To celebrate International Women’s Day, we held two open panel discussions focusing on inclusivity with some of our workforce of all levels from around the business. We held two sessions throughout the day, one virtual and one in-person, to ensure colleagues from around the world were able to join us.
International Women's Day is the perfect opportunity to reach out to the women who make up our workforce to find out if we’re doing enough to promote inclusivity.
For each of our sessions, we had different guest speakers. The first one was held virtually to incorporate our staff from our bases around the world. These included Wildlife Preparedness and Response Manager; Franchesca Rouse, Creative Content Lead; Sharon Koh, and Finance Director; Richard Morrish.
In the afternoon, our second session comprised of our Chief Executive Officer; Vania De Stefani, Senior Preparedness Solutions Advisor, Leina Chong-Pan, Technical Training and Development Advisor, Rhea Shears and Global L & D Manager, Dean Wasche.
The conversation among the panel and the participating audience was a great insight into the varied backgrounds of our colleagues and how their experiences have impacted their behaviours and attitudes within our organisation today.
The discussions ranged from the importance of mentorships and sponsorship programmes to support career growth, how men can be advocates for women in a professional setting and what our organisation can do to incorporate an inclusive and supportive culture for all employees, regardless of gender.
Our Chief Executive Officer, Vania De Stefani, spoke about her commitment to improving inclusion: “I’m probably the strongest believer in inclusion and diversity. My personal reflection regarding creating an inclusive organisation is that the company leadership team should demonstrate a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. They should lead by example, communicate the importance of diversity, and hold themselves and others accountable for progress.”
It was an intuitive day listening to individual’s ideas and suggestions on how we could adopt a more inclusive environment in the workplace. It gave colleagues a chance to share stories over a cupcake and a coffee after listening to our speakers and give their own insights on how we can better promote inclusivity and embrace diversity in our offices around the world.