Dame Stephanie Shirley
斯蒂芬妮·雪莉女爵士
Software Industry Pioneer Who Signed Letters as 'Steve'
“In those days, I had to use the name Steve to get past the door.”
“在那个年代，我不得不用Steve这个名字才能敲开商业的大门。”
— TED Talk, 2015
Biography
Born Vera Buchthal in Dortmund, Germany, Stephanie Shirley arrived in Britain as a Kindertransport child refugee in 1939. In 1962, she founded Freelance Programmers — a software company staffed almost entirely by women working from home, decades before remote work became mainstream. She adopted the name 'Steve' to combat the sexism that prevented her business letters from receiving replies. Her company, later renamed FI Group, grew to employ over 8,500 people and was valued at $3 billion. She has since donated over £67 million to charity, particularly for autism research.
斯蒂芬妮·雪莉原名维拉·布赫塔尔，出生于德国多特蒙德，1939年作为儿童运输计划的难民抵达英国。1962年，她创办了自由程序员公司——一家几乎全由女性在家办公的软件公司，比远程办公成为主流早了几十年。她采用'Steve'这个名字来对抗性别歧视，因为她以女性名字寄出的商业信函总是得不到回复。她的公司后来更名为FI Group，员工超过8,500人，市值达30亿美元。此后她已捐赠超过6,700万英镑用于慈善事业，特别是自闭症研究。
Key Achievements
Founded Freelance Programmers (1962), pioneering remote work
创办自由程序员公司（1962年），开创远程工作模式
Built FI Group into a $3 billion company
将FI Group发展为价值30亿美元的公司
Donated over £67 million to charity
捐赠超过6,700万英镑用于慈善
References & Citations
- Wikipedia: Steve Shirley — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Shirley
- Shirley, Stephanie. Let It Go: My Extraordinary Story. Penguin, 2012.
- TED Talk: Why do ambitious women have flat heads? 2015
