At Focused, we’re always looking for ways to celebrate the incredible work of our umbrella employees, and recently one of them achieved something truly remarkable.
Anjali Nagaraj, a Site Reliability Engineering contractor, was awarded ‘Best Mentor’ at the Women in Tech Employer Awards 2025! We’re proud to shine a spotlight on her accomplishment and took the opportunity to ask her a few questions about the motivation behind her success, hoping her story will inspire other women in tech across the contractor community.
- Congratulations on winning the Outstanding Advocate for Women in Tech award! What does this recognition mean to you personally and professionally?
Being named a finalist and now winning an award is both humbling and deeply meaningful. Personally, it reinforces my purpose of empowering women in technology. Professionally, it validates the work I’ve been doing to drive inclusion, mentorship, and leadership development across the industry. - You’ve clearly made a strong impact as an advocate for women in the industry. Can you share a bit about the initiatives or experiences that led to your nomination?
My nomination stems from years of mentoring through organisations like Katalyst, Ananya, and Shreyansh; leading women-in-tech learning circles; and driving career acceleration programmes for early- to mid-career technologists. Within my SRE leadership roles, I’ve focused on creating equitable growth opportunities, amplifying female talent, and building a culture where women feel seen, supported, and set up to thrive. - As a contractor, you’ve balanced client projects with your advocacy work. How do you manage the dual demands of delivering for clients while championing change in the tech community?
It’s a combination of disciplined time management, clear prioritisation, and purpose-driven work. I integrate advocacy into my day-to-day leadership, whether through coaching my teams, improving processes to reduce barriers, or supporting diverse hiring. My client commitments always come first, and advocacy becomes a natural extension of how I lead and deliver. - From your perspective, what are the biggest challenges facing women in tech today and what steps do you believe organisations, contractors, and providers like us can take to support positive change?
Key challenges include lack of representation at senior levels, limited access to sponsors, and the confidence gap that often emerges in male-dominated environments. Organisations and contractors can support change by:
• building structured mentorship and sponsorship programmes;
• ensuring transparent progression frameworks;
• providing flexible working;
• creating psychologically safe spaces; and
• actively showcasing women role models.
Providers like yours can play a major role by amplifying success stories and investing in women-focused initiatives. - Looking ahead, what goals or projects are you most excited about, either in your tech career or your ongoing advocacy for women in the industry?
I’m currently focused on scaling my mentoring impact, launching a structured leadership readiness programme for women in engineering, and advancing reliability engineering practices in my current role. I’m also exploring ways to collaborate with industry partners to create broader inclusion frameworks and empower the next generation of women technologists.
We’d like to extend our warmest congratulations to Anjali on her achievement. If you’re a Focused umbrella employee who has recently celebrated a big career win, we’d love to spotlight your success as well. Please get in touch with us at marketing@focusedgroup.co.uk.
Related article: Why choose an Umbrella Company?
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