News

Update on the forthcoming NAWIC LDN&SE Conference

Today we wanted to give you a bit of an update on how this year’s conference theme came about.

Taking the driving seat. i.e. taking action has been chosen because:

  • For the past 15 years, NAWIC UK has been championing diversity in the UK and what has now become a mainstream discussion, has been our drive for as long as that.
  • Many companies and organisations are now starting to talk about the same problems and topics we have, for years, but discussions often don’t identify the steps required to move forward and hence their impact is limited.
  • We have always felt there is a need to provide implementable tools which can impact beyond our events and the wider context we live in has made this even more vital.

With this conference,  and following on from our collaboration with photographer Morley Von Sternberg, The Image of Women in Construction, we want to continue shining the light on people already doing a great job but also to empower others to stop waiting to be given an opportunity and take a step forward instead.

Our speakers will both provide useful skills and will inspire them with their own example

The first part of the conference will focus on building two key skills to help attendees voice that idea they may have wanted to pursue for a long time.

  • Mandy Rutter will discuss how best to manage our minds and acknowledge the way we perceive challenges …in order to overcome both the pressure and the fear which often stops us from doing our best work.
  • Susan Room will provide key tools to be able to confidently present “that” great idea
  • We will follow with a Q&A where the attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions and share their own Knowledge and experience with each other

The second part of the conference will be chaired by Lucy Alderson, Features Writer at Construction News, whose work on diversity you will have read

  • The panel of female “disruptors” will demonstrate that you don’t need to follow an existing formula and can create your own in order to address a particular challenge.
  • Annie Bowman, with her workwear, has addressed a problem she encountered working as a trade’s woman
  • Danna Walker, with her mentoring-led projects is reaching out to communities our industry may not have tapped into in the past
  • Cheryl Pilliner-Reeves, with her built environment/architectural workshops for children, is building the awareness of her younger audiences

We want the panel to inspire curiosity and ignite the fire in “everyone’s belly” in order to identify that idea/issue we all want to overcome/pursue

We hope by the end of the conference, everyone will know what they want to change and feel they can.