The Groundwork

IWD23 – Taking Action to Embrace Equity

The theme for International Women’s Day 2023 was #EmbraceEquity to raise awareness about why equal opportunities alone aren’t enough. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.

ATC Williams was pleased to support the AusIMM International Women’s Day event series for a third year and had representatives at the Melbourne and Brisbane luncheons. Our staff look forward to attending as a team and always enjoy the high calibre of guest speakers.

We talk to Mariel Mendoza, People and Culture Manager, about how ATC Williams is taking action to #EmbraceEquity while promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace and share our IWD23 highlights below.

Pictured L-R: Mariel Mendoza, Meri Sadeghipour, Darren Watt, Arezoo Farhadi, Ruchi Jhowry, Holly Jenkinson, Sadie Fear, Arash Roshdieh

 


Pictured B-F, L-R: Matthew Cameron, Amy White, James Parker, Hernan Cifuentes, Denise Felise, Makaela McGrath, Lucie Porentru, Nicola Logan

 

AusIMM International Women’s Day Events 2023

In 2023, the AusIMM IWD event series ran between 3–10 March. Five luncheons were held across Australia, featuring high-profile keynote speakers and guests joining together to celebrate the achievements of women in mining and champion the conversation around diversity and inclusion in our industry.

In Melbourne, we were fortunate that the occasion took place on International Womens Day (Wednesday, 8th March). We heard from Nyadol Nyuon OAM, who was born in a refugee camp in Itang, Ethiopia, and raised in the Kakuma Refugee camp in Kenya. Nyadol is a vocal advocate for human rights, multiculturalism, and the settlement of people with refugee experiences and those seeking asylum.

‘I always feel motivated, inspired, and energised after the IWD event, and this year was no different. My favourite bit of advice from Nyadol was to take a young person with you when you have a spare ticket to an event, conference, discussion etc., so they can participate, learn, and be inspired.’
Holly Jenkinson – Marketing Coordinator/Office Administrator

Nyadol Nyuon inspired Melbourne team members at the AusIMM Melbourne event

 

The Brisbane event held on 10th March was a sell-out attracting over 400 attendees to listen to inspirational speaker Justine Flynn, a true disruptor for purpose.


Justine’s leadership as co-founder of Thankyou has seen the small start-up go against all odds to become one of Australia’s leading social enterprises, globally recognised for its creativity, innovation, and impact.

The Brisbane team enjoyed a Welcome to Country ceremony and keynote, Justine Flynn.

The Sunshine Coast office marked International Women’s Day with a lavish staff morning tea. Office Manager Nick Brown spoke about the importance of equality and attention to issues such as violence and abuse against women, discrimination, and promoting global support for women.

Our Sunshine Coast Office provided an IWD morning tea



Everyday Equity at ATC Williams

ATC Williams is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. Taking stock of our workplaces on International Women’s Day offers an opportunity to consider initiatives to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion.


We talk to Mariel Mendoza, People and Culture Manager, about parental leave, flexible workplaces and more.


Hi Mariel, how did you enjoy this year’s IWD event?

Yes, it was a fantastic event that acknowledges and celebrates women across the world. I left feeling empowered and motivated, especially after the inspiring guest speaker Nyadol Nyuon’s speech, to continue driving our DEI initiatives with an increased awareness of intersectionality throughout the business.


How is ATC Williams taking action for equity?

In 2022, I was very proud to release our new Parental Leave Policy, which includes up to twenty weeks of fully paid parental leave for all parents. We removed the distinction between primary and secondary caregivers and made it applicable to all parents.


We continue to recruit with diversity at front-of-mind. To that end, we are open to accommodating candidates from different locations or who require modified work schedules by offering part-time and flexible arrangements. We advertise internally, allowing employees to apply for different roles and experiences to promote inclusion further.


When exploring and implementing P&C initiatives, we run focus groups to gather feedback from all employees to identify the diverse needs of our employees and allow for a range of perspectives.


What diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives do we have in the pipeline?

There are several ways to embrace DEI within our working environments and in our approach to work. All our company policies, procedures and training are created, developed and updated to have DEI considerations. This year we will implement our Flexible Working Policy encouraging all staff to consider flexible working and providing opportunities to propose arrangements that work for both the employee and the business.

We will continue our very successful Undergraduate and Graduate Programs, where we have provided entry-level opportunities for many years.

As part of our One ATC Williams culture, a formal Mentoring program will encourage collaboration across the business and provide opportunities for employees to gain diverse perspectives. We are looking to incorporate DEI-focused questions as part of our annual employee engagement survey to request feedback and suggestions about what else we can do to support DEI. For example, we could offer our employees public holiday substitution options to acknowledge and celebrate our differences.

Finally, we aim to establish a DEI committee to continue driving our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion at ATC Williams.


You can follow Mariel on Linkedin here

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