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International Women’s Day 2024

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This International Women's Day, we're Spotlighting our factories and the women accelerating our factory growth and operational excellence.

5 women’s headshots in circles

The United Nations International Women’s Day theme for 2024 is ‘Invest in women: Accelerate progress'. This year we spoke to some of our inspiring Unilever women working in our factories across the UK & Ireland and asked them to share more about the projects they lead, their passion for investing in women and what advice they would give to their younger selves.

Images of 5 women and their work locations on a map of the UK

Chisom Ogbedeh, Digital Lead at the Port Sunlight Personal Care Factory

Chisom headshot

My job entails coordinating the deployment activities needed to drive the digital programme across the factory. I work a lot with data, and I use analytics to identify areas of opportunity for the operations and engineering teams to give manufacturing within our supply chain that competitive advantage.

For me, investing in women means making intentional efforts, both financially and strategically, to support and empower women in aspects including education, employment, and leadership. Practically, this looks like funding for education programs targeted at bringing women into male-dominated fields like STEM, and funding Mentoring and Mental Health schemes to support us whilst we're here.

If I had to give my younger self advice I would say don’t shy away from failure. Every time you fail at something, you learn something, and you get better at it. Embrace the fact that you won't be great at everything you try on the first attempt, it's okay!

Camilla Bampton, Cell Leader at the Process and Tank Farm department at the Leeds Sourcing Unit

Camilla headshot

I am responsible for the overall performance of the area, technical resources, driving improvements and legal compliance. I enjoy leading and delivering improvement projects and managing the engineering apprentices.

My proudest achievement in the past year is completing a control system upgrade successfully as part of the site’s project agenda, ensuring future reliability for the site.

Investing in women to me means empowering women by providing the opportunities and a platform to grow and learn within a career and allocating resources and time for personal growth.

If I could give advice to my younger self, I would say acknowledge and celebrate all successes, however small they may seem. Each small accomplishment is an incremental step towards developing as a person. I would also say to be yourself and don’t feel pressured to fit into any mould.

Bianca Tatarjenschi, Laboratory Manager at the ice cream factory in Gloucester

Bianca headshot

I am a member of the Quality Management Team who is responsible for the safe and effective running of the laboratory function. Additionally, I provide technical advice and support to the factory, leading improvements in all aspects of quality.

For me, ‘Investing in women’ means providing equal opportunities to women in all fields, achieving gender equality.

One piece of advice I would give to my younger self is to allow yourself to make mistakes.

Maya Parmar, Process Engineer at the food hub and factory in Burton-Upon-Trent

Maya headshot

My job involves data analysis and implementation of focussed improvement ideas. My proudest achievement in the past year has been working with my team to drive the efficiency of our Hellmann’s production line.

Investing in women to me means investing in those who previously may have never had the chance of equal opportunity. This investment is beneficial and helps women build a stronger future with inclusivity at the forefront. It gives a voice to those who may have previously been overlooked and to me that means we are able to achieve more.

The single piece of advice I’d give to my younger self, would be to keep persevering. I know how daunting you found it in year 9 when you walked into that classroom full of future engineering students and saw that you were the only girl in there. I’m proud of you for not walking straight back out that door. Instead, you told yourself you wanted this, and you were going to get it regardless of the adversities you may face. Enjoy the journey. You will get there.

Camila Monteiro, Food Safety Specialist & Quality Lead at the factory in Cork

Camila headshot

My job involves overseeing both the food safety and quality governance of on-site operations. I also manage the third-party quality control laboratory, responsible for quality control audits.

For me, investing in women means giving us opportunity to growth, empowering progress for all.

I would advise my younger self that when something doesn’t go as planned, don’t panic. That’s exactly how it’s supposed to be and if keep doing the hard work, it will all be worth it.

Hear what #EquityIs to some of our Unilever women driving operational excellence at our UKI factories.

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