Why Women Are Leaving the Infrastructure Industry |EP 2

In this episode of A WINning Perspective: The WIN Canada Podcast, panel host Riccardo Cossentino sits down with three nominees of The Women’s Infrastructure Network (WIN) Canada WIN Awards: Shormila Chatterjee, Dr. Diana Nada and Johanne Mullen. The panelists share their industry successes, challenges within the male-dominated industry and the power of professional recognition. Plus, the trio discusses the male experience when roles are reversed and they are the only ones of their gender in the room.

“And I think our male leaders need to start talking much more openly and honestly about how they achieve work-life balance and be leaders and be present parents and take care of their parents. Right? I think there's a risk that if we continue to all put the onus of this on women's backs, we will never get to equity because it will always be perceived by everyone as being a woman's issue. And it's not and this isn't specific to infrastructure. Clearly, it cuts across all sectors. But I think in an industry that's male-dominated, it's exacerbated” — Johanne Mullen

Key Takeaways:

• Is there an expectation of being the only woman in the room?
• The link between of collaboration and diversity
• The problematic messaging of work-life balance for women
• The impact of recognition through the Women’s Infrastructure Network (WIN) Awards

Shormila Chatterjee is an infrastructure investment professional with Canada-wide expertise in the successful pursuit of large-scale public private partnership (PPP) projects. She has led various aspects of several high profile P3 pursuits and design engineering projects in Canada including the Confederation Line Stages 1 and 2, the Finch West LRT, Edmonton Valley Line, the Waterloo ION project, the Hamilton B-Line LRT and the Hurontario-Main LRT project.

Dr. Diana Nada is a project management expert and advisor on mega capital projects, with a background in civil engineering and a PhD in project management from the University of Calgary. With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Nada advises both public and private sector clients on strategies and toolkits for best practices in capital project delivery and informed decision-making. She is a regular industry contributor and a published scholar-educator with more than 25 speaking engagements. Currently, she serves as the AAC Canada Region One Director and is a member of the ULI Public Development and Infrastructure Council as well as the UK APM Project Assurance SIG.

Johanne Mullen is the National Capital Projects and Infrastructure Leader at PwC Canada, with 20 years of experience in capital project advisory, complex procurement advisory, project finance, and structured finance. She has served as a trusted advisor to both public and private sectors, structuring large projects in the transportation, health, and urban infrastructure sectors. Johanne is a director and past president of the Institut pour les partenariats public-privé du Québec and a Director of the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships. She has advised on some of Canada's largest infrastructure projects, from initial feasibility and business case stages through to financial close.\

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Let's stay connected and keep the momentum going to empower women and engineer change:

• Join over the 2,500 women in the Women’s Infrastructure Network (WIN)
• Converse with women in your industry on LinkedIn
• Women’s Infrastructure Network on IG
• Women’s Infrastructure Network on X
• Follow on Shormila Chatterjee LinkedIn
• Follow Diana Nada on Linkedin
• Follow Johanne Mullen on LinkedIn

The conversation doesn’t stop here—connect and converse with our community:

• Connect with our panel moderator and podcast host, Riccardo Cosentino on LinkedIn
• Listen to the Navigating Major Programmes podcast

Music: "Rise Of Liberty" by Dope Cat. Licensed through PremiumBeat.
DISCLAIMER: The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the hosts and guests on this podcast do not necessarily represent or reflect t...