Meet Dannielle, who works in a team dedicated to ensuring we’re a diverse and inclusive workplace for all our colleagues.
Find out how more of about the vital work she does and how it helps us serve you better …
Describe a typical day in your job?
A lot of my day is spent talking to people and changing hearts and minds about the issues I’m advocating for.
So, I might be running online or in-person workshops on vital topics like sexual harassment in the workplace. Or I’ll be speaking to professional bodies like Women in Science and Engineering on projects we might be able to work together on.
While I have lots of meetings, a lot of the job is creative. I’m always trying to think of ways to demonstrate the benefits of gender equity, listen to our employees to understand what barriers they face and then work together to find ways we can remove them and make the workplace more equitable.
What attracted you to a career in rail?
The work we do at Network Rail is so much bigger than just managing the railway and track. It’s about connecting people. I’m proud to work in an industry that helps transport millions of people and vital goods around the country. And Network Rail is really the heartbeat of that industry, working 24/7 nonstop.
Even through covid, we made a huge impact. I worked in the recruitment side during that time and we were able to recruit a number of signallers so we could keep the railway running and continue moving vital goods like vaccines.
What’s been the biggest surprise about working here?
Just how many allies there are, how much compassion there is in the organisation and how passionate people really are to make a change.
I came into this role thinking it would be difficult to get people onboard. But that hasn’t been the case most of the time.
What’s the difference between equity and equality?
Essentially, equality is providing everyone with the exact same support and equity is providing tailored support suited for their bespoke needs.
For example, imagine two people are going on a walk. Equality would be if both people were given the exact same pair of shoes for the walk. The exact same size and style. Equity might instead look like giving one of person a walking stick that suits their needs better and the other person a pair of walking boots in the right size for them.
Equity is about understanding people’s individual needs and providing them with tailored tools they need to progress. Equality is great as a starting block, but equity will remove the barriers to help everyone flourish.
How does your work help our passengers?
Countless studies have shown that a diverse workforce is a more effective one. It’s so important to have different perspectives, diverse thoughts and diverse ideas in the workplace so that we can make sure we’re reflecting and serving all our passengers and freight customers as best we can.
For example, after listening to our female colleagues, we signed up to the White Ribbon initiative in 2021, which focusses on keeping women and girls safe from male violence. This pledge extends beyond our workplace and into stations and the wider rail industry, with train operating companies also signing up and making the White Ribbon promise. It not only helps keep our female colleagues safe but is helping create a safer environment for passengers.
This International Women’s Day what advice would you give to any female who may question whether a career in the rail industry is for her?
There really are roles here for everyone, and there’s so many people here that really do want to see women – and all people – succeed. So, there’s a lot of support available and so many opportunities to develop.
My advice would be to consider a career in rail with an open mind. There are so many women in traditional male roles on the railway – like signalling or engineering – who absolutely love their job.
What’s been your proudest achievement at Network Rail?
We worked with our gender equality network Inspire and another organisation called Bloody Good Employers to provide free period products in all of our workplace locations. And I’m so proud that since 2023, we offer free period products in all of our more than 600 work locations across the country. I’ve had people send me pictures, selfies of them with the free tampons in our work toilets, telling me what a difference they’ve made – which felt amazing.
We actually won the Women’s Wellbeing at Work award this year by Women in Science and Engineering partly because of this work.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I really love what I’m doing. I think we’re progressing in the right way, so I don’t see myself going anywhere any time soon.
