Philanthropy and Letting IT Go - Dame Stephanie Shirley

Dame Stephanie Shirley, the software pioneer and philanthropist, gave the final key note speech of the day and was truly inspirational.

She shared her life story, telling us how she came to England as a refugee in 1939 at the age of five unaccompanied except for her older sister and how they were taken in by a foster family. As the recipient of such great charity, Dame Shirley said she was ‘determined to make her life one worth saving’.

Discussing her attitude to philanthropy she said, ‘the more I give away, the richer my life has become.’ But Shirley only gives on a ‘reciprocal basis’ so neither party involved in the transaction is beholden to the other.

Dame Shirley’s wealth and success was made in IT. She set up the first software company run by women in 1962 at a time when there were few computers and no-one selling software to pioneering home working that suited women with children. She said she was on a ‘crusade’ for women because no one expected much from them and she couldn’t accept that. She wanted opportunities for herself and for other women and even joked that she had had to change her name from Stephanie to Steve on occasion to secure a meeting.

She admitted that she set up the business without any experience of running an organisation, but this gave her freedom to innovate and to make mistakes and move on. Today, she believes that balanced teams of men and women produce the most balanced outcomes.

Following her business success, she went ‘from IT entrepreneur to ardent philanthropist’ and set up The – with a particular focus on charities that combat .

One of the key reasons for this was that her son Giles was profoundly autistic from the age of 2 and tragically died aged 35. Her charities now include Priors Court School in Newbury and UK, a charity which funds and campaigns for research to understand the , improve diagnosis, and develop evidence-based interventions.

These days, Dame Shirley focuses solely on giving – she said ‘philanthropy is all I do now’ and she feels ‘so lucky that every day she has something to get up for’.

Through her generous philanthropy, she is making a huge difference to the lives of many people. Dame Shirley received a standing ovation from the audience for her wonderful speech. She has produced a memoir called ‘Let IT Go’ and we will certainly be reading it soon.