we are
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IN SAFE HANDS
— Luisa Young shares her experiences of two decades in construction by Narae Ko Senior Associate, Marketing and Communications, Unispace & NAWIC Member
Rising from in-house legal support to join the C-Suite is no mean feat, particularly for a young woman and mother of two in a traditionally male-dominated environment. Luisa Young is Chief Risk Officer at global workplace design firm Unispace. A long-time NAWIC member, she has worked for some of the leading lights of property, including tenures at Stockland, Charter Hall and Scentre Group. During two decades in the industry, she has worked across practically every aspect of risk management - from handling on-site safety concerns to complex financial compliance challenges. But as Luisa explains, “construction was a pathway that unfolded in front of me rather than a conscious choice. It wasn’t as though I was playing with bricks and mortar as a kid.” She began her career in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as a lawyer, working in a law firm before being given her first big break in Australia by property group Stockland, who recruited her as an in-house legal assistant. “I’ve always said that the industry chose me, and not the other way around,” she remarks. A PEOPLE-CENTRIC VIEW OF SAFETY Luisa quickly realised that she had taken on more than just a desk job. Within a few months, she was making her way out to construction sites for the first time to respond to incidents and issues affecting both site workers and members of the general public. Through these experiences, Luisa began to see health and safety issues in an entirely different light. “I saw that safety isn’t all about checkboxes and rules,” she notes. “However, they come about, site incidents affect everyone on an intensely personal level. For me, I have to feel connected to the safety issues I’m dealing with, which is why it’s so important to get out there and spend the time on site.” 24
THE ‘COST’ OF STARTING A FAMILY Although Luisa was building up her industry knowledge and enjoying her rapid progression within construction, there was one lingering question on her mind: what to do about starting a family? Her early experiences in the legal sector had sharpened her understanding of the barriers facing women who hoped to pursue both career success and parenthood. As she rose through the ranks, she found herself increasingly disconcerted by the lack of female leaders within construction and wondered whether she might be forced to compromise her professional goals to have children. “Pregnant women in construction were viewed as an inconvenience or a burden, and the few women who made it to the top all seemed to be those who had decided not to start families,” says Luisa. “But I was incredibly fortunate to be working for a progressive employer at the time and they gave me the flexibility I needed to strike the right professional/personal balance. Not only did I feel encouraged and uplifted by my organisation, but I received the promotion I had worked so incredibly hard for.” FLEXIBILITY IS THE KEY TO THE KINGDOM Luisa is encouraged by the progress that the construction industry has made to address gender inequality issues over the past decade, while acknowledging that there are still unconscious biases lingering for women and mothers. However, she suggests that perhaps the most significant change was Unispace’s approach to flexible working and the COVID-19 pandemic. “The opportunity to work from home played a big part in making my post-maternity return to work a success. Unispace has always understood that working from home after dropping off the kids was just as productive as working from the office. Of
THE NAWIC JOURNAL
