Mark Vender
The Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) has achieved gender equity following the election of Mikaila Ganado, M.AIRAH, to the national board of directors.
Ganado joins Paul Jackson, F.AIRAH, and Ura Sarfejoo, M.AIRAH, who were re-elected to the board at AIRAH’s National Convention, which this year was held remotely due to the impact of the coronavirus.
Existing board members include President Ian Harwood, F.AIRAH; Bryon Price, F.AIRAH; and Liza Taylor, M.AIRAH. Nathan Groenhout, F.AIRAH, serves in the capacity of discretionary director, and will continue to do so.
Harwood says that the AIRAH board achieving gender equity, although a long time coming, represents a wonderful opportunity for the Institute.
“It’s fantastic that the AIRAH board will have a balance of men and women going forward,” Harwood. “In order for a board such as AIRAH’s to function effectively, you need a balance of different kinds of experience, backgrounds and perspectives.
“And in our case, this has been achieved without the need for quotas or the like. All of AIRAH’s directors have been elected in their own right. All of our directors bring a particular set of skills, so to speak, which we will need to harness to help shepherd AIRAH through at this most challenging of times.”
Ganado will officially join the board at the Annual General Meeting, which will take place (also remotely) on May 19.
At that time, she will replace Stefan Jensen, F.AIRAH, who decided not to nominate for the board following the conclusion of his term.
“I’d like to thank Stefan for his service and his commitment to the board,” Harwood says. “He will be missed, but knowing Stefan he will continue to offer his opinion from the sidelines.”
Ganado is the President and Associate Director of AIRAH’s New South Wales division committee. She’s also Associate and Senior Engineer at GWA Consultants.
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