Supporting Women in Leadership with the Suzy Miller Program
Within the rail industry, women in leadership roles can sometimes be few and far between.
However, at Swietelsky Rail Australia (SRA), we're proud to have 25 per cent female representation on our senior leadership team and 33 per cent female representation on our governance board.
We want these statistics to remain steady and help create growth and leadership opportunities for women in our team.
This is one of the reasons why we enrolled our Business Administrator Montanna Sumner, into the Suzy Miller Women's Leadership Development Program which ran over five months during 2024.
The program is widely known for its ability to deliver results, with 100 per cent of participants noting that they would recommend the program to others. Participants' confidence across a variety of areas has also increased including 49 per cent saying they're more confident in leading others, 66 per cent are more confident contributing to meetings and 76 per cent understand their value.
Providing ongoing support for women in leadership
Montana's involvement with the program is not the first encounter for SRA. We're proud sponsors of the Women's Leadership Development Program until 2026.
Through this sponsorship, we provided two scholarships for Indigenous women or women from a disadvantaged background in 2023 and have committed to a minimum of one scholarship for a participant every year. Aligning with this commitment, we also provided a scholarship for one participant of the program in 2024.
CEO and Founder of the program, Suzy Miller said that she is so grateful for the support of SRA.
“The sponsorship and support of Anne and the team at SRA, enables scholarship positions to provide access to our program for women, who otherwise may not be able to participate. As a highly respected mentor in our program, Anne has witnessed first-hand the outcomes the program gets for organizations and individuals as well as the massive ripple effect and social return on investment for the families and communities surrounding them.”
In addition to providing ongoing support to women in leadership, the program sponsorship aligns closely with our Sustainability Strategy for 2024-202 7 which targets increasing female participation within our own business and the rail industry as a whole.
Encouraging Montana to enrol in the program was a fundamental step towards achieving our goals within the Sustainability Strategy too.
Montana's leadership experience and career trajectory
Montana has been part of the SRA team since early 2022 years and is on a leadership trajectory. We wanted to foster her growth in this space and knew the Suzy Miller program would be the perfect opportunity.
A born 'go-getter', Montana has been passionate about continuous learning within her role and wanting to step up until a leadership role. Since starting at SRA, she has completed a Cert III in Business and a Diploma in Social Media Marketing to enhance her skills in this space.
The Suzy Miller Program is one of several short courses Montana has taken on leadership, but this one has had the most profound impact so far.
Following through the program
The Women in Leadership Development program consisted of three workshops and six one-hour mentoring sessions.
Each participant of the program is allocated a mentor to help provide leadership guidance, discuss goals, and be a go-to for all things mentoring and leadership.
The first workshop was titled ' Know You' and covered a range of topics including:
- The mentoring experience and what to expect out of the program
- Goal setting, cultivating confidence
- Relishing risk and framework and tools which included self-reflection, discovering your life purpose and career planning.
The second workshop was ' Value You' where there was a strong focus on personal branding, understanding personal value, networking, emotional intelligence and managing priorities.
The third and final workshop was ' Future You' which was all about the participants' career anchors, career planning and the next steps after the program.
For Montana, the end of the program was a great chance to reflect on how far the participants had all come and celebrate their successes.
“We finished the program with a debrief of our time and all the partnerships we've made,” Montana said.
“Everyone shared what they valued most about their time with their mentor or mentee, which was a very heartfelt moment and so special to listen to everyone's kind words and appreciation for their partnerships.”
More than just a mentor
Montana was paired with Claire Bath, her mentor throughout her time in the program. Claire is an experienced mentor bringing significant leadership, executive and professional expertise from her time in both private and public organizations in the Information Technology (IT) sector. While Claire was an excellent mentor for Montana in her leadership goals, Montana said Claire was more than that.
“Throughout this program Claire has not only guided me throughout the goals I had set in place for myself, but helped me achieve these,” Montanna said.
“At times I would come to her and say I haven't had much growth since our last catch up and she would ask me what's been happening in my life. I would explain and she would help me see that I have had major growth, and that growth is not always measured in the way we initially think.
“Claire also helped me realize that I was setting unrealistic growth milestones for myself and that I had in fact made massive improvements.”
Reflecting on her time as Montana's mentor, Claire said that the sky is the limit for Montana.
“Montanna demonstrated commitment and significant achievements in this program. “To be able to reach her goal halfway through the program, and then develop and start work on a new goal is truly inspirational,” Claire said.
Montana's leadership outlook
Since starting the program, Montana has found a new confidence within her current role and approaching new situations. She has a clearer understanding of her leadership style and how she can apply this in her day-to-day operations, and how some team members may not work the same as her.
“After completing the program, I'm excited to further develop my communication skills,” Montana said.
“Becoming a more effective communicator is a skill I'm eager to learn further. I believe this will better my opportunities within the business and help me feel more confident using my voice.”
“I now strongly believe anyone can do anything if I set their mind on it and commit – 'can't' isn't a word after all. The program has reinforced the importance of confidence in leadership. “I’ve learned to trust my instincts and own my voice in decision-making, which will make me a more assertive leader that people can trust.”
Working with Suzy and Claire has helped shape Montanna into a future leader, and improved her confidence immensely within her role, and outside of SRA.
“I aspire to be an inclusive, driven leader. “I want to be someone who not only drives results but also empowers and uplifts others along the way,” Montana said.
“I want to lead with empathy, understanding the personal and professional challenges my team members face. The program has emphasized the importance of emotional intelligence, helping me realize just how crucial it is to be aware of what others are going through, while creating a supportive and inclusive work environment.
“I want my team to love coming to work and I believe you need to be happy at a place you spend most of your time at, because a happy team drives results.”
Suzy's team have opened the intake for the Hunter, Newcastle & Central Coast 2025 program and are also seeking expressions of interest from regions far and wide, to expand their reach and provide access to quality professional development, right across Australia.
“If Regions can gather enough interest to make the program viable, we'd love to hear from them,” Suzy said.
You can find more information about the Women's Leadership Development Program on Suzy's website here.
Providing leadership and career opportunities for our team is just one of our commitments to supporting our team at SRA. Find the next step in your career with our team.
