This International Women’s Day we share our thoughts on why more women should join the team

“Equality is not a women's issue, it's a business issue. Gender equality is essential for economies and communities to thrive.” - Internationalwomensday.com, 2020.

Here at ELA, it’s fundamental to our culture of support and empowerment to have a diverse and equal team. It’s who we are. As this Sunday is International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate the achievements of women on a social, global, economic and political scale, we want to take a moment to celebrate the women in our team and look at how they shape ELA. 

We currently have 54% of our almost 200 staff who identify as female including half of our Executive team. Our CEO, Mark Adams is committed to keeping up the great work achieved so far. “In Greek mythology Gaia was the mother goddess who presided over the earth. There’s no way we can achieve our vision without diversity and inclusion - at the core of this is equality.” 

Some of the ways that ELA are committed to having an inclusive working environment include:

• 12 weeks paid parental leave for women
• Unconscious bias training for senior managers
• Flexible working arrangements (contractual arrangements plus ad hoc flexibility as needed)
• Focused personal development and training plan for women when returning from parental leave
• Extending parental leave 
• Designated women in leadership training budget (encourages targeted training and or attendance at industry and networking events – eg. Women in Mining)

With this year’s theme for women’s day being #EachforEqual we asked some of the ELA team for one reason more women should work at ELA, and the overwhelming response was about the equality, support, and inspiration offered by women and for women.

“My reason would be that ELA is a place where you can grow in your skills and move forward in your career whilst also having the flexibility to balance the needs of your family. You get to work with some of the most experienced and technically excellent people in the country and there are lots of opportunities for training and mentoring. The culture is great and there is a like-minded desire to care for our planet which makes for a satisfying work experience.” – Bethany Lavers, Senior Environmental Consultant

“The one reason women should join the ELA team is because of the great flexibility offered by the company to allow a working mum to balance work, life and family commitments. ELA have allowed me to move between working full time through various iterations of part time over my 13 years working with the company. This flexibility included offering me the opportunity to stay with company and work from home when my family relocated to a regional area with no access to an existing ELA office. It’s never easy balancing work and family but ELA has certainly made that juggling act a much easier one.” – Alicia Scanlon, Ecologist and Bat Specialist