The 2018 Women in National Resources Awards (WIRNA) are fast approaching, with two of our Coal colleagues named as finalists.

During the New South Wales awards, Deirdra Tindale, Lead Corporate Affairs, was named Gender Diversity Champion at the 2018 Women in Mining Awards.

Deirdra, who has had a long history of advocating for inclusion and diversity at BHP and within the industry, co-founded the Hunter Valley chapter of the Women in Mining Network (WIMnet) in 2013 and has been Chair of the NSW WIMnet Committee since 2015 - playing a key role in establishing the WIMnet Mentoring Program and reviving the annual NSW Women in Mining Awards.

"I saw an opportunity to help more females get involved in WIMnet by making sure everyone, particularly those based regionally, could participate or attend networking functions and events," Deirdra said.

"I helped arranged the first non-Sydney based WIMnet NSW Committee meeting at Mt Arthur Coal and since then, the Committee has held one quarterly meeting regionally every year. This has given Committee members the opportunity to visit mine sites and a port as well as to engage with site leadership teams about diversity and inclusion practices."

Deirdra's passion for inclusion and diversity continues to see her heavily involved in local events and programs, where she gains inspiration from many other females who share their stories and experiences from working in the industry.

"Some conversations between our WIMnet event attendees or what they have heard from our guest speakers have led to career moves and promotions. That kind of outcome from one of our events is incredibly rewarding, and is the reason we continue to plan and deliver networking events," Deirdra said.

Good luck Deirdra!

Women in National Resources Award winners will be announced at Parliament House on 13 September 2018.