Our CEO Sonya Byers OBE recaps our London launch of Women in Transport’s 20th anniversary year.
June has started with a wow for Women in Transport marking an important milestone in our history at the London Transport Museum.
Over two days, we welcomed more than 200 guests to this iconic location kick-starting a year of celebrations for our 20th Anniversary. It was an opportunity to celebrate our history and evolution, look to the future and connect and network with our volunteers, members and partners from across the UK.
Two days filled with positive energy
I’ve been a member of this brilliant network for 18 years and it remains the best professional decision I ever made — truly life changing! From being a member making connections and building my skills through events to becoming a volunteer as Events Chair, leading the rebrand to Women in Transport as Vice President to being appointed our first Chief Executive and leading our organisation through a pandemic into regional expansion across the UK.
I’m so thankful to every single individual and company that has been part of our journey so far and to everyone who made this celebration truly memorable.
There was such a positive energy throughout the two days that I am still smiling now as I write this. We had a host of activities including a treasure hunt through the museum, writing inspirational postcards to encourage young girls into a career in transport, and live-recording our members’ stories. We look forward to sharing these over the coming months.
Our guests included Sue Percy, CEO of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) and Dr Victoria Hills , CEO of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), one of our founding members and former board member.
We were also joined by male allies from across industry including Glen Lyons (President of the CIHT), Xavier Brice (CEO of Sustrans), Ben Plowden (CEO of Campaign for Better Transport) and Charlie Laing (Master of the Worshipful Company of Paviours).
Reflecting on 20 years, looking ahead to the next 20
We launched ‘Hi Vis’, our interactive visual timeline of Women in Transport’s history and evolution, in recognition of all the work done to raise the visibility of women across our sector.
Rachel Skinner CBE, past president and Patron, and founding board member, Lauren Sager-Weinstein, reflected on why and when the network was founded - creating a community for women working in transport to connect. It’s thanks to these visionary women that our organisation exists and has thrived through challenging times through the dedication and hard work of a small group of volunteers that has grown to 100 today.
We were delighted to welcome Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor of London for Transport, as a keynote speaker reinforcing our shared values of prompting inclusion and the benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Lilian Greenwood, Minister for the Future of Roads, reinforced this message stating "if we don't have the right people in the room we won't make the right choices". Lilian has been a long time supporter and advocate of Women in Transport.
Our current president, Jo Field, reflected on the rapid growth and strengthening of our organisation. Jo reminded us of the importance and significance of Women in Transport’s work in these challenging geopolitical times.
Jo reflected on her personal journey with Women in Transport over the last ten years, including the formation of our All-Party Parliamentary Group for Women in Transport which was a transformational moment in our evolution.
The next stage of our journey to take us forward for the next 20 years has involved the Board, Jo and I sharpening our governance processes and structures to match the size and scale that we are now. In line with best practice for non-profit companies in the UK, Jo will be adopting the title of Chair of Women in Transport, replacing the President role. Jo is due to step down at our AGM next year, so in the next 12 months she will be leading the recruitment process for a new Chair.
We’re not standing still
Our 20th Anniversary celebrations continued throughout the week with a joint event in Edinburgh hosted by our Scotland Hub with Women in Rail. There will be further celebrations across our Regional Hubs in the coming months.
So what’s next? No resting on our laurels here at Women in Transport! In the next few months, we will be publishing our second Equity Index report, whitepapers on Menopause and Intergenerational Workforces, bringing together industry around inspiring the next generation into transport, and continuing our work on women’s safety and diversity and inclusion in bus. All of this alongside the delivery of our events, mentoring and leadership programmes for our members.
Our heartfelt thanks to our volunteers, members and partners for helping us celebrate in style. With particular thanks to:
Our 20th anniversary event sponsors: Capita, Unicard, Kier Group, FM Conway Ltd, West 36 Coaching, INIT Group, Highway Traffic Management, First Bus, Arup and Passenger.
Our goody bag sponsors: Transport for London, West 36 Coaching, Tesco, Lothian Buses and Road Haulage Association (RHA).
Steve Griffiths for the months of tireless work to bring the two days of celebration together.
Our 20th Anniversary project team: James Hogg, Jo Pobrotyn and Dal Kalirai.
Kelly Marie Photography for capturing the celebrations.
Josh Knott-Fayle at Inside Out Group for capturing our members’ stories on film.
Event volunteers who supported on the day: Jo Field, Marny Moruzzi, Matthew Regan, Angela Gainsford, Alison Cartwright, Donna Howard, Joanna Hill, Chloe Williams.
Don’t forget you still have the chance to share your own stories of working in transport over the past 20 years. We’d love to hear them, and there are several ways you can get involved.