We’re excited to be hosting a wide range of activities to celebrate International Women’s Day, aiming to inspire conversations and changes to make a real impact for women all year round. Our first activity of the year is our International Women’s Day panel event, taking place at Leigh Court on the 8th March.
We spoke to one of our panellists for the event Adam Bradley, Group Director of Programme Solutions at WSP, to discover more about the work he does, and why he’s excited to get involved with International Women’s Day and inspire inclusion in the world of work and beyond.
Please can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your career and your current position at WSP?
As a Chartered Surveyor I’ve been fortunate to have a very varied career working on small to major projects across a number of continents. My first job was working with the Government in Bermuda to then coming back home and surveying a waste water treatment works in Hull! My passion is to drive collaborative regional and national agendas across business, academia, government and professional bodies to power regional vibrancy.
As a passionate and committed mentor and coach I’m extremely proud when the staff I mentor and coach take my job….Sitting on the committee for WSP’s LGBTQ+ employee network (VIBE) and two Charity Boards helps with my dedication to inclusion and diversity as a community and employee engagement champion.
Why did you choose to get involved with our International Women’s Day event this year?
I’m very aware of the importance of Allyship and the role I can play in this, and whilst this isn’t a ‘one day’ thing, having previously held a position as regional lead for the Women’s employee network, being that ally really helped me to understand how Allyship is a powerful force in cultivating psychological safety in any environment. Having the option to share my experiences through supporting this IWD event was one I just jumped at.
Why do you feel this year’s theme of Inspiring Inclusion is so important?
When employees feel supported and valued for who they are, they are more likely to openly contribute their unique perspectives and ideas, creating that excellent diversity of thought we all need to succeed. A challenge is that not all individuals get it right when contributing to I&D discussions, but in terms of Allyship we need to commit to ongoing self-education.
How can we inspire organisations, groups and individuals to value women’s inclusion through supporting women and girls into leadership, decision-making, business and STEM?
Just look at the gender split statistics within STEM related businesses. Certainly, within Professional Engineering consultancy businesses we need to do loads more and that’s why I’ve made personal commitments to ensure we attract the best talent by looking at recruitment adverts, supporting female mentoring programmes and inspiring the next generation of leaders.
How can we inspire organisations, groups and individuals to value women’s inclusion by providing women and girls with access to quality education and training?
The training that our Mums receive to get them ready for work is all about setting everyone up for success. We want our Mums to feel special and understand their worth and we ensure that they access the kind of training and coaching that you might usually expect in a corporate setting. Our courses are completely free for women and we are always keen to work with business partners to provide really quality offerings that support our Mums in different ways. Ultimately financial status should never be a barrier to accessing quality provision.
How can we inspire organisations, groups and individuals to understand and value women’s inclusion?
From my experience working in a male dominated industry, it’s important to recognise that allyship is not just about intentions but about taking tangible actions. It’s by taking these actions that actively seek opportunities to engage with organisations, groups and individuals we can inspire all. What’s the saying ‘actions not words’…..for example, I trained as a facilitator to role out ‘Unconscious Bias to Conscious Inclusion’ training….after a couple of these workshops I had many people come up to me to say that this has given them the opportunity to inspire others without the fear of sometimes getting it wrong.
What do you hope people get out of listening to you and the other panel members after the event?
It’s a great line up of speakers, hopefully even just one person will go away and take action to make a difference, but for sure, listening to the other panel members I’ll certainly go away even better informed on how I can continue to make a difference.
If you would like to be a part of our International Women’s Day conversation, we would love to see you at our panel event on the 8th March, taking place at Leigh Court in Bristol. Spaces are still open, and you can find out more and sign up here.
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