When I first set up the Women in BIM group in 2012, it was to provide support for female professionals in the BIM space within the digital built environment and to create opportunities for their voices to be heard. As a regular attendee and speaker at BIM-related conferences around the world, I felt it necessary to ensure there were more women speakers encouraged in this space as thought leaders throughout the BIM community.
Almost 10 years on and the group continues to grow globally, connecting women in BIM-related roles for support, networking and education. The group has had a great influence in empowering our members and encouraging young women looking to begin their career in the construction industry.
Which is one of the reasons we launched our Women in BIM Mentoring Scheme in March 2020 – designed to inspire collaboration and the exchange of knowledge and skills for women around the world.
After a successful 2020 programme, we have launched our 2021 search for new Mentors to join the Scheme and inviting Mentee applications. Our mission is to elevate the skills, knowledge and confidence of women in our industry.
As the group grows, we have appointed Regional Leads in over 20 counties, including Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada, US, China, Brazil, UAE and Egypt. These Regional Leads are creating visibility for women in BIM in their regions of the world and developing exceptional local networks for BIM and digital engineering.
I am especially proud of all our core team, Regional Leaders, Mentors and group members. We are not only making things happen for female professionals in the digital built environment, but we’re game changers, leading on digital transformation for ourselves, our businesses and our industry.
We couldn’t do this without the help of our supporters and sponsors. For 2021, Glider has renewed its Gold Sponsorship and i3PT Certification has renewed its Silver Sponsorship – a giant thank you to the two incredible innovative businesses doing amazing things to digitise the way we work across all aspects of the industry and bringing future-thinking to the here and now.
Just as technology continually grows and evolves, so does our work through Women in BIM. We are expanding year on year and don’t plan to stop any time soon.
Check out who your Regional Lead is and drop them a line if you’d like to find out more.
by Rebecca De Cicco
