Hey! I'm Ella. I've got two sisters, a boyfriend called Tom and mates that live all around the world. I grew up in the UAE, studied my bachelors (BSc Psychology) and master's (MA Social & Political Though) in Leeds and I now live in London. I sometime's have a shit time with my mental health, mainly anxiety, and I get migraines a lot, but I try really hard to improve both of these things. I talk about them a lot on Twitter. I'm a big believer in talking publicly and openly about taboo subjects and think doing so demystifies and normalizes these things. For example, I recently had pre-cancerous cells removed from my cervix and felt like that was something I should talk about publicly, because the nurse told me most women don't attend their smears because they're scared or embarrassed (it really isn't as scary/ bad/ painful as it seems, even the getting cells removed part). But, I'm also a big believer in privacy and I'm wary of over sharing and getting too emotionally involved online. 

 

Professionally:

I am a freelance user researcher. And I manage operational support at Democracy Club.

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The post to read to get to know me better:

25 things at 25

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I'm part of several communities and I attend several regular meetups in London, including:

• Candles 

• a11y

• Triangles

• Liberating Structures

• London Accessibility Meetup

• Service Lab London

• The Research Thing

• GovTech 

• London Gov Design Meetup

• CitizenBeta

• All Bright

• Code First: Girls

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Features

• Makers and mental health

• Are humans the weakest link in cyber security?

• How Books Have Helped Ella Botting, Founder of CyberWomen, with Just About Every Decision Made

• Inspiring Figure: Ella Botting

• Performing at the Dubai World Cup

• Flashmob at Dubai Mall

• Performing at Dubai Shopping Festival

• Ambassador for Code First: Girls Bermondsey cohort

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Talks (ellabotting@cyberwomen.co.uk for access)

The Imposter Syndrome's Guide to Public Speaking @ Triangirls 

Career Stuff @ Women in Tech Network for the Digital, Data & Technology Civil Service Fast Stream

User research during political uncertainty @ Home Office Digital quarterly meet up

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My actions and life in general used to be dictated by my anxiety. But check out these cool things I've overcome:

• My fear of public speaking

• Getting therapy for my PTSD

• Having pre-cancerous cells removed from my cervix 

• Quitting my super secure civil service job and going freelance

• Needles - I can get a blood test now without passing out!!

• Solo travel (Melbourne, Sydney & New York) and did I mention I HATE flying

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Let's go for  ☕ find me @botting_ella/ Ella Botting✌

Or email me at ellabotting@cyberwomen.co.uk