My involvement with Women in Rail started when I became a mentor as part of the Mentoring Programme back in 2016. I was excited at what Women in Rail stood for.
Since then, I have been actively involved in the charity and was pleased last year to be asked to present an award at the first ever Women in Rail Awards ceremony. The evening was brilliant and it saw hundreds of men and women from across the UK rail industry to come together to celebrate diversity in the industry.
In my role at Go-Ahead, diversity is high on the agenda and we are committed to achieving a workforce that not only has a gender balanced management board, but also encourages and supports women to come through the hierarchy. We are reviewing and improving our working practices and setting ourselves ambitious targets, such as having 40% of train driver applicants coming from women by 2021.
It is this type of commitment I am looking for when sitting on the judging panel at the Women in Rail Awards 2019. The awards celebrate the men, women and companies who and have gone above and beyond to improve gender balance, diversity and inclusion in rail.
I am keen to see nominations for women who have chosen to go against prejudice and made a difference in an industry they don’t stereotypically sit within. I’m looking for nominations that showcase women for what they do, not just who they are.
With just under one week left to nominate, I would encourage you not to underestimate the positive impact that receiving a nomination can have on a colleague. We need to recognise and showcase the talent in our industry in order to encourage other women and young people to consider a career in rail, a sector that I thoroughly enjoy and which has been very supportive in my career.
The categories for this year’s awards are below:
- Female Apprentice of the Year Award
- Rising Star of the Year Award
- Inspirational Man of the Year Award
- Inspirational Woman of the Year Award
- Diversity & Inclusion Award
- Top Employer Award
- Best Graduate or Apprenticeship Programme of the Year Award
- Highest Gender Balanced and Diverse Workforce
You can nominate someone by visiting http://womeninrail.org/awards/ or follow all the action on social;
Twitter: @wr_awards
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/women-in-rail-awards/
About the author:
Elodie Brian is the Interim Chief Financial Officer at Go Ahead and has been involved with Women in Rail for four years. Women in Rail was created to improve gender balance, diversity and inclusion in the UK rail industry. For more information visit http://womeninrail.org/.
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