning female manager was born a man". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  2. "The 25 most influential women in UK IT 4. Kate Craig-Wood, managing director, Memset; Intellect board member". Computer Weekly. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  3. Meyer, David (15 November 2007). "MP: Tech needs more female role models". ZDNet UK.
  4. Jardine, Cassandra (7 July 2009). "Kate Craig-Wood: 'I'm lucky, many men would never pass for a woman'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  5. Whitehead, Peter (14 May 2008). "What IT means to me: No longer a member of any boys' clubs". Financial Times. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  6. "Memset goes Carbon Neutral". Hub Magazine. Enterprise Hub Network. Archived from the original on 25 February 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2008.
  7. "PCPro award winners 2007". PC Pro. 4 December 2007. Archived from the original on 28 April 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2008.
  8. MEMSET Hosting : News
  9. "Female entrepreneur joins Intellect's board". Women in Technology. 25 May 2007.
  10. "Kate Craig Wood – Memset". The Business Magazine. 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  11. "Sex change Kate has never looked back". GetSurrey. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  12. "Best of Times, Worst of Times: Kate Craig-Wood". The Sunday Times. 30 March 2008.
  13. "Transphobic bullying: Could you deal with it in your school?" (PDF). UKTrans. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  14. "THE GENDER IDENTITY RESEARCH EDUCATION SOCIETY". Open Charities. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
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