Episode 016 - Jo Foster

Engineering Success interviews Jo Foster the Diversity & Inclusion Manager at The Institute of Engineering and Technology. Jo is an accomplished Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) specialist with more than 9 years experience in the profession. She currently works as the EDI Lead for the Institution of Engineering and Technology - one of the largest professional engineering societies in the world. Jo leads on all EDI activity for the institution and in 2018 she set the IET's first multi-year EDI Strategy. This strategy has full senior leadership support and approval from the IET's Board of Trustees. It has an internal and external focus and is an excellent example of embedding EDI practises across a complex organisational structure. She imparts expert knowledge across multiple diversity strands such as; gender, LGBTQ+, social mobility, BAME groups, disability, mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. She is Chair of the IET Diversity & Inclusion Committee, sits on the Royal Academy of Engineering Diversity & Inclusion Steering Group and is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Diversity and Inclusion in STEM. From 2015 to date Jo has successfully project-managed the prominent and prestigious IET Young Woman Engineer (YWE) of the Year Awards, turning it into a multi-award-winning event and ceremony. She acts as an unconscious bias observer for the YWE Awards to ensure equal opportunity for all. Jo has been the driving force behind the IET's most successful social media diversity campaigns, two of which are multi-award-winning - to alter the perception around engineering and who the profession is for.