Meet two women working in STEM leadership roles at Diageo

Diageo has many talented women working in STEM roles across the organisation.

For International Women in Engineering Day, Diageo celebrated and recognised their women and highlighted some of their work.

Leading operations at a Diageo distillery

Diane Farrell is Head of Operations at Chase Distillery. She has a Masters Of Chemical Engineering (First with Distinction) from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow - and was named in Management Today's 35 Under 35 list for her achievements.

Founded in 2008 by entrepreneur William Chase, the Chase Distillery portfolio includes seven gins, four vodkas and an elderflower liqueur.

Sustainability and a relentless focus on quality are at the heart of everything the Chase Distillery does. The spirits portfolio is distilled from scratch using British-grown potatoes, apples and all-natural botanicals on the Chase Farm in Herefordshire. The steam energy used to run the distillery is produced on site from a biomass boiler powered by prunings from the apple orchard, with potato waste used as fertiliser to feed the Farm’s cattle.

"My advice for women looking to get into engineering is you have the passion and drive and the motivation, then you have to just get out and do it," says Diane. "Never feel like you have to fit in or change yourself in order to be accepted by a team or an organisation, you're hire, because you have a unique set of skills and capabilities that nobody else has."

"By being yourself, you're able to provide a diverse viewpoint, fresh ideas, fresh perspective that other people don't have," she adds.

Sharing advice for women in STEM

Meanwhile, Ellen Edvaldsson, Business Leader at Menstrie in Scotland, is a talented woman working in a STEM role at Diageo. She leads all operations for Menstrie Bond, a Top Tier CoMAH site, where she is responsible for the control and safe storage of 1.1 million casks of maturing rum and whisky stocks, leading an operations team of around 50 people and for managing on-site contractors and permanent hauliers.

Ellen shares tips for those looking to pursue a career in STEM. For her, people skills are just as important as technical know-how.

"A big part of any role is communication and working with your colleagues," she says. "Problems aren't solved by just one person."

It's important that STEM professionals participate in discussions, shares ideas, and shows an interest in other people. "It's this ability to connect, influence and build relationships that will help you drive solutions and set you apart from the others," she adds.

Ellen has a Masters Of Chemical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.