Kate Baker

(she/her)

Project Manager

Monadelphous

Bunbury, Western Australia

Open to Help With >

  • I’d love to collaborate further on events and initiatives to promote gender diversity and inclusion within workplaces, as well as the Mining & Minerals resources industry.

  • As a mechanical engineer by background, I can be reached out to regarding all things STEM related.

  • Open to being a mentor, and to having a mentor.

  • Available for public speaking events.

About Me

Tell us about your personal values

My top three personal values are Family, Support, and Pride.

My family always come first in all decisions I make, and are the most important people in my life. It’s really important that I surround myself with people who support me, and above all I take pride in ensuring that I provide a supportive work environment for all of my team.

The value of pride comes down to the importance of feeling appreciative of the journey and work required to reach my personal achievements, and celebrating in the success of my team, family, and those close to me.

pride: a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.

What does life look like at home?

I’m a mother of two beautiful girls, and wife to a very supportive husband who takes on a lot of the mental load for school; making lunches, sorting school clothes, drop offs and pick ups, presentations, and party invites. He’s the champion of cupcake baking and birthday cakes, and every year I put my order in for cupcakes for International Women’s Day.

Our home in South Bunbury is close to our family, and I cherish walking down on a Friday after work to pick the kids up from school. Having the flexibility of an earlier finish on Friday has ensured I can still feel connected to the kids’ schooling. I missed their very first faction carnival due to a shutdown at work with a new client, and after that I vowed to ensure I never missed one again. Family is my most important value, and always reiterate with my team that I support them as well to ensure they don’t miss important events and family milestones.

What lead you to work in this field?

My dad is a Civil Engineer, and I always say to people that I was born an Engineer. I can’t ever remember thinking about wanting to be anything else in my career. As the eldest child, I was my dad’s shadow, following him everywhere and aspiring to be just like him.

We spent many family holidays as a child, driving to a destination down south with a little detour in-between; “I just want to have a look at this drainage basin,” “let’s just call through to see how the next stage of this subdivision is looking.”

3-3-1998

On the weekend my mum, dad, my two sisters and I went to Bridge Town for a holiday because dad had to look at a subdivision.

In hindsight, this would have been an excellent method for my dad to claim his holiday kilometers on tax, but it solidified my boredom of roads and steered my career towards other Engineering fields. With limited work opportunities in the Aerospace industry in Australia, I chose to instead move to Perth to study Mechanical Engineering.

What are you passionate about at work?

I’m passionate about ensuring the team I work with want to be at work every day because they love what they do and the people they are doing it with. Loving what you do brings such an infectious energy to workplaces, and when you are surrounded with love and support it makes those harder times just that bit easier to get through.

I’m also passionate about diversity in workplaces, and encouraging more women into the Mining & Minerals resources industry. I’m always on the lookout for organisations and events who promote this message, and sticking my hand up to be involved and help out.

I noticed there aren’t a lot of opportunities in the South West Region of Western Australia, both with companies hosting events and organisations having a South West chapter - this is what sparked the creation of SWWiMM.

What more could I ask?

I’d love some ideas on what questions to feature on our profile pages. If you have any ideas, please share them below:

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Cassie Sedgman - Environment Lead - Rio Tinto