Hear from two leaders in testing, Dot Graham and Helen Whitaker, and be inspired!
Speakers
Dot Graham and Helen Whitaker
Agenda
1.00pm - Event start with welcome and introduction to speakers
1.05pm - Dot Graham - Presentation - Including 5 mins Q&A
1.35pm - Helen Whitaker - Presentation - Including 5 mins Q&A
2.00pm - Event close
Synopsis
For International Women's Day 2026, we have two amazing speakers who have inspired and driven change in testing. They are: Dot Graham Helen Whitaker both are leaders in testing.
Synopsis of Dot's talk: An Accidental Career in Software Testing - full details are to be shared shortly.
Synopsis of Helen's talk:
In this talk, Helen Whitaker shares how she discovered empathetic leadership not through formal management training, but through real-life experience in her career in software testing and QA. Starting with her background in Linguistics, Helen reflects on how her early interest in language, communication, and people quietly influenced how she showed up at work long before she ever thought of herself as a leader.Helen talks about the moments that helped her *realise* empathy really mattered at work - from her early days as a business user tester, to being supported by mentors who listened, trusted her, and helped her grow. She also reflects on seeing first-hand the difference between command-and-control leadership and leadership that puts people first, and how that shaped the kind of leader she wanted to be.
Helen will share how leading with empathy, trust, and psychological safety has enabled her to build high-performing QA teams, retain and develop talent, and support individuals to grow into leadership roles themselves. Drawing on real experiences, Helen will reflect on how practicing empathetic leadership has strengthened her own confidence as a leader, improved team outcomes, and helped her navigate challenges in a fast-paced and often male-dominated industry.
The talk will also offer practical reflections on how professionals can develop empathetic leadership in their own roles - from active listening and inclusive communication, to creating safe spaces for feedback, learning, and growth. Helen will show how small, intentional leadership behaviours can foster cultures of collaboration, continuous improvement, and shared ownership of quality.
About the speakers
Dot Graham: Dorothy has been in software testing for over 50 years, and is co-author of 5 books on testing and automation. As founder of Grove Consultants, she provided consultancy and training, and she has spoken at over 400 software testing events over the years. She established the wiki Test Automation Patterns with Seretta Gamba.
Helen Whitaker: Helen is an experienced QA Manager with over 20 years in software testing, including more than a decade in QA leadership roles. Her approach is grounded in empathetic leadership and a strong commitment to developing people and teams. By fostering cultures built on collaboration, trust, and continuous improvement, she works to create QA teams that set the benchmark for quality. She believes that quality is everyone’s responsibility, with QA acting as subject matter experts who coach teams to achieve better coverage and embed quality into everything they deliver.
Helen is passionate about supporting the wider Quality community and is a co-organiser of the South East Software Quality Meetup (SESQM). She has spoken at local Quality meetups and London Ministry of Testing events, appeared as a panel member on QE Babble discussing empathetic leadership, and been interviewed for BCS SIGiST magazine The Tester (edition 81) about her career path and leadership outlook. Helen will also be speaking at Testing Peers Conference 2026 on 12th March.
Our events are for adults aged 16 years and over.
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This event is brought to you by: Software Testing specialist group
