Grad Girls Virtual Tech Panel #4- What We'd Tell Our Graduate Selves Today
Description
Join us for our final Virtual Tech Panel of 2026, a reflective and honest conversation about what building a career in tech really looks like.
As the Grad Girl program starts to wrap up, this session centres on perspective, self-trust, and the reality that success rarely follows a straight line. Whether you're returning to study, changing industries, stepping into tech later than planned, taking an unconventional path, or juggling multiple responsibilities, this conversation is for you.
Our 4x Partner speakers will share what they wish they'd known earlier in their careers, from confidence dips and sitting with uncertainty, to unexpected pivots and career decisions, missed opportunities that became turning points, key transferable skills that helped them across their career, and long-term growth.
Session focus:
Normalising non-linear careers
Relief from feeling “behind” or “late”
Confidence, uncertainty and long-term growth
Balancing life, study, and career
Because careers don’t need to be figured out in your early 20s. Or your 30s. Or even your 40s. It's never 'too late' or 'too unconventional' to build a meaningful, sustainable career in tech.
📅 Wednesday 7 October 2026
⏰ 6:00pm - 7:30pm AEDT
📍 Online (Zoom link sent in confirmation email)
Exclusive to all 2026 Grad Girls participants across Victoria, Sydney & Brisbane.
Lineup
Emma Norman - Orikan
Emma is the Chief People Officer at Orikan, a global technology services and solutions organisation, but her career certainly didn't follow a straight line to get there. Over the past 25 years, she's worked across large financial institutions, digital scale-ups, and technology businesses backed by private equity, building experience in everything from customer advocacy and dispute resolution through to organisational transformation and executive leadership. Looking back, many of the skills she relies on today were developed in roles she never expected would shape her future career. Emma is a strong believer that careers are built through experiences rather than titles, and that some of the biggest growth opportunities come from saying "yes" to something new, even when it feels outside your comfort zone. She is passionate about developing future leaders, creating great workplace cultures, and helping people realise that it's perfectly okay not to have everything figured out from the start.
Mili Nambiar - INDEX Consultants
Mili is the Resource Delivery Manager at INDEX Consultants. She brings over a decade of experience in IT Consulting and Talent Acquisition, helping enterprise clients across ANZ, Asia and EMEA, solve complex business challenges. Her approach centres on understanding client pain points, identifying root causes and aligning solutions that are tailored to the client's business. Mili leads talent attraction and onboarding, and has delivered high-quality resources by building project resource pools, maintaining strong consultant engagement and enhancing effective resource allocation processes.
Rimma Piriatinski - IFM Investors
Rimma is an IT Business Partner at IFM Investors with more than 20 years of experience delivering technology and business transformation across the financial services industry. Throughout her career, she has held roles spanning business analysis, financial technology, product delivery and leadership, partnering with business and technology teams to deliver strategic initiatives and drive meaningful organisational change. Originally immigrating to Australia as a teenager with very limited English, Rimma's journey has been shaped by resilience, curiosity and a willingness to embrace opportunities. Passionate about helping people grow, Rimma enjoys mentoring others, fostering collaboration and making complex technology accessible. Outside of work, Rimma is a proud mum to three amazing humans. Balancing family, career growth, and lifelong learning has reinforced her belief that careers are rarely linear and that confidence is often built through action, not before it. Today, Rimma works at the intersection of technology and business, helping leaders navigate complex challenges, shape technology strategy and make the most of emerging opportunities including AI. A strong believer that there is no single “right” career path, Rimma is passionate and a strong advocate for continuous learning and encouraging women to pursue opportunities in STEM, on their own terms and regardless of where they start.
Tamara Allen - Victoria Police
Tamara is a cyber security professional with extensive experience spanning secure software development, technology leadership, and financial technology. Currently serving as a Secure Development Specialist with the Victorian Police, she provides guidance on secure development practices and cyber security uplift. Prior to this, Tamara spent almost nine years with global FinTech leader FIS, progressing through roles in software testing, business analysis, and development management, where she led teams delivering critical financial services solutions for major Australian institutions. She also holds an MBA in Finance and is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, having helped establish and lead initiatives supporting women in technology across the Asia-Pacific region.
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