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I NEVER DREAMT NAWIC WOULD BECOME SUCH AN IMPORTANT PART OF MY LIFE by Sandra Steele Construction and Infrastructure Partner, K&L Gates & NAWIC National President (2008-2013) and Life Member
My first job in the construction industry came along quite early in my career. I followed a close friend of mine to work in the construction team of a national law firm in Brisbane. I loved the work and culture instantly. I have never looked back and have continued to practise in construction law ever since. Having said that, I haven’t always been in private practice. Through my NAWIC networks, an opportunity arose for me to join Lendlease in 2006. I absolutely loved my time there, I worked amongst a very talented team of lawyers and completely enjoyed being part of the business. I am grateful for the many opportunities provided to me during that time including the opportunity to work on so many interesting projects in a collaborative environment. Lendlease is hugely supportive of women in construction and of NAWIC. Knowing that was a big factor in my decision to join the company. In 2013, I made the decision to return to private practice at K&L Gates. Today I am the Practice Group Leader for the Real Estate and Construction Group Australia. I am a Construction and Infrastructure Partner and I work on construction, infrastructure and renewable energy projects. My work involves assisting my clients through all stages of a project’s life - the contract formation stage, contract administration and dispute avoidance and if it becomes necessary, dispute resolution. I co-chair the Diversity Committee for K&L Gates in Australia and also sit on the Australian Board. NAWIC - THE EARLY DAYS I first joined NAWIC in 1996 in Brisbane. It was a very different organisation then. I initially joined to attend events and meet other women in the industry. 22
I moved to Sydney in 2000 and started a new job with a global law firm. At that time a colleague and friend of mine, who was on the NSW Chapter Education Committee, asked me to take her place on the committee as she was about to get married. I thought my involvement at that stage would be temporary but I was very wrong about that! I became extremely ambitious for NAWIC and over the years I found I wanted to keep doing more. When I first joined the Education Committee we were only then starting to look at offering university scholarships, mentoring programs and the like. The NAWIC I knew then was predominantly about events and those events were much smaller than the ones that NAWIC holds today. The events were an opportunity to bring women in construction together and to create a much needed network. Today’s NAWIC is more about advocacy and leading change in the industry, it’s about giving back. HIGHLIGHTS OF MY TIME AT NAWIC One of the proudest moments during my time at NAWIC was the launch of our Building a Better Future website in 2006. The website had inspirational stories told by 80 NAWIC members aimed at encouraging women to enter Promoting the Building a Better Future website
THE NAWIC JOURNAL
