Supporting innovation and ‘bright ideas’ is an integral part of the National Association of Women in Construction’s (NAWIC) work to create more equitable industry by fostering cultural change.
NAWIC offers two Bright Ideas Grants – one for individuals and one for businesses – which provide seed funding to support change initiatives aimed at attracting, retaining and advancing women in construction.
With this funding, recipients are able to launch new business ventures, initiatives or ideas which have a positive impact for the sector, ultimately seeing innovation get off the ground.
This year’s NAWIC Bright Ideas Grants have been awarded to an awareness raising careers website portal and a bold work experience initiative aiming to break down barriers.
The grants serve as an important way to actively support innovative projects that attract women to the construction industry and ensure it is clear they have a strong place in it.
We need more than 400,000 new workers over the next 5 years, and we are barely touching the full talent pool with only 12.4 per cent women overall, and only 3.4 per cent representation of women in the trades.
Our focus must be on building a sector that people – of all genders, races, ages, strengths and abilities – choose to join and stay.
To do so, we must tackle the culture of the sector head-on.
Embedding sustainable and wide-spread cultural change necessarily requires different perspectives and ideas to be brought to the table and involved in solution design and implementation.
Contributions should be sought from across the sector and those impacted by it.
Sometimes a bright idea just needs a bit of a leg up to come to fruition and generate significant positive outcomes.
We see this time and time again with our Bright Ideas Grants.
Bright Ideas Individual Grant
Polly Britten from Victoria has earned the $30,000 Bright Ideas Individual Grant which will fund the launch of her LinkUpCareers website directory.
Stemming from Polly’s lived experience coming into the sector, and the significant challenge we face in attracting and retaining young professionals, this project focuses on:
- Raising awareness of the construction industry and its link to STEM careers among educators and students
- Challenging gender-related job stereotypes
- Facilitating connections between educators, students and industry representatives
- Providing a platform for women to share their career journeys and experiences with students.
According to Polly, at the root of attraction and retention issues is a lack of awareness about career pathways among educators and students.
SEE MORE: Tradie Tough Tests
“Gender-related job stereotypes are deeply ingrained but educators can have a significant influence on their students’ career decisions. It’s about encouraging young minds to see that science, technology, engineering, and maths don’t always wear lab coats — sometimes, they wear hard hats,” she said.
“I’m delighted to receive the Bright Ideas Grant to establish this networking directory so educators can easily invite women in construction into the classroom to promote those ‘lightbulb moments’ about career pathways.”
Bright Ideas Business Grant
Amarapave Pty Ltd, also based in Victoria, has been awarded the $20,000 Bright Ideas Business Grant to support the rollout of Pathways into Paving — a practical, purpose-led program designed to provide real, paid experience for individuals who are often overlooked due to a lack
of industry exposure or prior experience.
The program aims to break down barriers for women and non-binary people entering the asphalt paving industry.
Through hands-on, site-based placements, supported by one-on-one mentoring and wraparound care, the program offers an entry point into the asphalt paving trade.
Amarapave Managing Director Jenika Stubelj said this initiative not only addresses the access gap faced by underrepresented individuals, but also demonstrates how targeted, values-driven programs can support workforce development and social procurement goals across major infrastructure projects in Victoria.
“Having the opportunity to help someone get their foot in the door in our trade gives them that ability to combat the standard knock-back comment of not having any experience for the role,” she said.
“Participants will be guided and supported throughout the process to build the confidence, skills and connections needed to pursue long-term employment.
“I’m thrilled to receive the Bright Ideas Grant. I’m excited to see the long-term impact that this grant will have through enabling women and non-binary people to enter our industry.”
Awarding these grants to worthy recipients is one of the highlights of NAWIC’s work, and we are excited to see their innovative projects come to light – turning their commitment to improving the experiences of women coming into the construction industry into reality.