Westcoast aims to WoW with dedicated DEI programme

Distributor unveils Women of Westcoast (WoW) initiative to promote and advance gender equality across the channel

Westcoast is determined to achieve the WoW factor with the launch of its Women of Westcoast initiative, cementing its ongoing commitment and investment in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

A year in the making, the programme – launched on International Women’s Day - is built around three core pillars, with the aim of supporting women at every stage of their career.

The pillars are:

Networking and Events: Offering structured opportunities for networking, team building, skills development and engagement with female leaders and role models.

Leadership Masterclasses: Long-term training pathways, equipping women with the skills and confidence to step into leadership roles and accelerate their development.

Mentoring and Sponsorship: Offering both internal and external mentorship pairings, alongside senior-level sponsorship to guide long-term career progression.

WoW has been driven by a four-strong working group comprised of Sonia Dodd, learning and development manager; Holly Bentley, operations director; Emma Wells, credit risk manager; and Anita Beaumont-Blake, strategic sales director.

Dodd said: “Technology remains one of the world’s most gender-imbalanced industries, and studies continue to show that many women perceive their career progression as limited due to structural barriers.

“Women of Westcoast is Westcoast’s answer to addressing this. It’s a strategic initiative focused on creating the conditions in which women can thrive, while strengthening innovation, leadership capability and commercial performance across the organisation.”

Speaking to CRN, Beaumont-Blake (pictured above) said initiatives like this were still very much needed.

“I’ve been in the channel for over 20 years and I was often the only woman in the room. I think it has definitely changed, but it feels like we have got a bit stuck and need another push. There is still so much work to be done about the inequality of roles in our industry and it is important to keep pushing.”

She explained the response to-date has been overwhelming: “We mentioned the programme at our sales kick-off, and on that evening people were coming up to me straight away asking how they can get involved and what it is going to look like, so it has been a great start already.”

She added the programme will help with recruitment, particularly in getting more women into sales roles.

“If you look at our marketing and support functions there are quite a lot of women. But for me in sales, it was always such as nightmare to recruit – particularly in distribution. This will hopefully show that Westcoast is a place you can be seen and heard and you can grow into whatever you want to be.”

Beaumont-Blake stressed it was key to bring everyone on the journey and promote allyship among male colleagues.

“I’ve been really lucky and had so many male allies that have pushed me when I could have given up, so it is extremely important to get men onside as well,” she said. “Luckily all the men at Westcoast, including senior management, have been nothing but supportive of this programme.”

She explained the distributor will be holding a face-to-face event next month to kick off the networking side of the programme featuring speakers from across the industry.