Northern Power nomination for Sellafield
Dawn shortlisted in Northern Power Women Awards for mentoring scheme success.
Dawn Watson - Shortlisted for this year's Northern Power Women Awards
Sellafield Ltd’s Dawn Watson is on a high this International Women’s Day as she celebrates being shortlisted in this year’s Northern Power Women Awards.
Head of strategy and technical in Sellafield’s infrastructure team, Dawn has been nominated as ‘mentor of the year’ for her role in the Women in Nuclear (WiN) Mentoring scheme.
Dawn said:
I’m really proud of being shortlisted for this award, it’s a team effort to run the scheme so recognition has to go to the others too.
The feedback we’ve had has been great, and I think it is really important for people to feel like they can be completely themselves at work, and I hope that the scheme can help some encourage some people to do that.
The scheme has been running now for 4 years, and the feedback has been positive, with a number of people returning each year to be mentors and give something back.
There have been around 200 people so far involved, across different companies in the nuclear sector in Cumbria, and there aren’t any other schemes like this one running now – we are hoping this will be used as a template for the other areas of WIN.
The scheme mentors people of all genders, and there is a real need to support people in the industry and help them progress their careers – it’s really important for us to maintain as much talent as we can in the industry and company to help us with the forward mission that we have.
I feel that I have been really lucky in my career in the support I’ve had and the encouragement that being different is ok, and I hope that this scheme can help others even a little with whatever they need to feel comfortable and enjoy their job.