Judges

How they were picked

The judging of the Dynamites Awards is completed via five judging panels: People, Culture & Talent, Growth & Impact, Technical Innovation, Marketing & Social Impact, and Individual Achievement. Each panel consists of experts with specialist knowledge in the awards categories, carefully selected to ensure a fair and representative judging process. The panels will review and score submissions in their categories, deciding on the shortlist and ultimately the winners.

  • People, Culture & Talent Panel: judging the Outstanding Workplace, Skills Developer, and EDI categories.

  • Growth & Impact Panel: judging the Growth Explosion, Tech Startup, and International Success categories.

  • Technical Innovation Panel: judging the Best Use of Data and AI, Project Excellence, and Remarkable Innovation categories.

  • Marketing & Social Impact Panel: judging the Marketing Impact and Tech for Good categories.

  • Individual Achievement Panel: judging the Rising Star and Tech Champion categories.

The judges are invited by Dynamo based on their relevant experience and knowledge of the industry, and to ensure that the panels are diverse and inclusive. They represent a wide range of well-established businesses, cutting-edge start-ups, universities, and public sector organisations. Each judge brings a unique perspective and expertise, ensuring the awards are judged fairly and transparently.

Throughout the judging process, all judges maintain strict confidentiality, and results remain under wraps until they are announced on the night of the awards ceremony. By bringing together a diverse range of experts with deep knowledge of the digital sector, we can guarantee a fair and rigorous judging process that truly celebrates the very best of the North East’s technology industry.

To ensure a consistent and thorough approach, our Chair of Judges participates in every panel discussion, helping to oversee the process and maintain the highest standards across all categories.

Keep an eye out as we continue to add more amazing judges to our panels.

Judges

Taya Reynolds

Chief Technology Officer

Chair of Judges

Phil O’Neil

Head Of Department Digital Technologies and Games

Outstanding Workplace

Stuart Redshaw

IT Manager

Tech for Good

Lee Gilmore

AWS Practice Lead & Principal Architect

Project Excellence

Paul Wealls

Principal Solutions Consultant

Remarkable Innovation

Suzanne Angell

Public Sector Director

Rising Star

Jon Leighton

Director

Marketing & Social Impact

Andrea Bowyer

Document Productivity Product Owner

Technical Innovation

Fay Cooper

Chief Product Officer

Marketing & Social Impact

Leon Howe

Incubation Manager

Growth & Impact

Paul McMurray

Custom App Engineering Assoc Manager

Marketing & Social Impact

Andrew Muncaster

Head of Technology & Data

Growth & Impact

Michele Gettins

Chief Marketing Officer

Marketing & Social Impact

Richard Lane

Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer

Individual Achievement

Cameron Smith

Head of People Success

People, Culture & Talent

Zara Lane

Origination Director

LDC

Growth Explosion

Jon Dudgeon

Co-Founder and CEO

Growth & Impact

Barry Hodgson

Director of Strategy

Technical Innovation

Izy Herrera

Head of Marketing

Individual Achievement

Vickie Walsh

Agile Delivery Lead

People, Culture & Talent

Danielle Phillips

Chief Executive Officer

Individual Achievement

Jo Mcgovern

Chief Operating Office

People, Culture & Talent

Holli Taylor

Head of Marketing

Individual Achievement

Darren Curry

Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer

Technical Innovation