On the day invited speakers will share their views and experience about what the industry has achieved so far, and the challenges and opportunities still available for effective gender equality in the sector. Their views will provide a guiding light for IDWIM to continue its work throughout the next year.
Rohitesh “Ro” Dhawan was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of ICMM in April 2021. He is passionate about the transformative power of mining, particularly in emerging markets where he has spent two-thirds of his life.
Ro is a Fellow and faculty member of the Africa Leadership Initiative and a Raisina fellow at the Asian Forum on Global Governance. He serves on the Advisory Boards of the Columbia Centre for Sustainable Investment, Concordia and Resolve. He has served on the UK Government’s Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (PACT) Programme and was named one of South Africa’s climate change leaders for his work with the country’s mining sector. He holds a Master of Science in Environmental Change & Management from the University of Oxford in the UK, and a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics from Rhodes University in South Africa.
Deanna is Professor and Director, CSRM and MISHC, People Centres, Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI), The University of Queensland (UQ), Brisbane. She is a leading international expert focused on the social and political challenges of the global mining industry.
Laura Tyler joined BHP in May 2005 and was made BHP’s inaugural Chief Technical Officer in September 2020. The CTO represents key technical and operational capability on the BHP Executive Leadership Team and is responsible for the Group’s health, safety and environment, technology, performance and improvement, metals exploration, and the centres of excellence for maintenance, projects and resources. This role is tasked with improving health and safety, sustainability, operational reliability and productivity through operational excellence and performance improvement. The
Technical team also seek to secure additional options in future-facing commodities via operational incremental improvement and through global metals exploration success.
Laura has worked in management roles for BHP in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, and has been a member of BHP’s Executive Leadership Team since 2017. She began her career as a Geological Engineer at Ground Explorations Ltd in 1988 and moved into the mining industry in 1995 as a Mine Geologist with Mount Isa Mines. She has since worked in various operational and technical leadership roles with increasing levels of seniority. Prior to her current role, Laura was Asset President for Olympic Dam in South Australia from July 2018 to August 2020, where she was responsible for the safe and sustainable operation of one of the world’s most significant polymetallic resources producing copper, uranium, gold and silver in remote
South Australia. Concurrently she also held the role of Chief Geoscientist responsible for the global team of geoscience and resource engineering experts including BHP’s tailings response to recent dam failures, and the leadership of the Legacy Assets in North America.
Prior to her position at Olympic Dam, Laura was the Chief of Staff to the CEO, a role which enabled the CEO to effectively fulfil their commitments to the Board and Company. Laura has also worked in several other senior management roles, including as Asset President Cannington (Queensland, Australia), Vice President – HSEC, Aluminium (London, United Kingdom) and General Manager, EKATI Diamond Mine (North West Territories, Canada). Before joining BHP, Laura worked for a variety of different companies, including WMC Resources, Newcrest Mining, Mount Isa Mines, Mouchel Consulting and the British Geological Survey.
Sheila Khama is a non-executive director of ;listed companies, an independent minerals, oil and gas policy advisor, an author, podcast host with more than two decades’ work experience in extractives. Sheila is a former executive of Anglo American Corporation and De Beers Groups in Botswana. She has extensive knowledge of the mining industry, the Africa business environment and sustainability challenges in mineral, oil and gas industries. She worked for the World Bank and African Development Bank’s mineral, oil and gas policy advisory units leading teams of experts advising governments in Africa, Latin America and Central Asia.
Sheila is a non-executive director Tullow Oil, a FTSE 250 company and The Metals Company listed on the NASDAG and the Audit Committee of the UN Office of Operations. She served on the Sustainability Panel of LafargeHolcim, the Advisory Boards of Columbia University Centre for Sustainable Investments, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Networks She is a former of CEO of De Beers Botswana and served as a non-executive director of several companies including the world’s largest producer of gem diamonds by value, Debswana. She has served on the Sustainability Panel of AngloGold Ashanti, Technical Committee of Oxford University’s Natural Resources Charter among others. She has lived and worked in Botswana, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, the UK and USA.