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Women in Transport provides a varied and lively events programme with access to thought leaders, senior stakeholders and professional trainers. As the Secretariat to the All Party Parliamentary Group for women in transport we are committed to working with the UK government to increase the representation of women in the transport sector.
Our CEO, Sonya Veerasamy, reflects on a month packed full of activity for Women in Transport. We kicked off June with our joint APPG Summer Reception, held our quarterly board meeting, Anna Delvecchio made history, a team took on the Big Transport and Logistics Challenge and we ended the month celebrating International Women in Engineering Day with a brilliant members event hosted by Atkins.
A team of 10 members from Women in Transport competed in a series of physical, mental and skill-based challenges as part of the very first Big Logistics and Transport Diversity Challenge hosted by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT). More than 300 industry professionals participated in the event on Wednesday 26 June 2019 at Newark Showground to celebrate the Institute’s centenary year and promote the benefits of a diverse workforce to the transport and logistics sector.
In recognition of International Women in Engineering Day, we welcomed a line up of three fantastic women working in transport and focused on the importance of putting people at the heart of transport infrastructure design, at an event hosted by SNC Lanvalin’s Atkins.
We were delighted to be present at the 2019 everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards. This year's glittering event, held at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on 13th June, celebrated 14 winners. The 2019 winners revealed a wide and diverse range of career experiences and journeys, demonstrating the huge number of opportunities and possibilities in the transport industry. We were also delighted to see a number of Women in Transport members in this year’s finals.
Steve Griffiths joined Women in Transport as a mentor for the Advance 2019 cohort. He has since been a regular at networking events and joined our team for the Big Transport and Logistics Diversity Challenge in June. Here Steve discusses his experience as a mentor and his career advice for people working in transport.
Our most recent board member, Dorcas Ariyo-Francis, Volunteer Engagement Lead, talks about her work in the transport industry, how she got into the transport sector and how she would encourage more young people to pursue a career in the industry that she loves.
This Sunday marked the sixth International Women in Engineering Day (INWED). This international awareness day raises the profile of women in engineering, celebrates their success and focuses attention on the amazing career opportunities available to girls in this exciting industry. We’re delighted to share a series of great videos produced for INWED 2019 featuring Women in Transport member, Milda Pladaite from Hochtief UK, who is a civil engineer talking to our Patron and CEO of Crossrail, Mark Wild.
An unexpected bonus when we recently visited London Underground's Emergency Response Unit (ERU) was the opportunity to meet two senior women in transport who shared their career experiences and advice with our members; Kerri Rogan, Head of London Underground Network Command, and Chief Inspector Lisa Garrett of the British Transport Police.
Anna Delvecchio, one of our brilliant Women in Transport board members, has received unique recognition from the Rail Supply Group at the London Transport Museum. Sir Peter Hendy, Chairman of Network Rail and trustee of the Museum, along with Rail Minster Andrew Jones, unveiled a portrait of Anna at a Rail Supply Group Reception on 17 June 2019. Anna’s picture will now hang in the museum to inspire future generations of engineers and transport professionals.
2019 is the DfT Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Workforce (STAT) Year of Diversity for logistics and transport. STAT is a voluntary, cross-sector industry body that has been given the responsibility for promoting awareness and access to apprenticeships, sector diversity and transport as a career.
Launching the Year of Diversity at Portcullis House on 30 May, senior representatives from across the transport and logistics industry were asked to sign a pledge and help build a tool-kit for the future of inclusion in the sector.
Chris Grayling MP, Secretary of State for Transport gave the keynote speech at the joint summer reception of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Women in Transport and the APPG for Infrastructure (APPGI), saying increasing the number of women in the transport workforce is vital. The Secretary of State addressed APPG members and an audience of around 100 industry representatives from transport and infrastructure at the event held at the Institution of Civil Engineers in London last week.
Last month, we headed out to Reading for our first Spring Reception outside London. It was an inspirational evening with a keynote from Sir Peter Hendy CBE, Chair of Network Rail, followed by a panel discussion focusing on supporting career advancement for frontline and operational staff with women from across the transport sector who have direct experience of the issues, challenges and opportunities.
When we think of engineers it’s often the civil and structural types that come to mind. Last month, a lucky group of Women in Transport members had the opportunity to meet some of the hidden engineering heroes who help keep London moving on a visit to the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) at Acton.
46 individuals from the UK’s thriving Transport & Logistics industry have been announced today as finalists in the 2019 everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards programme including Women in Transport board members, Neil Pepper and Mailys Pineau.
Neil Pepper MBE, Night Construction Manager in Renewals and Enhancements at London Underground and board member for Women in Transport, shares his five tips for becoming a better male ally. Neil is our membership lead at Women in Transport and an incredibly supportive, kind and generous male ally totally committed to advancing women working in transport and encouraging more young people into careers in transport.
Did you know that 86% of women and 74% of men consider the diversity and inclusion policies of a potential employer when job seeking? Potential candidates clearly buy into the brand of their future employees. A compelling and attractive employer brand can attract more women by increasing awareness, building trust and ultimately increasing quality applications. Find out how you can identify the gaps and opportunities in your employer brand to attract more women in transport.
Isabel Coman is Project Director for Skanska Costain Strabag joint venture. Isabel is a chartered civil engineer, specialising in railway infrastructure and leading complex major projects. She has 22 years’ experience in the industry, is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and is a Board Director for High Speed Rail Industry Leaders (HSRIL). Isabel is passionate about improving our industry’s diversity and advancing women in transport. In this blog, she shares her advice for women in transport and discusses the importance of being authentic.
Last month, we held our Annual General Meeting bringing together our board and members to discuss our journey so far and future plans for Women in Transport. In this blog, Sonya Veerasamy discusses our journey from WTS London to Women in Transport, our future plans and how members can get involved as our network continues to grow.
Sharon Daly is the Chief Operating Officer at Steer. Sharon is accountable for the operational aspects across the company’s 20 offices in Europe, North America, South America and India. Sharon was a mentor in the pilot year of our Advance programme and has continued to meet with her mentee. In this guest blog, Sharon shares her experience of being an Advance mentor and shares her advice for women working in the transport sector looking to progress their career.
A group of members gained a fascinating insight into what it takes to keep London's traffic and people moving when they were invited to the viewing gallery of Transport for London's (TfL) Network Management Control Centre (NMCC).
From this privileged vantage point, right next to the control room floor, our hosts, Natasha Dimelow, Business Logistics Co-ordinator, and Kirsty Sherwood, Senior Network Manager (and Women in Transport board member), gave us a real insight into what's involved in this impressive 24/7, 365 day operation.
In a male-dominated sector, men are essential in championing and supporting the careers of women working in transport. 50% of our Advance mentors are men, in this blog, Matthew Reagan discusses how he became one of them and provides advice for women looking to progress in the transport sector.
TXM Recruit has sponsored the Advance mentoring programme for two years. TXM Group Director, Gary Lincoln, has been a mentor in both years. Here he discusses why TXM supports Women in Transport and why he is personally so passionate about promoting gender balance in transport and engineering.
On International Women’s Day, Women in Transport is delighted to announce a new partnership with Eurovia UK. The partnership demonstrates Eurovia UK’s commitment to improving and encouraging diversity in their own businesses and across the transport sector. The partnership will see 30 free memberships offered by Eurovia UK to women, and men, across its business.
Ministers across the Department for Transport (DfT) have written to industry leaders calling on them to take action to increase the availability of opportunities across the sector to women. Drawing this together, the DfT announced that it will shortly be holding a major round-table to look into the barriers preventing women from joining the sector.
Women in Transport celebrated International Women’s Day early in the Houses of Parliament. In a joint event with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Women in Transport and the Transport Select Committee, around 60 senior women from the transport sector attended to share their expertise with the aim of increasing female representation in the Transport Select Committee’s work.
Women in Transport board member, Jo Field, has been nominated for the inaugural Inspirational Woman in Public Affairs list. The list is being curated by Women in Public Affairs and Policy Mogul, ahead of International Women’s Day.
Women in Transport is often approached by businesses looking for practical ways to support and advance women in the transport sector. The Our Time toolkit is a free resource launched by the Mayor of London, developed in collaboration with Deloitte and the Greater London Authority functional bodies, to do just this. The Mayor would like to see it adopted across workplaces in London.
Gemma Hewitt, the lead for our North East hub, joined the panel of a joint energy and transport sector event focused on gender parity on Monday 4 March 2019. Working alongside other sector networks enables us to reach more women facing the same or similar issues in a different, but very much linked industry.
Last week, we discussed the importance of culture to promote gender balance in line with this year’s International Women’s Day theme - #BalanceforBetter. Today, we consider 12 practical ways to promote gender balance by attracting and retaining women in transport.
Our second event of 2019 focused on the challenges and opportunities of major infrastructure projects that involve development over and near rail sites in central London. The technical talk was generously hosted by Robert Bird Group in their Southwark office and attended by more than 80 men and women across the transport sector.
