The National Association of Women in Construction recently welcomed Cathryn Greville into the role of CEO. In this Q&A we find out more about her varied career and how NAWIC is looking to tackle the issues facing the construction industry
Congratulations Cathryn on your commencement to the position of CEO. How did you first came across NAWIC and what made you want to get involved?
Thank you, I’m delighted to be leading NAWIC into this next chapter. The construction sector faces both enormous challenges, but also enormous opportunities: to fully embrace the full talent pool, build inclusive working environments and serve as a sector of choice for both new entrants and experienced women, from all backgrounds.
I first came across NAWIC whilst working in the construction sector many years ago and have always watched its activities with great interest. I’ve also had the privilege of judging NAWIC’s Bright Ideas grants, where the innovation and ideas of women in the sector blew me away. NAWIC members are at the heart of the sector’s potential and success – they bring a wealth of skills and experience that is crucial to solving the construction challenges now and into the future.
I am a change agent at heart, so was drawn to the opportunity to work on tackling the persistent cultural and behavioural issues that are holding the sector back. There’s no denying these are sticky issues. We have made great strides in some areas, but in others the status quo has not shifted for decades.
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It is more crucial than ever that we make substantive change, and to do so, women need to have a strong voice at decision-making tables across the country and we need to hold our leaders accountable.
To be entrusted with harnessing the passion and commitment of this amazingly diverse and capable group to drive the agenda forward is both an incredible honour and hugely inspiring. And our increasing corporate membership and male allyship reach demonstrates just how much interest and commitment to joining us on the diversity and inclusion journey is out there. It is an exciting time to be taking on the role!
How will your experience of a wide variety of different disciplines in your career influence your approach to NAWIC’s advocacy work?
I feel like everything I’ve done in my career to date will stand me in good stead in driving NAWIC’s advocacy work.
Following my interests over the course of my career has led me to gain qualifications in law, construction, property, public policy, governance and cross-jurisdictional relations – a unique and perhaps eclectic combination, but with intertwining links between each and strong connection to culture and accountability.
My career path itself has been far from linear, and I’ve been fortunate to gain experience looking at problems and solutions from many different angles.
Each role I’ve had has added to my own ‘toolkit’ – whether it be my early days working within construction and property businesses, to working within regulators and accountability bodies, leading professional and industry membership associations, working with underrepresented groups, or advising organisations and individuals as an in-house legal counsel and court advocate.
I’ve been in the shoes of our volunteers serving on several voluntary boards and committees myself, so I deeply understand the challenges of juggling paid employment with voluntary commitments.
My legal practice exposed me to commercial, ESG and equal opportunity law, compliance and strategy – all very relevant to the context in which NAWIC operates. And perhaps there is no better training ground for industry advocacy than dealing with judicial questioning and challenges on your feet in various courts and tribunals!
More recently, I have been overseas leading a program focused on both organisational diversity and inclusion, and the sector-wide behavioural and cultural change required to positively impact outcomes in the UK construction and built environment sector.
I was fortunate to advise and work directly with a range of businesses to drive cultural change – working to shift stubborn attitudes, address underrepresentation and attract, develop and promote talent.
I’m a big advocate for drawing learnings from what has worked and not worked elsewhere – although the context is different and the Australian landscape is indeed unique (and our geography alone presents huge diversity in approach and application), many of the sticky issues we face are similarly faced in construction markets across the world.
In this role I’ll be drawing from both my experience and the incredible insights, skills and perspectives of our membership to inform and drive NAWIC’s advocacy.
As we kick off 2025, what are you looking forward to getting involved with at NAWIC over the next 12 months?
I’m looking forward to working with our Board, Chapter volunteers and staff to amplify our voice and supercharge our impact.
At the heart of NAWIC’s purpose is improving workforce participation and accessibility, and our current focus is on three key areas consistently flagged as barriers to participation in the industry: safety, skills development and flexibility.
So, I’ll be working with our team across the country to make construction more accessible through initiatives and campaigns around the following areas:
- Safety: Making construction an industry that is safe for women with zero tolerance for sexual harassment and a culture that is welcoming and inclusive of women and ensures women can thrive. We know from our recent ‘Not So Little Things Impacting Women in Construction’ research of the significant personal, professional and financial impacts of microaggressions in the construction industry. I’m also acutely aware of the importance of initiatives that engage people across the sector to move from being passive bystanders of unacceptable conduct to active upstanders helping us drive the behavioural change we need.
- Skills development: Improving skills training and development to ensure women can access the resources they need to succeed, including our popular mentoring programs, education offering and interventions at various career stages and engaging our male members in our initiatives.
- Flexibility: Promoting flexibility in work options to promote greater participation of women, including increased take up of parental leave and normalising flexibility for men as equal caregivers.
We have loads of initiatives planned for 2025 – watch this space!
What do you see as being the key issues for the construction industry currently and how do you see NAWIC playing a role in addressing these?
The construction industry faces several key issues that pose threats to its success in the coming years. In a market in which we need to address the housing crisis and deliver the renewable energy transition and major infrastructure projects – skills, productivity, innovation and workforce composition are key challenges.
We need more people than ever before to enter and stay in the construction industry, particularly in trade and site-based roles. And we need highly competent and capable workers to meet the country’s commitments to housing supply, net zero transition and more sustainable ways of operating.
Addressing all these necessarily requires a significant increase in women working in the industry.
What is holding us back? It all comes back to culture.
To attract, recruit, retain and promote women, we need an industry that offers a safe and positive workplace culture, an attractive career option, strong career pathways and inclusive environments that meet the needs of women.
No matter which way you look at it – whether from the lens of skills, productivity, economics, safety, wellbeing or financial success – inclusive cultures that enable people to reach their full potential deliver significant benefits to individuals, organisations and communities. Positive workplace culture is critical. For companies to be operating at their optimum, they need to be leading inclusively.
NAWIC has a huge role to play in working with various stakeholders to see improvements come to light.
With NAWIC’s motto being ‘We Rise Together’ could you explain how NAWIC helps those working in this industry by being a focal point for women’s voices, but also for all construction workers irrespective of gender?
NAWIC is unique. As a truly national organisation with ‘boots on the ground’ presence in every state and territory across the country, a broad membership base covering different trades, professions, roles, market segments, business types and sizes, and representation across residential, commercial and infrastructure projects, we have the critical intel and the ability to have a huge voice for all construction workers.
Add to that a huge network of approximately 400 passionate and committed volunteers, and the scale and momentum to drive positive change is palpable.
The reality is, shifting culture and making workplaces inclusive and respectful of women has enormous benefits for everyone. Inclusion is not a one size fits all, but it benefits all.
For somebody reading this who would like to get involved with NAWIC, where’s the best place to start?
We love to welcome new members – please come and join the movement to make our sector better for everyone!
There is a huge range of activities on offer and loads of opportunities to get involved. We offer advocacy, education and training, events, mentoring, awards, site visits, school/early career engagement, resources and networking, to name just a few.
From attending our events, bringing your organisation on board as a corporate member or nominating someone in the sector for an award, right through to joining our committees and putting your hand up for an elected role on our state and territory Chapter Councils or our National Board, there is something for everyone to get involved with.
The best place to start is with your local chapter in the state or territory in which you live or work – check out our fantastic chapter pages on our website www.nawic.com.au, or if you need further information, contact our team.