Count Me Too

Sushma Narisetty is the Director of Engineering Services at Toronto Hydro, providing oversight to supply chain, enterprise asset management technology strategy and stakeholder management. A professional engineer, she is a veteran in the energy industry having worked in hydro as well as nuclear operations and engineering design. She has a passion for volunteering and giving back to her community, mentoring newcomers and female professionals to help advance their careers in STEM. 

In this episode we discuss Sushma's career trajectory, her contributions towards modernization of the Toronto Hydro electric distribution grid, as well as valuable insight on how to progress as the next generation of female leaders in the energy industry. 

Sushma has a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, a Master's degree in Electric Power Engineering and currently pursuing her MBA at Rotman School of Management. Despite her busy schedule, she still finds time to give back to her community, having joined Volunteer Toronto as a Board member last year.

Allies are an essential part of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) process, bringing attention to the experiences of marginalized, often underrepresented groups when their voices are not being heard. I had the privilege of speaking to one such ally, who has been advocating for positive social change and creating spaces to hold authentic and courageous conversations.

Cynthia Hansen is the EVP and President of Gas Distribution and Storage (GDS) at Enbridge Gas. In addition to being responsible for the overall leadership and operations of GDS, she is a passionate advocate and ally for EDI. Cynthia’s leadership has had a ripple effect on the entire organization, and has helped embed EDI in Enbridge’s DNA. The impact of her work truly shows, in fact, Enbridge has been recognized as one of Canada's best diversity employers in 2020.

Cynthia goes above and beyond to mentor and sponsor talented individuals, including those from underrepresented groups. She has shown herself to be an inclusive leader in every sense of the word, and has been named as one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 by the Women’s Executive Network, and was recognized as a Canadian Business Leader by Catalyst Canada. 

Prerna Gandhi is a recent graduate of University of Cincinnati in Bachelor of Science, Business Analytics and Information Systems. She is also a TedX speaker, having presented at TedX Cincinnati, sharing her journey of being an acid attack victim to acid attack fighter.

Eight years ago, Prerna survived a vicious attack where acid was thrown at her face. At just 13 years old, she thought her life had ended, along with all the dreams and ambitions of a young teenager. She thought: "I would never be able to go to high school again. I would never leave the house as I might scare people, especially kids. People would pity me and would be ashamed to call me a friend". 

Fast forward to 2021, Prerna is an example of what sheer determination and resilience can accomplish, becoming an icon of strength to everyone around her. Having walked this path with remarkable grace and courage, she tells herself, “Try Me” instead of asking “Why Me”.

Link to Prerna's TedX talk: https://youtu.be/ktr1rmwLl0M

Réjeanne Aimey is the current President and Chair of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE), with experience in the automotive, nuclear, and tax consulting industries in Ontario. In this episode, we explore Réjeanne's engineering journey, and the many lessons she learned from her early career experiences.  

We also discuss OSPE's new campaign focusing on advancing diversity and inclusion in the profession, called #EngineeringForChange. While many regulated professions and organizations have begun the hard work of uprooting systemic bias in their culture, training and licensure, too many of Canada’s leaders are still debating whether or not issues of equity, diversity and inclusion are just trends that will blow over.  This is a united call to action to bring real change. 

The episode also highlights challenges experienced by women from equity seeking groups, especially in obtaining effective mentorship and sponsorship opportunities that foster career advancement.  What can organizations do better to improve employee experience and talent retention? Keep listening as we discuss these topics in this action packed episode.

To see how you can support OSPE's campaign, visit https://engineeringforchange.ca/. 

Sweta Rajan is a Biotechnologist turned Diversity and Inclusion advocate, and a co-founder of Immigrant and International Women in Science, a pan-Canadian grassroots social impact organization which supports women from diverse cultural backgrounds to gain equitable access to STEM. Early in her career, she faced bullying and workplace discrimination, experiences that would forever change the course of her life. She asked - 'Why had no one stepped in to offer me support or guidance'? She now coaches hundreds of women to take their power back in such circumstances and works with organizations to create more equitable and inclusive spaces. This is her story.

Sulaf Alkarawi is a true Canadian success story. She is the Associate Director of Transportation Planning at the Regional Municipality of Niagara with a unique journey. From leaving Iraq at the height of war, building her engineering career in the Middle East to coming to Canada in search of a better life, Sulaf shares the many trials and tribulations she faced to ultimately find success through her hard work and determination.  Any newcomer to Canada who is looking to re-start their career in STEM will find lots of valuable information and inspiration in this episode.

Noemie Duvivier is a Senior Technical Engineer working on nuclear safety at the Ontario Power Generation. In this episode, she discusses the role of nuclear power in Canada's energy landscape, how engineers like her make it safe, and also shares deeply personal accounts on what it means to be a Black female engineer in this industry.

Shelley Nicholls is an engineer turned non-profit director. In this interview, she shares her STEM journey, working as an engineer in the automotive industry to turning into an advocate for BIPOC leadership development.  She candidly talks about the many challenges in transitioning from private to non-profits, with insight on how engineers can leverage their skills to explore unexpected career paths. 

Hello everyone, welcome to my podcast ‘Count Me Too’, a platform dedicated to empowering women of color in their passion for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In this podcast, I will be interviewing some truly remarkable women with extraordinary stories about their STEM journey. We will get to know about their careers, gain inspiration from their unique stories and advice on how to overcome barriers that exist in these fields. Representation matters. We need to see it to be it.