DAWN CARTER - Head of Data Architecture at Canada Life

Beyond the Dashboard:Dawn Carter on Inclusion,Architecture, and People-First Leadership

Diversity & Accessibilityin Data

You’ve spoken passionately about making data and technology accessible to everyone, not just those already in the room. What practical steps do you think organisations and industry events could take to create genuinely inclusive experiences — from deaf awareness to mobility access and quieter spaces?

Inclusion isn't about being invited into the room and being told to play nice. If you have to change who you are to "fit" in, then you don't belong, you're just surviving in a world that wasn't builtfor you.

This is personal for me. I am part of a signing choir, where songs are translated to British Sign Language (BSL) to make music accessible to the D/deaf community. I'm also on the board of Epilepsy Scotland, having been diagnosed with Epilepsy at 14. So, when I talk about accessibility, it's a lived experience.

I attend numerous events and conferences, and I am always shocked by the lack of accessibility. Most recently I attended a large, well-known event where I witnessed people tripping over the exhibitor stages, mobility scooters almost toppling over, only one lift in the building working despite having stages across multiple floors, and countless people remarking how over-stimulated they found itto be.

Would it be so difficult for a major conference to add live captions? Or provide quiet spaces for when the noise and lights get too much? These aren't luxuries if we actually mean "everyoneis welcome".

One group I see leading the way on this is Women in Data - their flagship event has introduced a quiet space, welcomed mums with their infants, and the event has BSL interpreters. This is how you make people feel like they belong.

The same concept applies to how we enable people to consume data. Self-serve doesn't add value if the only people it serves is your data team. It's about enabling people to make informed decisions with the information they have. If we make it so complicated, or inaccessible, then we've lost the point of what we do, and why we do it.

The Iceberg of Architecture

Often, businesses only see the “tip of the iceberg” — the dashboards and insights — without recognising the governance, technology, and architecture beneath. How do you persuade stakeholders that this hidden work is an enabler of long-term value, not a blocker?

This is my most used analogy. Businesses see the shiny dashboards or reports (the bit above the water) but rarely do they pay attention to what's lurking underneath... the architecture, governance, integrations.

Being a data leader means standing up for what's right, not what's easy. Sometimes that makes me the awkward voice in the room, the professional feather ruffler or a trusted agitator (thanks Caroline Carruthers).

Communicating the Invisible

In your view, what are the most effective ways to communicate the importance of strong data foundations — architecture, governance, integration — to senior leaders who may be more focused on short-term results?

The trick to getting buy-in isn't to just show them diagrams (I'm an architect - I love a good diagram) but to show them what's in it for them. Finance wants trusted numbers. Sales want consistent pipelines or single views of customers. Operations want to spend less time firefighting. But how do we do all that if we don't understand what our data is, what we meant by the terms, where we find it and how it relates to other data? Everyone wants data but no one wants to take ownership for it.

If it was easy we'd all have solved it by now. We are playing catch up on the rising speed of Data including AI, which means many organisations that haven't invested in the enabling foundations are trying to build on sand, and there's a very expensive lesson in not having money to do things right, and having to find money to do it wrong more than twice. How do we do just enough, just in time?

One of my other favourite analogies to use is Ikea ( or Argos for those of us old enough to remember that) to tell the importance of data catalogues. You see a wardrobe you like on display in the marketplace, but you can't just lift it up and pop it in your house. You check the ticket, and it will tell you where to find it in the warehouse. Off you go to aisle 26, location 4, and find three boxes that you can put on your trolley and take home. But now you have to build it according to the instructions.... sound familiar to what your data team have been talking about - knowing the data you want/need, knowing where to find it, getting at it and joining it together to give you the output you want/need.

You have to bring it to life with pictures people get - data isn't as scary as people think it is.

People-First Leadership

You emphasise that “technology only works if people do.” How do you approach growing teams, nurturing talent, and building environments where people feel motivated to do their best work?

For me, leadership starts with knowing people are humans. I know what it feels like when my team has my back and when I have theirs.

Technology will continue to change, the tech we use, new developments are being created at speeds we can barely keep up with... so what's the constant? People, adaptability and the ability to learn in a safe space. A safe space to fail, to learn and safe to succeed - whatever that means for them.

And yes, that means making bold calls. Protecting your team, saying no to unrealistic deadlines and most of all challenging "that's how we've always done it". Those choices aren't always popular, but they build loyalty, creativity, and long-term results. They make you a leader of people not just a people manager

Ultimately, it's about standing up for what's right, not what's easy.

The best leaders I have had have given me stretched targets and said "I believe in you, I've got you" to get a more productive Dawn, and a much happier Dawn - and she is a force!

Authenticity in a Changing World

From AI-written CVs to the pressure of networking, it’s easy to feel like authenticity gets lost. What advice would you give to women in data about building their careers and networks while staying true to themselves?

Let's be honest, AI writing CVs to be read by AI? That's not authenticity, that's parody.

My advice, don't contort yourself into someone else's mould. When I first said I wanted to be a data architect I was told I had "too much personality" for that. Good - it's what makes me a great data architect and data leader - it's what I'm known for.

I recall being asked to write about my unconventional career journey and I wrote an article about why I think it's ok to be selfish. I was told it was "too provocative", and the editor wanted to change my words to soften it. My response? Don't publish it then. You asked me because you wanted to hear my voice then tried to silence it.

That's the thing about authenticity: you have to know your non-negotiables. What are your boundaries? Because if you stand for nothing, you fall for everything - yes that's a Katy Perry reference.

So, my advice, be unapologetically you. Share your story. Find your cheerleaders and those that genuinely support what you do. Harsh truth - no one cares about your career more than you. So, carve it out how you want, and if you don't know how to do that - find someone in that position and ask them how they got there, find your way of doing it, then smash it. You only get one shot at life, and no one gets out alive.

Don't be afraid to ask for what you want. That's when my ex-team member coined #BeMoreDawn - the number of times that I have gotten something/somewhere just because I was brazen enoughto ask.