‘Fabulous’ event kickstarts action
Scores of people from across the automotive industry attended the launch of a collective that aims to attract and encourage more women to pursue careers in the sector.
Women in Automotive has been created to provide tools and resources to help businesses recruit women, and also offer guidance and support for females wanting to get into such roles.
Members of the collective are keen to help address the under-representation in the industry of women, who currently only account for 17 per cent of the workforce.
The launch event was held at NZME’s offices in Auckland on May 17 and included a panel discussion.
On the panel was Toni Harris, apprentice automotive technician with Auto Super Shoppe Te Awamutu, Simon Rutherford, managing director of Ford NZ and Motor Industry Association president, Louise Sixton, general manager of sales and operations at Repco NZ, Gina Sim, national fleet sales specialist at Auto Drive Holdings, David Storey, co-owner of Auto Super Shoppes, and Natasha Callister, chief commercial officer at MTF Finance.
Callister, who is also a founding committee member of Women in Automotive, says the launch was a “fabulous event and we were humbled by the fabulous turnout”.
