Grace and Viarnne continue the conversation with the 2025 Empowered Women in Trades Award Winners, and welcome back Service Stream’s Senior Manager of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, James Smith, alongside Service Stream’s Chief People Officer, Sarah Bottomley. Service Stream took out the 2025 EWIT Award for an organization with the Most Innovative DE&I Program or Initiative for their brilliant in-house School Holiday Program.

The Award for Most Innovative DE&I Program or Initiative recognises a company or organisation that is creating meaningful pathways for underrepresented groups in trades, by embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion into its culture, partnerships, and workforce strategy – leading by example, they are making DE&I a measurable part of how they grow, lead, and build the future of work.

This great discussion highlights how successful Service Stream's School Holiday Program is for increasing productivity and team wellbeing overall. Plus Sarah gives an overview of how apprenticeships work at Service Stream, the variety of fields they are offered in, and how Service Stream is working towards building a pipeline of roles for women in trades.

Service Stream is one of EWIT’s highly valued Alliance Member Organisations. Find out more about the EWIT Alliance ⁠⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠.

The 4th Season of the Empowered Women in Trades Podcast is proudly sponsored by the ⁠⁠⁠Mazzei Group⁠⁠⁠ - award-winning builders of exceptional homes since 2015.

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Grace, Harriet and Viarnne speak with EWIT Champion 2025, Renee Briggs-Gorgon, APM Apprenticeships National Manager. In her role at APM, Renee leads national strategies focused on connecting people with meaningful career pathways through vocational education and training. Her career spans workforce development, community engagement, and business growth, and she is such a passionate advocate for inclusive employment and lifelong learning.

APM is a global health, employment, disability and workplace services provider that supports more than 2.1 million people across 11 countries each year. APM assists people to find employment, improve their health and wellbeing, and participate in their community. As a major Australian provider, APM is dedicated to making a positive and lasting social impact and enabling better lives every day.

APM Apprenticeships is one of EWIT’s highly valued Alliance Founding Member Organisations. Find out more about the EWIT Alliance ⁠⁠HERE⁠.

The 4th Season of the Empowered Women in Trades Podcast is proudly sponsored by the ⁠⁠Mazzei Group⁠⁠ - award-winning builders of exceptional homes since 2015.

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In this episode Grace, Harriet and Viarnne continue to shinethe spotlight on the 2025 EWIT Award Winners in a great discussion with Executive General Manager of Field Services at nbn, Keven Allan – winner of EWIT’s Johnny Award. Keven’s career spans over 30 years of experience as a leader within the telecommunications sector. In his current role at nbn, Keven is responsible for delivering reliable, fast, resilient and secure broadband, which is enabled by delivering appropriately skilled technical resources at the right location, time and cost. Before joining nbn, Keven worked in several notable roles, including at Telstra as an Executive of Field Workflow Services, and as Program Director of the Strategic Work Management Ecosystem.

Keven is certainly passionate about customer experience,transformational change, diversity and capability development, particularly within Field Service operations. He is a dedicated change-leader who places a strong emphasis on understanding the strengths of individuals, teams andsupport systems to ensure they are engaged in goal development, service culture, and objective delivery.

EWIT is proud to welcome nbn as a new Alliance Member in 2026. Find out more about the EWIT Alliance ⁠HERE.

The 4th Season of the Empowered Women in Trades Podcast is proudly sponsored by the ⁠Mazzei Group⁠ - award-winning builders of exceptional homes since 2015.

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Viarnne and Harriet continue the conversation with the 2025 Empowered Women in Trades Award Winners, with someone who is truly a pioneer in the education space, and a massive advocate for inclusion in the trades. Su Hauck, is a carpentry trainer at Bendigo TAFE and the winner of the 2025 EWIT Ally Award. The Ally Award recognises individuals who actively champion inclusion by creating space, opportunity, and equity for women and LGBTQI+ individuals in skilled trades.

Su Hauck was 39 when she decided to become a carpenter. She’d moved from the city to Daylesford, and, like others in the area, was picking up various jobs, making her own way. It was through one of these gigs that she spent a week working alongside a female carpenter. She remembers thinking, “Hey, this is fantastic! That’s it - I’m doing it.”

As a sole trader, Su kept hearing the same thing from female and gender diverse customers: they wished they’d had the chance to learn. The demand was there; however, the Pathway was not. So, Su worked with Bendigo TAFE to create one. The Certificate II in Construction Pathways program runs in Castlemaine for female and gender diverse students, and the first intake of around 30 students in a small regional town - exceeded all expectations.

The 4th Season of the Empowered Women in Trades Podcast is proudly sponsored by the Mazzei Group - award-winning builders of exceptional homes since 2015.

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Happy International Women's Day 2026! It’s such an important time of year for us at EWIT. As we surge forward with our 30 by 30 journey - striving for 30% female representation in the trades by 2030 – this week is such a great time to celebrate the women already smashing through those barriers, as the world spotlight turns to International Women’s Day.

Our IWD guest is a literal trailblazer as Harriet, Grace and Viarnne are joined by the remarkable Caitlyn Hayes, who was named the EWIT Trailblazer of 2025 at our Gala at Marvel Stadium last October. Catilyn has an incredible background – she is dual-trade qualified as a heavy diesel fitter and an automotive electrician, and she’s currently working FIFO field service in the Pilbara region for Komatsu Australia. Caitlynalso shares her amazing journey on social media with the awesome handle @diesel.n.sparks, so make sure to check out her posts on Insta!

The 4th Season of the Empowered Women in Trades Podcast is proudly sponsored by the ⁠Mazzei Group⁠ - award-winning builders of exceptional homes since 2015.Follow us!

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For the launch of the 4th Season of the Empowered Women in Trades Podcast Melinda and Viarnne speak with Kate Raymond, CEO of Master Electricians Australia, and the Solar & Storage Live Queensland Conference Producer, Mia about this year's big event being held in Brisbane on 18th & 19th March '26.Find out more here Solar & Storage Live

The 4th Season of the Empowered Women in Trades Podcast is proudly sponsored by the ⁠Mazzei Group⁠ - award-winning builders of exceptional homes since 2015.Follow us!

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Melinda Davis speaks with Abbie-Rose Powell, Project Officer for the AMWU. Abbie-Rose's role focuses on the national initiative Breaking Barriers , which is funded under the Building Women’s Careers Project by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Abbie-Rose's role focuses on the national ⁠Breaking Barriers⁠ initiative, which is funded under the Building Women’s Careers Project by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. She has completed her Certificate III in Mechanical Engineering, Certificate II in Automotive, and Certificate III in Individualized Support, which has given her a strong foundation in both technical trades and people-focused care.

Abbie’s journey into trades has been hands-on and deeply personal, and it’s what drives her passion for supporting other women and girls to explore careers in industries where they’ve often been underrepresented. Through her role, she helps coordinate programs such as site tours, short courses, and 'Try a Trade' events, working closely with educators, organisers, and organisations such as EWIT and Tradeswomen Australia, and community partners to create inclusive and empowering opportunities.

Committed to breaking down barriers, building confidence, and making sure women have the support and visibility they need to thrive in trades and technology - Abbie is a force to be reckoned with!

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Melinda Davis and Viarnne Mischon speak with Chris Xerri, Director of ProQM, an inspection hub specializing in representing clients at their nominated suppliers’ facilities, offering services including construction inspection and surveillance activities. Chris is on a mission to ensure quality, compliance, and safety in all inspections and surveillance activities.

Leading a highly talented team, Chris has been instrumental in founding ProQM and guiding its growth into a prominent player in the industry. Under his leadership, ProQM has become renowned for its innovative project management strategies and commitment to delivering exceptional results for clients.

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