Why does MotherBoard matter to you? – feat. Cyber-Duck

We caught up with Danny Bluestone, Founder and CEO of Cyber-Duck, one of MotherBoard’s founding signatories. Cyber-Duck is the UK’s leading sustainability data consultancy committed to driving positive change.

MotherBoard is a community, meetup series & charter that has been created to drive positive change throughout the UK Technology and Data sectors, all about creating environments that support the inclusion of working mothers.

Why did you become a signatory of the MotherBoard Charter and why does it matter to you?

The simple answer is a working mum on my team told me about it. She’d not had a great experience in a previous role. She’d lost confidence after her time away on maternity leave. And found herself slightly side-lined and facing ‘maternal wall bias‘, which assumed she was now less committed to her job and career advancement. I took one look at the Charter and immediately decided to sign. 

I was raised by hugely capable, and incredibly dedicated, working Mum. An asset to any business who employed her. All she, and other mums really needed, was some flexibility in working hours and style. But many businesses view mums as a liability, not an opportunity.

Many professions are dominated by one gender due to education, cultural norms, historic gender discrimination and, critically, women being the birthing parent and often taking a lead caring role. We found some job roles barely had 30% of applications from women. Working mums should feel fully included and supported in the workplace to reach their full potential, without having to sacrifice family life. 

We’ve tackled this in practical ways at Cyber-Duck – offering flexible hours and remote working across the board. Actively uplifting talented women and mums by showing them the door is firmly open for them, by signing the Charter, along with fertility and menopause policy. We’re proud we now have as many women as men on our UX team, after starting with almost zero. There’s still more to do, but we are well on the journey.