This year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) theme is Inspire Inclusion. When we inspire others to understand and value women's inclusion, we forge a better world.

At Gist, we’re proud to support the development of all colleagues, but as we mark IWD today, we want to celebrate a colleague who is passionate about supporting and advancing women in logistics.

Dennis Walsh, General Manager at Gist Enfield, has supported numerous colleagues in various roles, but his support developing two female colleagues is inspiring others.

“These two female leaders are trailblazers”, says Dennis. “They are inspirations to all our female colleagues, demonstrate our values as leaders, and the opportunity for all to progress within Gist”.

“I think female leaders are inspiring, empathetic, and tenacious; they play a key role in creating well-rounded and dynamic leadership teams.”

Both female leaders started as agency colleagues, then progressing to full-time Gist colleagues, and now hold influential leadership roles within the Enfield depot. The two women both encompass a passion and desire to progress, but also recognise the positive culture within Gist wherein all have access to opportunities and support to develop their careers.

“[One of the female leaders] is a high-performing individual, who is currently on the M&S Build course, and I believe has the capability to be a General Manager. I like to think I have created an environment wherein she will have access to the opportunities to flourish and invested in her development,” adds Dennis.

“Enfield has the highest gender balance in the Gist network and I’m proud of that. I believe we have an environment where, if we create the right pathways, there will be a tsunami effect of more inspiring female leaders coming through business.

“We are making inroads, but we have a way to go. “