Female chief financial officers are few and far between in the Australian mining industry, however, Wyloo is bucking the trend.
Proudly home to two chief financial officers, both of which are women, Wyloo is a contrast to the top 50 mining companies on the ASX where only 20 per cent have a female-identifying CFO.
One of our CFOs is Perth-based Nanette Trask.
In recognition of International Women’s Day on 8 March 2024, Nanette explains how her career ‘chose her’, the challenges she’s faced and why she advocates for gender equality across mining and leadership teams.
“I grew up in a South African mining village, so mining has always been in my blood. I believe I was somehow destined for a career in the industry, and here I am today, working as a CFO in mining and I love it,” Nanette said.
“I started my career in business assurance and economics, so it wasn’t part of my original plan to be a CFO. However, some of my previous roles, which I somewhat fell into for various reasons, enabled me to get exposure to and experience in a range of financial and business functions.“
“This led me to joining Wyloo as General Manager, Finance in May 2022, before taking the step up to CFO in September last year. I oversee our corporate functions, including human resources and technology, the financial health of the business and how we operate.
“Mining is such a fascinating environment with many unique challenges and opportunities. We play an important role in delivering critical minerals to decarbonise our planet, but with that, comes a need to adapt to a constantly changing world, with the ebbs and flows of supply and demand. We are always looking for ways to improve our ESG standards and maximise our opportunities.
“Finance spans across every aspect of the business which makes my role highly varied and dynamic.”
According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency and Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre’s Gender Equity Insights 2020 report, increasing gender equality in the workplace and promoting female leadership delivers greater company performance, profitability and productivity.
“Thanks to research, we know we get better outcomes when we have women involved. With gender equality comes a bigger pool of talent to draw from, more diverse perspectives and economic resilience, which are all very positive,” she said.
Heading into International Women’s Day, Nanette said it’s the perfect time to reflect on where we are, how far we’ve come and where we’re going in relation to gender equality in the mining industry, and more generally.
“We have a long way to go to reach true gender equality, but it’s important to recognise what we’ve had to endure to get to where we are today,” she said.
“I’ve certainly found it challenging being a woman in both finance and mining. In previous roles, where I was the only woman in the leadership team, it took a long time to build respect and change the perception that people had of me.
“Coming to Wyloo, its clear gender equality is a priority. Our CEO, Luca, is a strong advocate for it and is leading the charge from within, which I think is key. He’s not just thinking about getting women into Wyloo, he’s considering how we develop and retain them through supportive practices and policies that allow all of our staff to participate in work.
“We acknowledge we have a way to go, but we continue to work towards our gender equality goals across our leadership team and workforce. Luca’s direction, supported by the greater leadership team, is a great example of how a change can be made.”
Like many women in mining and finance, Nanette, and our CFO, Canada Annie Sismanian, are making incredible contributions to the industry and is paving the way for future generations.
On International Women’s Day, we celebrate and recognise the achievements of and contributions that women have made to our values-driven culture and the future of Wyloo and our communities.
