Samantha Mortley

From being the only female process operator in the field through to trying drive cultural change against a 30-year ingrained mining culture, Samantha has developed resilience, focus and determination. Being in a minority group for the past ten years in the mining industry she has experienced many personal challenges within the workplace. As a result, Samantha is now passionate about driving cultural change to make the organisation more inclusive for all. Samantha is creating innovative ways to engage school-aged children in STEM and the mining industry, including onsite mentoring and technology expos at the schools, with the aim of building a more diverse and engaged local talent pool for the future. Within the community, she is helping to tackle issues such as flexible work arrangements, childcare options, gender diversity and exposure to job opportunities and the inclusion of people living with barriers into their workforce. Samantha also volunteers in areas such as fostering and rehoming of greyhounds, the Choose Respect Committee (teaching inclusive behaviour within the community) and she is learning Auslan to better understand others and increase her cultural awareness.