Joining Downer 13-years ago, communication and engagement professional, Brandy Smith believes the sector’s landscape is moving in a positive direction for women, to become more inclusive in general. “I can pinpoint positive tangible changes I’ve seen as a female manager over the decade since I joined,” Brandy comments.

In her role leading communication strategies for some of Downer’s complex and high-profile projects such as Auckland’s Downtown project, Brandy says, in her experience, project teams are still fairly ‘male-dominated’. “But there’s definitely more women out on site, than when I started, which is great to see them in other role in the past usually held by men.”

“For the Downtown project, I was on the senior leadership team. This was a game changer as I had a voice and was empowered, which meant the ‘compassionate settings’ we aspire to for stakeholder engagement became key performance indicators on the project.” Brandy believes Downer is on track towards achieving better balance around equality. “It’ll take some time to happen, however what I’ve observed is that the avenues and support are there for women to move into senior roles, if that’s their chosen path.”