WiPGM Newsletter Feb 2023
As 2023 gets underway, with ongoing geopolitical tensions, coupled with higher interest rates, these volatile markets are certainly keeping us on our toes. Even with the overarching uncertainty, Women in PGMs are able to count several notable achievements under our belts over 2022, these being our hybrid events in May and September, our renewed support from our founding sponsors Anglo American Platinum and Metallix and securing a new lead sponsor Johnson Matthey. We are very much looking forward to grand plans for the year ahead. With the world returning to a state of new normal of travel and in-person meetings, we at WiPGM continue to adapt our personal and professional approach to achieve our goal of building a more sustainable and resilient industry.
Your support as members and sponsors has been phenomenal. Due to the interest and growing network, we have refined our focus for 2023 –As we all know, our connections in life enable us to go further and support us in those crucial times of change. While 2022 has allowed us to rekindle the long overdue conversations and create opportunities for a stronger future, we are still facing several challenges: McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace 2022 report indicated that women leaders are switching jobs at the highest rates seen thus far and significantly higher than their male counterparts. As women continue to face headwinds in securing promotions, garnering support to create an inclusive and diverse workplace, they are stretched thin and feel underappreciated. Consequently, as companies struggle to hold onto the relatively few women leaders they do have, the risk of retaining the next generation of women leaders is even greater (source).
As such, the Women in PGMs aim to mentor and grow the industry is that much more pertinent. We are forever grateful for our network around us, reinforcing our belief that staying connected and purposeful will allow us to accomplish more and achieve greater heights, testament to what we have achieved in the recent few months and the next phase of our journey this year to come.
To find out more about this please read on for our Winter Newsletter.
WiPGMs Partners with Moving Ahead
Exciting opportunity to partake in mentoring programme with the 30% Club campaign – Mission Gender Equity
This year, we are delighted to offer the opportunity for our WiPGM members to take part in a WiPGMs-specific Mission Gender Equity mentoring programme with Moving Ahead, as part of the 30% Club campaign. Founded with the vision of Baroness Helena Morrisey and EY, Mission Gender Equity aims to build the pipelines and representation of women in leadership and board roles, and is a proven, practical, and powerful way to achieve greater gender balance at senior levels within organisations. The company has extracted learnings from their existing programme and developed a bespoke solution for Women in PGMs.
This 9-month programme will be open to those who are seeking career guidance and support, seeing female mentees be mentored by senior, high-performing stakeholders in the PGM industry. Through the initiative, participants commit to advancing gender diversity, championing each other’s stories, and learning by walking in the shoes of others. This exciting mentoring opportunity provides our partaking mentees (and mentors) with the tools to network, empower self-promotion, and unlock belief in their skills and potential. The programme has been running for 10 years, with impressive results, seeing almost 1 in 5 mentees promoted by the end of the 9-month programme.
The mentor programme is tentatively scheduled to launch in June, with an opportunity to learn more about what you can expect on your mentoring journey at a virtual showcase event in March (more details to follow). Should you be interested in joining the programme as a mentee or feel that you have the skills and insights to offer as a mentor, please contact us at info@wipgms.com. Spaces on the programme will be limited, and applications will close by the end of March. We are thrilled to provide this very worthwhile opportunity in support of this incredibly important cause, so we hope that you will all be excited and motivated to take part!
Our Key Sponsors
Johnson Matthey joins as a Lead Sponsor in supporting Women in PGMs
We are delighted to announce that Johnson Matthey has formally partnered with Women in PGMs as a testament to the important goals of the Women in PGMs to connect, discuss, debate, mentor, inspire and succeed across all aspect of the PGM value chain.
“I’m delighted that Johnson Matthey are a lead sponsor of Women in PGMs. Diversity, inclusion and personal development are at the very heart of JM’s core values and the objectives of WiPGMs greatly align with these. Personally, I have seen the value that this group has delivered so far, and am excited that we can support its future growth and success,” Ruth Leland, Refining Global Commercial Director, Johnson Matthey.
Anglo American Platinum commits further five years as a Lead Sponsor
As a further sign of endorsement of the work Women in PGMs have been doing over the last three years, Anglo American Platinum has renewed their Lead Sponsorship for another five years. Anglo American Platinum was WiPGMs first financial sponsor and fully supports the Network’s mission further the development of a multi-disciplined platform for the upliftment of women in all segments of the value chain, crucially promoting the equitable representation of women not only in company structures but also at industry bodies, events and conferences both in the audience and on the podium.
Asia Chapter December Webinar: PGM Supply and Demand Factors – A perspective on the Asian
Our Asia Chapter hosted a panel of experts in the platinum group metals space in the Asian market. Our Asia Board Member Zhuoying Jing, from Gerald, skilfully hosted our illustrious panellists. Linda, from Heraeus, shed light on the potential growth in recycling in China while Kate, from Tanaka, a gave insight on the Japanese investment market. Zhenzhen, from PGI, provided us with excellent perspectives on the Chinese jewellery market and Emma shared information on Johnson Matthey’s metal award programme
If you missed it, you can watch the recording here or go to our website – click here.
European Chapter at the IPMI Lisbon in November: Balancing societies need for precious metals with the green and circular agenda – a value chain perspective
WiPGMs hosted a panel discussion in Lisbon at the European IPMI event, exploring the impact on business strategies and planning in the quest to contribute to the Net Zero by 2050 strategy. During the session we heard from mining, recycling and end users of PGMs, how the drivers towards carbon neutrality and circular economy impacted platinum group metals business today and how this is shaping the future business structure.
Save The Date: Our Upcoming Events
6 February 2023, INDABA, WiPGMs and WiMSA Indaba Event!
Please join us and the Women in Mining SA team for a joint Drinks Networking event at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town.
Come find out more about WiPGMs networking events and our soon to be launched mentor programme.
WHEN: Monday, 6 February 2023 at 15:00
Where: Indaba Booth L45
28 February 2023 IPMI in Orlando, Florida
We are hosting a panel at the IPMI Winter Meeting in Orlando, where we will highlight the importance of gender neutral champions and supporters within the organisation to enable female growth and enable women to reach their full potential within the company.
15 May 2023 Platinum Week in UK
We are excited to be back at Fortnum & Mason for another year, showcasing inspirational women that are leading our industry.
More details on our panellists to follow shortly but please make sure to save the date in your diaries.
Update on Members Platform
We hope you have been enjoying our WiPGMs website and are now following us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for regular industry updates and member spot lights. Please make sure to sign up to our Member Platform and if you are interested to receive further updates please let us know here. Click here
The aim of the portal is for you to upload your profile, indicate whether you are looking for mentorship or speaker opportunities (or both) which WiPGMs can help facilitate. It will also help keep track of all of our member and help to build our network and brand.
Final Thoughts
As always, we would love to hear from our member base on how we can address your requirements and make this platform more useful and engaging for women in our industry.
Please let us have your comments/ suggestions/ ideas – emails us at info@wipgms.com
We look forward to seeing you all at the upcoming events, please don’t forget to register!
