One of our trainee quantity surveyors, Nour Rifai has been selected to be part of the Young Women Lead Committee 2019/2020.
This leadership programme is for young women aged between 16-30 living in Scotland and is only open to women from minority ethnic communities.
The project aims to help young women develop their leadership skills, and to create a peer network of diverse young women across Scotland who share the same passion for gender equality and leading change.
Nour fought off tough competition from other applicants to earn her spot on the committee and she looks forward to the journey ahead.
What motivated you to apply to this programme?
I’ve always been interested in activism, but with university I haven’t had much of an opportunity to get as involved as I would like. The Young Women Lead programme gives me the opportunity to work on a study that will help parliament make real change, whilst also giving me skills that will benefit me as a trainee at Doig+Smith.
What do you hope to get out of it?
I hope to develop my leadership skills, make a difference and be able to give some insight on being a BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) woman in construction. I didn’t know anything about Quantity Surveying as a career until Doig+Smith came to my Statistics lecture – I hope that I’ll be able to demonstrate that it’s a good role (especially at D+S), well suited for students of any ethnicity, gender, or minorities.
How do you think programme will benefit you in your current role?
I think the leadership skills gained will impact my current role. I will be graduating in 2020, so having the experience of working, presenting and debating in parliament with MSP’s can only be a positive, and will surely benefit me as I look to build my career at Doig+Smith.
What has been involved in the programme so far / what have you already learned
So far we have been focusing on training (digital and online activism, conflict resolution and an introduction to local government, research training and introduction to third sector engagement), and deciding on what our research topic is going to be. This will be chosen by the end of the year, with us going to parliament and beginning our research through 2020. Our report for the Scottish Government will then be published in June 2020 on the www2.gov.scot website.
What are you most looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to working with politicians who are interested in the topics the YWL programme researches, working with my team members on our chosen topic, and seeing our final published report.
For more information on the Young Women Lead Programme visit: www.ywcascotland.org/programmes/young-women-lead/
Interested in a career in Quantity Surveying? Read Diary of a Trainee Quantity Surveyor on the Doig+Smith blog.