“I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman…” Forty-seven years ago, these lyrics were released in a song “I Am Woman”, by Australian-American artist Helen Reddy. The song was featured a year later in the 1972 film, Stand Up and Be Counted and later became a number one hit as well as an inspirational anthem for the empowerment of women.

Some would argue circumstances are greatly improved, while others would suggest we have a long way to go towards #EachforEqual. International Women’s Day (March 8) continues to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

Building a diverse workforce includes women

At Kleenheat we celebrate a workforce that is mixed-gender, because our success is reliant on and driven by our people, who offer varied views and capabilities.

Being a born and bred business in Western Australia and a proud division of Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy and Fertilisers (WesCEF), we strive to employ a local workforce that reflects the demographics of the communities in which we operate.

In celebration of International Women’s Day we wanted to recognise women across our business and learn about their progression in their careers so far. These women bring not only their expertise, but their experience and passion to their roles and to our business.

Our women

Jess 

Jess is a university student, studying Communications and Psychology and is currently participating in a 12-month cadetship with the WesCEF Corporate Communications team.

Jess hopes that through this cadetship she will gain the experience she needs to continue with a career in Communications. Jess is of Aboriginal descent and hails from Broome and Derby in the Kimberley.

She encourages other Aboriginal students to look at cadetship opportunities and would like to see more cadetship and traineeship opportunities offered to all students.

Daisy

Daisy, grew up in the Wheatbelt on a sheep and wheat farm. Daisy has studied and worked in China and South Korea and spent several years working in HR in Norway in the Oil & Gas industry and for an NGO recruiting for United Nations projects.

Daisy’s recently returned to Perth with her husband and two young children and joined the HR team in WesCEF.

 

Heather

Heather, grew up about as far from Perth as one can get, in New Brunswick, Canada.

Her experience includes 11 years in South America as well as England and working in Government Relations, Financial Operations and Program, Product and People Management.

Heather joined the Kleenheat team as the Business Improvement Manager.

 

Jacqui

Jacqui is a Perth local who started with WesCEF as a graduate of Environmental Science seven years ago. She has been responsible for the fertilisers site in Kwinana and Bunbury as well as the wastewater and groundwater management at CSBP Kwinana, another division of WesCEF.

Jacqui now holds the role of Senior Environmental Advisor and supports the Kleenheat Production Site and WesCEF’s waste management and greenhouse and energy reporting.

Praty 

Praty moved to Perth in 2017, after growing up in India. Praty has a Degree in Computer Science and Engineering, as well as over three years work experience as a software developer, in addition to holding a Master of Data Science from UWA.

Praty joined the Kleenheat Digital Team in 2018 as a Data Science vacation student in 2018, before moving into the Innovation and Commercialisation team as a graduate in 2019, and then back to Digital Team in 2019.

In 2019 Praty was selected to present her Masters paper at the ACM Buildsys Conference in New York; a conference on systems for smart cities, transportation and energy efficient buildings.

Tag

Tag grew up just beyond the Perth Hills, in Woorooloo. Tag is a UX/DI Designer in our Digital Services team, and as such is constantly creating improvements on our website in order to improve our customers’ experience.

Tag completed a Degree in Design and further complimented this with a Masters exploring how to better engage users through website interface designs.

She is now completing her Doctoral research on how specific challenges of product design within the film industry contribute to the under-representation of female protagonists in film.

 

Celebrating International Women’s Day 2020

#EachforEqual is this year’s International Women’s Day theme. It emphasises an equal world is an enabled world and individually we’re all responsible for challenging stereotypes, fighting bias, broadening perceptions, improving situations and celebrating women’s achievements.

Today we acknowledge and celebrate the contribution women make in our society and the inspiration they provide.

We recommend having a listen to Reddy’s song, it’s bound to put some pep in your step!

Further reading on Women

If you would like to further explore this topic we have a few suggestions for you!

• The 2020 Global Gender Gap report by the World Economic Forum shares some expected, and unexpected statistics and information about who’s leading the charge in closing the gap and whether or not it will close anytime soon.

• Annabel Crabb, who you might be familiar with from her popular Kitchen Cabinet interview TV series, wrote, The Wife Drought. This book is not a feminist rant, it’s an eye-opening, witty, learning experience that everyone should read. Arguments from both sides of partnered relationships are considered and supported by facts and experiences rather than opinions.

• Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead: Sheryl Sandberg is CEO of Facebook and founder of LeanIn.org. In Lean In, she shares her personal stories, uses research to shine a light on gender differences, and offers practical advice to help women achieve their goals. The book challenges us to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what we can do. In June 2012, she was elected to Facebook’s board of directors by existing board members, becoming the first woman to serve on its board.

• CSBP, another Wesfamers business, supports the production of Visible Farmer. This documentary series focuses on gender equality and food security in agricultural areas around Australia, where women are helping shape the future of sustainable food production.

• The International Women’s Day website also offers a good list of suggestions for inspirational reading.