Event Details

Celebrate International Women's Day 2025 with Infrastructure New Zealand's Women's Infrastructure Network (WIN), in association with Tonkin + Taylor, Fonterra, and ACCIONA, on Friday 7 March 2025 at the Aotea Centre, Auckland. Join us for a special sit-down lunch featuring an uplifting panel discussion, a chance to ask questions, and time to connect and network with fellow Wāhine and allies.

International Women's Day (IWD) is a global movement celebrating women's achievements across social, economic, cultural, and political spheres. It also serves as a call to action to drive progress toward gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls worldwide.

The 2025 theme, 'Accelerating Action,' calls for bold, decisive steps, collective action, and meaningful change to dismantle systemic barriers and biases that hinder women's progress. It aims to foster a more inclusive and equitable future for women and girls worldwide. Amplifying the impact of initiatives that are advancing gender equality is crucial to driving lasting progress and creating real change.

The Women's Infrastructure Network (WIN) is dedicated to increasing women's representation in leadership, amplifying their visibility, and providing a strong professional community for women in the infrastructure sector. With over 2,400 members across six chapters—Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Wellington, Christchurch, and Southern—WIN is part of a global network spanning the UK, USA, Canada, and Australia.

We welcome everyone to join us in celebrating International Women's Day 2025 and working together to advance gender equality.

Presenter Details

Vanessa Stoddart - Chair, Tonkin + Taylor

Vanessa is currently Chair of Tonkin + Taylor, a Director for Channel Infrastructure, Waste Management and OneFortyOne - an international forestry company, and sits on a number of advisory and NFP boards. She has held governance positions with other listed, private, public sector and co-operative entities here and in Australia, chairing many People and Health & Safety Committees.

Prior to her governance career, Vanessa was head of engineering and human resources at Air New Zealand and Chief Executive Packaging Australia for Carter Holt Harvey –having started her career in the legal profession. Vanessa is passionate about inclusion - is a member of Global Women and a mentor on various programmes including mentoring Kupe Scholarship candidates and MYLN participants. Vanessa is a Companion of Engineering NZ and an Honorary Fellow of HRINZ

Pilar Gomez Fabra - HR Director AU & NZ, ACCIONA

Pilar Gómez is the Group Head of HR & EDI at ACCIONA’s Australia and New Zea land infrastructure business.

Pilar joined ACCIONA in 2004, and prior to leading the HR & EDI function she worked across ACCIONA’s water business leading the HR function for Australasia including Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines and Hong Kong. Before joining ACCIONA, Pilar gained diverse experience leading teams across banking and telecommunications.

Over Pilar’s time in ACCIONA, she has been responsible for designing and implementing Talent Acquisition, Technical Training, Learning & Development, Employee Share Plans and Compensation & Benefits strategies. She has overseen the consolidation of the HR function from multiple businesses and the digital transformation of the HR and Payroll systems. More recently Pilar has driven a bespoke Data Scientist strategy for HR which has delivered a predictive model to prevent voluntary turnover.

With tertiary qualifications in Psychology and Human Resources, together with an International Executive MBA and Masters in Labour Relations, Pilar has a deep understanding of the impact people make within a business and the importance of aligning employee’s commitment and motivation with business objectives.

Pilar is a Board Member of the Board of Australian Constructors Association; a permanent guest member of the Alliance Leadership Team Board at North-East Link, Northern Package Project; and a Member of the Board at La Camara, Spanish-Australian Chamber of Commerce.

Gerard Krishnan - Managing Director, TSA Riley

Gerard is currently the Managing Director of TSA Riley’s Aotearoa business and a member of the Group Leadership Team. A qualified civil engineer with over 35 years of experience, he has led the delivery of complex infrastructure and construction projects across New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Gerard is committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment at TSA Riley, he is an LGBTQ+ ally and champion of diversity. As the Executive Sponsor of Thrive, TSA Riley’s global DEI initiative, he is driving change to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and empowered to be themselves. Recent Thrive initiatives include a 2024 International Women’s Day panel discussion, Leadership from a Female Perspective, and the in-house Connect mentoring programme, which pairs senior women with emerging talent. Thrive has also played a key role in advancing TSA Riley’s policies and processes to support gender balance and women’s development.

Gerard recently joined the Property Council of New Zealand’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, where he looks forward to extending his advocacy to the wider industry.

Erica Jeon - Senior Civil Engineer, Aurecon

Erica is a collaborative leader dedicated to fostering collective action and creating meaningful pathways for women in Aotearoa's infrastructure and engineering sector.

As a Chartered Civil Engineer at Aurecon, Erica is passionate about building resilient communities through infrastructure and tackling complex problems that are both technical and human-centric. She currently works in the delivery team of the O Mahurangi Penlink project.

Erica also serves as the Gender Diversity Lead in Aurecon’s Aotearoa DEI network. Her commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion stems from the conviction that we need a sector that represents the community we serve, to build better infrastructure. She has implemented key gender diversity initiatives and established Te Rōpū Wāhine, a Women’s Network at Aurecon. 

Externally, Erica recently joined the Board of YWCA Auckland, a non-profit organisation supporting women and girls in Aotearoa, and has been a committee member of Women’s Infrastructure Network Auckland. She also collaborates closely with Women in Engineering at the University of Auckland to deliver programmes that empower young women entering the field. 

Erica was named a finalist for the People Award for Diversity and Inclusion by the Association of Consulting and Engineering (ACE) NZ. 

Facilitator: Charlotte Downes - Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Fonterra

Charlotte Downes led The Diversity Agenda, an award-winning movement supported by over 50 CEOs and business owners, for more than two years. Under her leadership, the initiative achieved key milestones, including closing the pay equity gap, increasing women in leadership, and setting diversity and inclusion targets for New Zealand's engineering and architecture sectors.

Charlotte is a mother of two and currently serves as Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Fonterra.