Paulette Watson MBE is the Founder and CEO of Academy Achievers, a non-profit organisation that focuses on working with children and young people from vulnerable, marginalised communities. Specialising in STEM and web3, Academy Achievers is a catalyst for empowerment, creativity, and hope that the youth of today become the leaders of tomorrow.
For Watson, a computer scientist by trade, her journey into STEM was shaped by family, persistence, and a refusal to accept systems that leave people behind.
Watson’s father was an engineer, and her mother a musician and teacher, and their combination of technical and creative influence was the bedrock of her road into STEM and education. Becoming a computer science teacher was “one of the highlights” of Watson’s life because it was an opportunity for her to empower young people and to show them “what role models look like.”
Noticing Who Isn’t in the Room
By the mid-1990s, Watson had completed a master’s degree in Information Communication Technology, just as the digital revolution was beginning. From early on, she understood the “power of technology to transform opportunities” for different people and that the digital skills she had been studying “were becoming the gateway to economic mobility, innovation, and influence.”
However, as much as she was excited by the prospect of what technology could achieve, she was also aware of how few black women were visible in technology driving this transformation. She remembers the late 90s as a time when “women, especially black women, were significantly underrepresented [and] that awareness became my motivation.”
Over the years, Watson moved from teaching into digital transformation work in schools and large-scale initiatives that connected education, technology, and industry. This evolved into her leadership of Academy Achievers and the BeMeDigital Inclusion Initiative, both of which focused on building inclusive tech ecosystems and opening pathways into AI, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies for women and young people globally.
“For me, STEM was never just about technology. It has always been about equity, opportunity, and shaping the future.”
When the Door Won’t Open – Build Your Own
As the only black woman in many of the technological and leadership spaces she frequented, Watson faced her fair share of barriers. Some of the experiences she recalls are feelings of isolation, having her expertise questioned, and encountering systems that were “not designed with people like me in mind.”
Fresh from her Master’s degree, Watson applied for a role as a Director of Education and Tech at a local council, and it was a moment that changed the course of her future.
Having the weight of her degree behind her, Watson felt supremely qualified for the role. “I knew that this job was mine, because I basically … ate up the job description.”
She made it to the final two candidates – herself and a white male candidate – and delivered a visionary presentation which outlined a future that included AI, big data, and a bold digital strategy for the borough.
But her vision was too visionary.
“I was so ahead, literally 20 years ahead, they just couldn’t understand what I was even talking about … I was rejected.”
However, that rejection became a turning point, pushing her to think past her own career trajectory and towards structural change.
“I realised that … we must build structures that enable others to enter and thrive in these spaces … If the door doesn’t exist, build one, and if the system excludes people, redesign it.”
That mindset ultimately led Watson to create BeMeDigital Inclusion and the broader ecosystem of programmes, platforms, and communities that are reshaping the pipeline into tech.
Building an Ecosystem
Watson describes her role as CEO of Academy Achievers as “dynamic.”
Day to day, she works across partnership opportunities with industry leaders and organisations, digital inclusion programmes, mentoring women and young people in technology, speaking at global events on responsible AI leadership and digital equity, and supporting organisations as a judge, advisor, and thought leader in tech and innovation.
Despite winning numerous awards, Watson says it isn’t a single award or title that she feels is her greatest achievement. Instead, it is the living, breathing ecosystem that she and her collaborators have built.
One of the things she is most proud of “is that our work isn’t just theoretical. It’s about building more pathways into careers in AI, Cloud computing, and emerging technologies.”
“My greatest achievement really is seeing all these women and girls. The impact is wild. It’s amazing … We’re seeing the BeMe model being repeated across the globe.”
And the BeMe programme is indeed global – spanning the UK, Cape Verde, Jamaica, Ghana, and beyond.
Through the initiative’s five core pillars of digital skills development, mentorship and career pathways, industry partnership, entrepreneurship and innovation, and community leadership, it enables women and young people to develop technical, leadership, and sustainability skills in an environment that is safe and welcoming.
“She Disrupts”: The Responsibility of Recognition
For Watson, receiving an MBE was “an incredible, humbling moment,” not just on a personal level, but also because it recognised “the importance of digital inclusion … and ensuring that women and young people, [and] underrepresented communities, have access to the digital economy.”
Receiving an MBE wasn’t the goal for Watson.
She did it because she “wanted those young girls to win.”
At the palace, she was told:
“We’ve been watching your work … we’ve seen that you’ve written your book. We know everything about the work you’ve done.”
The book in question is She Disrupts, and it is “both a memoir and a call to action.”
It recounts her journey as a black woman navigating science, technology, and AI, while interrogating questions of equity, leadership, and innovation.
One of its core messages is that “technology will shape the future of society, and therefore the people building technology must reflect the diversity of society.”
“For us as women … because we’re not included, we’re the ones that are left behind.”
The transformative effect of the recognition ripple is something that Watson has witnessed firsthand. She recalls attending an event at NatWest where a staff member, upon seeing her name, “started to bow,” and told her that the honour showed “whatever you’ve done, you’ve been recognised.”
Girls, Disrupted: A Message to the Next Generation
For Watson, diversity in tech is not a box-ticking exercise.
“It’s not about representation; it’s about who has influence, who shapes decisions, and whose ideas are valid or important.”
Talking about AI in particular, she warns that systems inevitably “reflect the perspective of those who design them,” and without diverse voices, technology can “unintentionally reinforce inequalities.”
In her experience of working with girls and young women around the world, this belief has also reframed how she sees the so-called ‘pipeline problem’.
“A lot of girls are brilliant … for me, the problem is access. It’s never to do with their capabilities, just access, because once they have access, they will soar.”
“Don’t wait for permission to lead … build your community … own your voice … go out there and just do it. Build, build!”
“[Technology] needs diverse perspectives to solve global challenges.”
The industry doesn’t just want you – it needs you.
This article originally appeared in the April’26 magazine issue of Electronic Specifier Design – see ES’s Magazine Archives for more featured publications.
