In Conversation with Dame Stephanie Shirley

Dame Stephanie ‘Steve’ Shirley was named by BBC 4’s Women’s Hour as one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK. Now 86 she is one of Britain’s leading philanthropists donating her money to charities that are close to her heart.

In 1962 Shirley created a software company when the concept of software barely existed. Through Freelance Programmers, Shirley empowered a generation of women in technology giving them unheard of freedom to choose their own hours and manage their own workloads. The business thrived and Shirley gradually transferred ownership to her staff creating 70 millionaires in the process.

Here she chats to Debbie about her trailblazing career, why she’s found way more fulfilment from giving away her wealth than she did from amassing it in the first place. She charts her incredible personal story - her dramatic arrival in England as an unaccompanied Kindertrasport refuge during World War Two and the tragic loss of her only child who suffered severely from autism.

In such a candid interview she reveals her emotional battles, the impact of the loss of a child and how finding purpose helped her to live with her past.