Maxine Benson MBE, co-founder of everywoman, talks about everywoman’s journey over the past 25 years and this year’s 2024 everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards, the 17th in the programme.

We are a few weeks from the 17th everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards ceremony, and it is incredible to see how much the Awards have grown. Last summer, the awards welcomed over 450 delegates to the ceremony, and we cannot wait to welcome this year’s finalists, winners and industry stars and supporters at our new location, the Park Plaza London Riverbank. This year’s winners will be announced at the Awards ceremony and luncheon held on 27th June 2024 and we are joined by award winning journalist and broadcaster, Marverine Cole.

When we launched everywoman, we were on a mission to make it possible for every woman to realise her career dreams and for every organisation to achieve its gender diversity goals. Now in their 25th year, everywoman continues to play a significant part in recognising exceptional women whose innovation, skills, resilience, and leadership will inspire future generations of women to fulfil their career ambitions in vibrant and dynamic industries. Our work has spanned multiple sectors, and we are especially proud of the huge strides we’ve made in increasing female participation in transport and logistics.

When we launched these awards 17 years ago, the industry looked very different. Suffice it to say that there were very few women, particularly at senior leadership levels, and those who had carved out successful careers were hidden from view.

The everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards were launched to celebrate the vital contribution women make in the industry, showcase success stories, shift perceptions, and create role models to attract future female talent who may not see the industry as an option to them. By doing this, the Awards play an important role in showcasing the varied and increasing avenues of opportunities available in the traditionally male-dominated industry. Whether that’s in distribution, technical and operational roles, from apprentice to senior leader, and across the breadth of sectors such as freight and retail to automotive, maritime and air transport. Only 23% of the industry’s 1.5 million employees identify as women, more than half of these women are in non-transport roles, and alarmingly 54% of organisations lack formal targets, commitments, or quotas for gender diversity.¹

Studies consistently demonstrate that diverse teams foster greater creativity, problem-solving abilities, employee engagement, and overall profitability within organisations. The economic benefits of equalising the labour force could lead to potential gains of 10% of GDP by 2030.² Attracting, retaining, and advancing women has the power to fuel progress, unlock innovation and drive growth, not just for organisations but for the UK economy. Now in their 25th year, everywoman continues to play a significant part in recognising exceptional women whose innovation, skills, resilience, and leadership will inspire future generations of women to fulfil their career ambitions in vibrant and dynamic industries.

There needs to be an urgent intervention taken to strengthen the talent pipeline, increase female participation in every job function and build the cultures of diversity and inclusion to improve business collaboration, productivity, and performance, that are so important to both personal and organisational success.

We will continue to do our part in both supporting more women in business by providing relevant leadership development and training, access to role models and networking, and by celebrating their achievements at our Awards.

For further information about all the finalists, or to book tickets for this networking event and celebration, visit www.everywoman.com/tlawards.

Or to book places for your future female talent on everywoman’s leadership programmes, visit www.everywoman.com/leadership-training-portfolio.

1 Equity Index Report, 2023

2 The Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy (TISS) 2016

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