Aero Commerce backs Tech She Can with matched appeal

Aero Commerce has launched a fundraising initiative for UK charity Tech She Can and pledged to match donations up to GBP £500, highlighting the gender participation gap in the tech workforce.

The campaign, timed to coincide with International Women's Day, runs until the end of April. Aero Commerce has set up a JustGiving page and will match the total raised pound for pound, up to the cap.

Tech She Can works with more than 240 organisations across the UK. The charity runs educational programmes and produces resources focused on technology careers, targeting girls, women and other underrepresented groups.

Women remain underrepresented in technology roles, with a sharper drop at leadership levels. Estimates shared by Aero Commerce put women at around 28% of the global tech workforce. In the UK, women account for about 23% of core STEM roles.

Aero Commerce also pointed to signs of backsliding, saying the number of women in tech roles has declined in recent years despite ongoing diversity efforts across the sector.

Pipeline pressures

Aero Commerce links the participation gap to entry points into education and early-career pathways, as well as hiring and retention patterns. It cited limited access to STEM education, gender bias in recruitment and retention challenges as key drivers, alongside factors such as lower salaries and fewer promotion opportunities.

The company said the issue is particularly relevant for eCommerce and logistics, where software and data roles sit alongside operational technology and digitally managed supply chains. Online retail depends on software development, infrastructure, payments, data science and digital marketing, as well as logistics systems that support warehouse operations and delivery networks.

A constrained talent pipeline is a recurring theme for employers across the UK tech sector, particularly in areas that require specialist skills and experience. Aero Commerce said uneven participation limits the pool available to businesses across eCommerce and its supporting industries.

It also referenced McKinsey research on links between diversity and financial outcomes, noting that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are more likely to outperform on profitability than those in the bottom quartile.

Education focus

Aero Commerce chose Tech She Can because of the charity's focus on education and career pathways. The firm said early exposure, role modelling and structured support can influence confidence and participation among girls and young women considering technology-focused routes.

The initiative reflects a wider trend in employer-backed programmes that look beyond recruitment and workplace policies. Many efforts now put more weight on school engagement, mentoring and visibility of technical roles. Companies have also broadened their focus beyond software engineering to include data, cyber security, hardware and emerging areas such as AI.

For eCommerce businesses, the stakes span a broad set of roles. Engineering teams build and maintain storefronts, mobile apps and integration layers. Data teams shape personalisation, forecasting and measurement. Payments and fraud teams manage risk and compliance. Marketing technology teams connect customer data with advertising systems.

A lack of diversity can narrow perspectives during product design and decision-making. Aero Commerce said better representation can influence how organisations build products and how well services reflect user needs.

Matching donations

The matching pledge sets a defined ceiling for Aero Commerce's contribution while encouraging employee and community participation. Matched funding is a common corporate fundraising approach because it gives donors a clear sense of amplification and a time-bound reason to contribute.

Aero Commerce expects the campaign to involve its network of agency partners and retailers, positioning the matching commitment as a way to increase the total raised and sustain attention beyond a single awareness moment.

Sofia Furtado, Marketing Coordinator at Aero Commerce, linked the fundraising drive to long-term workforce considerations across the digital economy.

"Ecommerce is built on technology, and technology is built and used by real people. If we want a stronger, more innovative digital economy, we need to widen the talent pipeline and make it genuinely accessible. The gender gap in tech isn't just an abstract diversity metric. It's a constraint on potential. When an industry limits who participates, it limits the ideas, perspectives and solutions it can produce. Diverse teams build better products, make stronger decisions and better reflect the customers they serve. But this goes beyond commercial outcomes. Representation shapes confidence and contribution. When people feel genuinely seen and valued in their professions and communities, they participate more fully and contribute more meaningfully. The economic and societal value of that is immeasurable. At Aero, we recognise that meaningful progress is built over time. It requires sustained effort, investment and collective responsibility across education, industry and policy. Our support for Tech She Can is a modest but intentional contribution-one small way we can help widen access, increase visibility and play our part in long-term change."

The fundraiser will continue through April, with Aero Commerce maintaining its commitment to match donations up to the GBP £500 limit.