David spent his early career in technical roles, initially with Digital Unix Mainframes (showing his age), then Sun Solaris and Apache web servers, before specialising in data as a DBA. He is now the Director at Data Idols, a recognised leader in the data recruitment industry. He has successfully scaled data functions for some of the UK’s best-known technology companies. He is a serial entrepreneur and founder of the Create Communities network, The Data Science Festival, Two Beer Ideas and the Founders500 community. Outside the world of data, he has a weird talent for attracting stray dogs on holiday, loves fish and chips by the sea and has successfully co-launched a yoga business.

Jess has been part of the Create Communities network since 2015 and runs over 100 events per year for their growing, diverse communities. She has worked for over a decade in the event sector, helping to build start-up's, offer strategy, creative direction and leadership. She has built communities through events all over the world and has extensive experience in helping to build communities for businesses and in all aspects of event management and promotions. She is passionate about getting young girls into STEM, inspiring women to take leadership roles and giving underrepresented people a platform to have their voices heard. Having grown up in Hong Kong, Canada and the UK, she is driven to bring people together to share in cultural diversity.

Lizzie joined the events team with the Create Communities network in 2021. She has been integral to growing the Data Science Festival and putting together the planning and logistics around our biggest events. She creates order out of chaos and likes a colour coded spreadsheet and a to do list. Her passion for diversity and bringing like minded people together has helped her to create a welcoming space for our new community members. Outside of work, she loves discovering new music on Spotify, doing nail art and wouldn’t say no to a city break.

As an Events Assistant at Create Communities, Maddie heads up the Data Idols event program, as well as working closely on logistics at the Data Science Festival and Founders500. She has worked at the company helping them to develop each of their three diverse communities in the UK and online internationally. Running over 50 events per year, Maddie has a vast level of experience in all areas of event organisation, while consistently developing her knowledge of the industry as a whole. She thrives on logistics, providing a fresh perspective, and is passionate about maintaining inclusivity within the community. Outside of work, she enjoys discovering her new daylist on Spotify, baking and going on long sunny holidays.