Meet our champions of diversity

The finalists were recently announced for the Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion award at the AIRAH Awards. 

The award celebrates individuals and organisations that have shown leadership in their efforts, initiatives, policies, programs and practices to embrace and foster diversity and inclusion within their ranks.

AIRAH’s professional development manager, Brendan Pejkovic, says AIRAH is proud to award the companies and individuals who have shown outstanding leadership in diversity and inclusion in the HVAC&R industry.

“The number of nominations for this category have grown each year, and it is pleasing to see how the focus on inclusion in our industry has increased,” he says.

Nominees in this category could be acknowledged for efforts such as community service, professional development, hiring practices and programming activities that enhance opportunities for people of diverse cultures, background and experiences. 

The 2019 finalists are:

A-Gas

“For many years, A-Gas has strived to be recognised as an employer of choice by employing the best people from a variety of backgrounds,” says managing director Brett Ferguson, Affil.AIRAH.

“Additionally, working towards a gender-balanced workforce has delivered a larger bank of ideas, perspectives and life experiences. In order to support our employees, A-Gas has endeavoured to provide flexible working arrangements for our employees who have care-giving responsibilities.”

Ben Adamson, F.AIRAH

“As managing director of Refrigeration Engineering International, directly involved in recruitment and management of staff, Ben has actively sought staff from various experiences, nationalities, cultural backgrounds, genders, age and religions,” says Niusha Memarpouri, M.AIRAH, secretary of AIRAH’s Refrigeration Special Technical Group.

“In what has been a male-dominated industry, Ben has appointed and developed women in significant roles. Non-traditional female roles have included finance managers, sales engineers, engineering graduates, project managers and project engineers.”

Cundall

Cundall has identified diversity as crucial, and has been working to drive more diversity within the business.

Highlights include Cundall becoming JUST certified to create transparency in diversity performance. The company has launched a sustainability roadmap, and identified ethics and equity as key impacts. Cundall has also set up an equity and diversity group that reports directly to the management board, and it provides unconscious bias training to all staff.

Winners of the AIRAH Awards 2019 will be announced at a presentation dinner held at Doltone House in Sydney on Thursday, November 14.

Feature image shows the winner of the 2018 Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award: Simon Bradwell, M.AIRAH, ebm-papst A&NZ.