Every voice. Every story. Five years of WoVen.  

Sometimes a powerful network starts with a simple conversation.

Five years ago, a couple of women at Ventia recognised that women across the organisation needed more opportunities to find each other, share their experiences and feel more supported. They wanted to create connections that would help women encourage, learn from and lift each other up.

From those early conversations, WoVen was born.

Five years later, that idea continues to bring women together across Ventia in Aotearoa.

Connecting women across roles and regions

This year, 17 local and virtual events connected hundreds of women across offices, depots and operational sites, spanning roles from cleaners, apprentices, operators and truck drivers to administrators, project teams and leaders.

The events created opportunities for women at different stages of their careers to meet, learn from each other and talk openly about their experiences.

For Charmaine Higgins, Executive General Manager People and Capability, that connection is what makes the network so valuable.

I am so incredibly proud. Great events, amazing wāhine, and such an important reminder of the power of connection and looking out for each other. I’m proud to continue supporting and enabling this network, creating the space for wāhine to connect, lift each other up and know they are never alone.

Sharing different pathways into infrastructure

A video created for this year’s events brought together voices from across the business, from apprentices who joined Ventia only months ago to members of the executive team.

They shared their perspectives on careers, confidence and work-life balance, as well as the different paths that brought them into the infrastructure sector.

"It’s awesome getting out to the substations and different wind farms we work at. Being out on a big farm, looking over the ocean, is pretty cool." says Zara Watkins-Purvis, Electrican.

Those experiences reflect an important part of WoVen: making different career journeys visible and creating opportunities for women to learn from one another.

Five years after that first conversation, the network continues to grow through the women who participate, share their experiences and make connections across Ventia.

Every voice matters. Every story matters. Together, those stories help shape our future.

Together we go further.