“Can I do what Dad does?”

My daughter was five when she asked me that question. She has a twin brother, who has never asked that question.

I still do not know exactly what prompted it back then, but I have never forgotten it. At that age, she had already started to absorb messages about what roles might be “for her” and what might not be. No parent wants their child to inherit limits they never chose.

That is why I commit to gender equity.

For me, gender equity is not a side initiative, and it is not a box to tick. It is a leadership responsibility. In engineering, energy and resources, our industry has been shaped over generations by systems, rosters, assumptions, and career paths that were not always designed with everyone in mind. Progress will not happen simply because time passes. It happens when leaders are prepared to challenge the habits, perceptions and decisions that quietly hold talented people back.

At Wood, we need the best people solving complex problems for our clients and communities. That means attracting, retaining and progressing talent from the broadest possible pool, the right people for our future. It also means creating a balanced workplace where people can contribute fully, without having to choose between ambition and family, career and flexibility, or leadership and authenticity.

The reasons are both human and commercial. Gender equity is not only the right thing to do, it is also good business. When we bring together people with different backgrounds, experiences, curiosities, and ways of thinking, we design better, solve harder problems and make safer decisions. In a business where engineering judgement, safety and trust matter deeply, diversity of thought is not a nice-to-have. It is an advantage we cannot afford to ignore. I know I am a better leader today because of the influence of inspiring women in my personal and work life. I want this to be the experience we all get to share.

I am proud to be a part of CEOs for Gender Equity. But membership alone changes nothing. The real test is what we do consistently: how we hire, how we promote, how we support flexible work and parental responsibility for all genders, how we build respectful office and site environments, and how we measure progress on representation, pay equity, retention and leadership pathways.

My role is to set the tone and stay accountable. That means asking harder questions, sponsoring talent, calling out behaviour that does not belong, and ensuring gender equity is treated as part of how we lead the business, not an initiative that sits beside it.

I do not pretend Wood, or our industry, has all the answers. But I know that doing nothing guarantees nothing changes. My commitment is to keep challenging our workplace and our industry so that every person at Wood has an equal opportunity to succeed and so the next generation does not have to ask which futures are meant for them.