Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion are causes that hold deep importance for me. They aren’t buzzwords to me, in fact they have shaped my life work and fuelled my determination to bring about change. My first encounter with the glaring reality of gender inequity came during my university years, where I studied psychology. It was astonishing to witness that 90% of the first-year students were female. However, as the years went by, this number plummeted, and by the time I reached my masters, there were more males than females in my cohort. WHY?

Thankfully the tides have turned slightly over the past 25years, and some progress has been made. But the memories of my first job still sit with me. Unfortunately, I experienced first-hand the insidiousness of sexism and harassment. As a young woman and fresh graduate working as a consultant in the mining industry, I had felt I had to endure these injustices silently. I felt powerless to stand up for myself in an environment that perpetuated discrimination. It was these experiences as well as positive encouragement from some aware and supportive male role models in my field to challenge the status quo and focus on working with organisations to create psychologically safe and inclusive teams and workplaces for all.

Working with a number of organisations across a range of industries I was amazed to see even in female dominated industries that men reported feeling more psychologically safe to have tough conversations, raise new ideas, admit mistakes without fear of blame compared to their female colleagues. WHY? While many companies we partner with are focusing on lifting diversity quotas the psychological safety amongst these groups was still low. WHY?

As a mother and stepmother to 3 sons and 2 daughters I understand the profound impact of early education in shaping future generations. I regularly engage with the kids and encourage them to have courageous conversations with each other and their friends to explore the reasons behind disparities of diversity and inequity.

In my work at Veraison, I do the same with teams and leadership groups. Courage to have a voice, to ask questions and challenge notions or practices is essential in order create change in organisations. We aim to inspire human potential to create organisations with engaged and loyal staff who safely deliver extraordinary results. We partner with organisations to transform leadership capability, workplace relationships, and systemic business practices through building psychologically safe environments.

I am thrilled to be part of a community of like-minded individuals who understand the urgency of these conversations on gender equity. Together we can change the norms, shatter glass ceilings and create a ripple effect across every sector.