At the Drinks Association's International Women’s Day Lunch, Treasury Wine Estate’s Commercial Finance Manager, Angela Burgum, was recognised for her outstanding contribution to driving diversity, equity and inclusion in the drinks industry. It is the first time that this recognition has been afforded to anyone on the Embrace Difference Council.
Burgum is the longest serving member of the Council, joining in 2016 when it was still Women In Drinks. As a champion for Inclusion, Equity and Diversity and with a day job as a commercial finance manager, tackling the scorecard for the Council makes sense. For Burgum, the truth is in the numbers.
She said: “The scorecard metrics exist to find an issue, not just to measure averages. It’s an approach we accept every day when we run our businesses; we review the metrics, find the issue, and then use the metrics to take action and drive improvement.”
The scorecard gives Drinks Association member companies visibility of the data and insights into where their business sits in relation to the wider industry when it comes to gender equity, such as workforce composition, gender split at the executive level and parental leave policies. The scorecard uses data from WGEA or data supplied to the Drinks Association by businesses with less than 100 employees.
"It’s a really important tool because it’s how we measure ourselves and our progress as a whole against key D&I metrics and policies. It’s also a way to understand and share the progress we have made. And to engage industry leaders on areas in need of improvement," said Burgum.
"In 2023, women are still less likely to lead, less likely to be paid fairly, and less likely to have their achievements recognised."
Recognising Burgum at the lunch, Embrace Difference Council Chair, Sandra Gibbs said, “I’m really pleased to be giving this inaugural award to the longest serving member of the Embrace Difference Council. Angela works tirelessly every year on the scorecard which has driven immense change in the industry.
“Angela has been an exceptional contributor to the Council over the years, working to drive change and invoke action from members. She’s a great role model and just generally a great human who we are lucky to have on the Council.”
The latest Scorecard will be released in the coming months. For more information on the Embrace Difference Council, please contact Rachel Wormald for further information.