• Coaching
• Inclusive leadership programs
• Speaking
• Inclusive business strategy

Coaching

I am happy that I’ve met Patricia in time. I am going through a career change period, which has become less frightening and more strategic.

She helped me see the patterns of how my mind is holding me back, and by the end of the coaching program, I noticed a shift in my self-confidence and resilience. In our sessions, we uncovered the root causes of my inaction, and solutions emerged naturally from her insightful questions. She also shared her wisdom and vision when I needed it.

She is passionate about coaching and empowering women and has all the necessary expertise to help. I enjoyed every session. Thank you, Patricia! 

Alena Sheveleva, Research Fellow 

Patricia was able to look at my experience, and then where I was right now. It literally felt like she was weaving together different strands to then hone in exactly on career blocks and give me some ideas to move past them.

Her style was to ask questions rather than give me a simple a to-do list, I also liked the way I felt I could trust her professional experience. She knew what I was talking about from inside my chosen sector.  

Ruth Westnidge, Software Engineer

Patricia has excellent knowledge and expertise on mentoring / coaching, in particular leadership for women. I greatly benefited from working with Patricia and found the experience & learnings extremely valuable for my own personal development and overall career growth.

Aisling Mulhall, Events Senior Manager, Software company

Patricia was instrumental in guiding me and my manager toward a homeworking arrangement, allowing me to better cope with my lifelong Asperger’s traits. From the start, Patricia gave inspiration to consider the true “best case scenario” for my circumstances, and was then able to give concrete step by step guidance. Ultimately this led to a solution which my manager supported, and which also works well for our employer.

J.T, Software developer

Patricia knows how to ask the right questions to let you come to the right conclusion and decide on next step in the journey. Patricia dared me to step out of my comfort zone

Jolanda Bussner, Project Manager, Sotware company

I had the opportunity to work with Patricia through a coaching scheme at work.  I personally got a lot out of the joint coaching sessions. Patricia has the skill to come across as supportive so you feel safe but she also will challenge you about why you think that way or what made you approach it from that angle, not this. There’s no judgment from her as she questions you, you can tell she’s just trying to understand everything.  I hope to have the opportunity to work with her in the future.

R.B., Senior product designer

Patricia is an extremely knowledgeable and caring coach. In my short session with Patricia, she helped me to envision a future I want for myself and create a plan for that by myself. For a senior university student, Patricia was an insightful companion who supported me in navigating my career choices and living a happy life.

T.T., 4^th year Economics Honours student at the University of British Columbia

I had the opportunity to work with Patricia through a business scheme. Patricia set the environment to create supportiveness and safety. She was transparent at all times so you feel safe. Through the session, she gently challenged my thinking and conclusions by asking the right questions to help me see there’s another way to do things which might be more effective for me. Patricia quietly led me into greater awareness of the things that were not working for me and how to head out of that.

Founder, Educational platform

Over 6 coaching sessions, Patricia’s empathetic approach enabled me to work through my difficulties and find new ways of approaching my work projects. 

The dedication and commitment she brought to our sessions gave me the confidence and encouragement to identify what was holding me back and to find possible solutions. Her insights always kept me focussed on putting into action steps that would achieve results. 

I gained enormously from my sessions with Patricia. Her experienced questioning guided me through a difficult period of transition from a career in the television industry to a new phase in my working life.   

Bren Simson. TV director, author, local historian and guide

While my decision to take early retirement felt right, I couldn’t shake off a feeling of trepidation, and this is why I asked Patricia to be my Coach.  My online Coaching sessions took place over a number of months and each one gave me a safe space, free of everyday distractions, to explore what I would like from the next stage of my life. 

Through Patricia’s non-judgmental and curious questions, I began to explore assumptions and negative thinking that were making me feel stuck.  In particular, Patricia helped me appreciate that I could draw on skills and strengths that had proved effective at other key points in my life when navigating this new stage. 

I also came to see that my fear of ageist attitudes could, if I let it, serve as an excuse to keep me in my comfort zone.  This alone has given me plenty to think about and is something I will check my decisions against. Thank you, Patricia!  I’ve learnt a lot!

Louise Sethi

Inclusive leadership programs

Incredibly valuable experience- I have left with new thinking and improved confidence.

Senior Delivery Manager, Citizens Advice

I participated in the Ada’s List coaching programme, a 6-month development programme for women and non-binary people in tech at Citizens Advice. We focused on leadership, diversity, equity and inclusion within technology and ways to develop your career. We shared insights and challenges, discussed different approaches and identified opportunities to learn and develop.

Sarah Gallacher, Product Manager, Citizens Advice

A brilliant foundation to get you thinking about what leader you personally present when you turn up to work.

R.B., Senior product designer

It changed my thinking and I that will be an ongoing process. I needed something to get me out of rut.

R. I., Welfare Benefit Expert, Citizens Advice

Patricia and Fionnuala are empathetic and encouraging trainers & facilitators. Their passion for helping people improve their development is clear and inspiring.

L.C., Senior Product Manager

Speaking

Last month, I had attended Women In payments 2022 EMEA Symposium, where Patricia made a presentation. She was focused on diversity, equality and the impact that technology has on our professional careers and lifes.

Her approach to the topics was disruptive and her passion and energy inspired me. She is capable to connect with the audience and is open to share her knowledge creating a network beyond. Thanks Patricia.”

Mª Isolina Preciado, VP – Product Global Cash Management, Banco Santander

I attended Patricia’s webinar “Mind the Innovation Gap: Identify Untapped Markets with Ethical and Inclusive Product Design”. Her webinar was interactive, engaging, and inviting! She is very knowledgeable and was able to facilitate deep reflection moments with the audience in a non-threatening way.

She inspired and motivated us to take small and bold steps to embark ourselves in the inclusive product design journey. I recommend Patricia to any group seeking to motivate and inspire their members to embrace diversity in product design.

María Luisa Toro Hernández, Assistive Technology Systems Strengthening Global Advisor at Momentum Wheels for Humanity

I had the pleasure to attend an event in which Patricia made the closing note. Her enthusiasm, energy and passion were contagious. Her knowledge of current matters, especially the understanding of the crossroads we are at with work life balance, tech development and the world as a whole helped guide me in asking myself many interesting questions to improve my well being. Was very insightful.

Antonio Irusta, Regional Sales Manager, Fintech company

As part of the Code Nation Tech Talk Series, Dr. Patricia Gestoso delivered an engaging and insightful talk on “How Sustainability and Diversity can Boost Company Success” to an audience of over 70 technologists.

Patricia showed us how to leverage diversity and inclusion to uncover new markets, boost innovation, attract and retain talent, and increase reputation.
 
Patricia was able to link concepts such as sustainability, accessibility, diversity, and ethics with real case studies, making her message relevant and actionable for the attendees. She showed us how ethical and inclusive design can help us bridge the gap between intent and impact.  The key take away for me was “Inclusion is a practice, not a certificate”.

Without a doubt, I would recommend Patricia as a keynote speaker as a way to spark conversations in one of the hottest topic areas. She demonstrated the business value of diversity and left us inspired to embrace inclusion in products, services, and the workplace.

David Muir, Founder & CEO, Code Nation

Patricia joined our Feminist AI and Digital Policy Roundtable discussion in April and presented her view on “how do decolonize AI with feminism”. I am impressed with her deep insights from the various, socio-technological perspectives of AI that she backed up with professional and personal experiences. Highly recommended speaker!

Alexandra Wudel, Co-Founder & Geschäftsführerin FemAI GmbH | Political Advisor | Speaker | MBA

Inclusive business strategy

We asked Patricia to review our draft website to ensure that we were addressing diversity. Her thorough assessment highlighted that the website design and content were excluding demographic groups that we wanted to attract as customers.

She also provided a list of key actionable feedback on how to make our site more inclusive.   From this experience, we learned the crucial importance of diversity and inclusion assessments when designing websites and marketing material.

Alex, Tech Founder 

We worked with Patricia to understand how to improve our website’s attraction to a more diverse and inclusive audience and to ensure that we weren’t alienating potential customers with images or language they might find confusing or offensive.

Patricia’s overview and recommendations were comprehensive and, most importantly, actionable. It was an incredibly useful exercise for our business.

Suzanne Noble,Founder nestful.io

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