What does equality mean to you?
Equality to me, means that everyone – irrespective of gender, race, upbringing, religion – has access to the same resources and opportunities. Everyone has unique skills, experiences and ideas to bring to the table, and what I am passionate about is mobilizing that diversity to drive change.
#EachForEqual is about ‘collective individualism, making change happen through working together’, how does this approach align with the work you’re doing at the GSI?
Within GSI we see that collaboration can help us drive improvements in the industry’s sustainability performance. However, each company still has their own strategic priorities, so for us it is about finding that sweet spot of how we drive improvements in environmental performance and at the same time add value to their operations and support their objectives. In the same vein, collective individualism is about recognizing everyone’s differences and by bringing those differences – in ideas, intelligences, skills – together there are huge benefits and opportunities.
In GSI we like to think of business as a positive sum game – meaning we can all benefit if we grow the pie rather than fighting over the same share.
One of GSI’s core principles is collaboration – how do you see the companies and people working together?
What makes GSI unique is that we have all types of companies and people involved – companies from different regions, large and small companies, we have men, women, CEOs, vets, scientists, farmers, feed experts, marine biologists – and what we see as crucial in the industry making progress in its sustainability performance, is mobilizing this diversity to help us identify ways to move the whole sector forwards.
Women have a natural sense in finding ways to collaborate and tend to lean that way over competing as a first option, and in GSI we are looking to foster this approach among all the members to help find solutions to the environmental challenges they are facing.
In your experience, what type of industry is the farmed salmon sector like for women to work in?
The farmed salmon sector is a forward-looking, quickly evolving sector and there are many great opportunities for women and men in many different fields. The industry is focused on providing a healthy and sustainable product in the most responsible way for a growing population, meaning it’s a sector at the forefront of many important topics facing society today– sustainability, climate change, nutrition, ocean biodiversity – making it an interesting sector whatever a person’s expertise may be. The industry is also focused on growing its diversity and making more opportunities available across the board.
What advice would you offer young women looking to enter this industry or any industry for that matter?
Find mentors – men and women -- who inspire and encourage you to work hard, who can help build your confidence and help you grow both personally and in your career. Be authentic and be open to different perspectives and new directions.
