Inclusion and Diversity

Creating a Diversity Network in Chile

How a women’s support network in Chile is helping increase gender diversity at Teck and across the industry.

In Chile, women make up just 8.3% of workers in the mining industry. At 14%, Teck’s workforce in Chile exceeds the industry average. However, knowing the importance of inclusion and diversity, we doubled down on a cultural change with a gender perspective to better support and attract women into our workforce.

“In an industry that has traditionally maintained a male-dominated workforce, we recognized that a cultural shift that better supported a female workforce would have tremendous benefits,” says Chris Dechert, Vice President, South America. “By being more inclusive and diverse, we’re able to come up with better perspectives and more innovative approaches to our work, and attract a broader pool of candidates.”

Women in Teck

Chris worked with Diversity Development Consulting to review Chile’s operations, projects and corporate office processes to identify obstacles related to diversity and inclusion. The result was a recognition that women—not only at Teck in Chile but across all Teck operations—wanted a women’s support network. Thus, Women in Teck (WIT) was born.

Led by Amparo Cornejo, Vice President, Sustainability and Corporate Affairs, Chile, WIT’s goal is to provide a support network for the different labour and industry challenges, offer information on job opportunities and participate in industry events for women.

“Women in Teck has been tremendously successful in centralizing efforts that support women in our company and providing them with information and opportunities they otherwise would have missed out on,” said Amparo. “There’s still lots of work ahead of us, but we have a strong foundation now to help support gender diversity not only at Teck, but across the industry.”

Celebrating Diversity

In 2018, WIT organized a day of reflection for International Women’s Day across Chile operations, bringing in Chile’s first female Aerospace Engineer, Karin Saavedra, to talk about technology and innovation on Mining Day, and establishing a working relationship with the Women and Mining Working Group of the Chilean Ministry of Mining and the Chilean Ministry of Women and Gender Equity. For this work in support of our commitment to gender equality, Teck in Chile was acknowledged by the PROhumana Foundation.

WIT continues to work on the programming of activities for 2019, with a mission to further enhance gender diversity in the company.

Learn more about inclusion and diversity at Teck at teck.com/responsibility

Thank You

Download Volume 26

Many thanks to those who contributed to and participated in this issue of Connect:

Catherine Adair, Community Relations Leader, Trail Operations; William Albornoz, Heavy Equipment Operator, Quebrada Blanca; Barbara Brice, Senior Human Resources Generalist, Pend Oreille Mine; Kimberley Christensen, Analyst, Technology and Innovation, Vancouver office; Solange Dussaubat, Superintendent, Water Resources, Santiago office; Rodrigo Ferreira, Communications Specialist, Social Responsibility, Quebrada Blanca; Keith Klimchuk, Senior Environmental Specialist, Trail Operations; Chris Lane, Senior Geologist Supervisor, Line Creek Operations; Keith Mayhew, Manager, Technology and Innovation, Vancouver office; Eli Mitchell, Surface Crew, Red Dog Operations; Lawrence Watkins, Vice President, Health and Safety, Vancouver office; Verna Westlake, Community Investment Coordinator, Public Relations, Red Dog

 

On the Cover

Copper wire like that shown on the cover is used in electrical equipment and devices because of its high conductivity. From a large skyscraper to the stove in your kitchen, copper wiring is needed to transmit electricity that powers our day-to-day lives.

 

Submissions

Have a story that you would like to share through Connect? Submit your article and high-quality photos to: connect@teck.com