Championing D&I as a member of the Senior Civil Service

I joined the department in 2009, not too long after graduating and unsure as to what I wanted to do with my career. I had a strong family history in the MOD and military, and so joined the MOD initially as a temporary administrative assistant in one of our ships teams. I joined permanently soon after and have had a range of roles across Head Office and DE&S (Defence, Equipment and Support, Bristol) as well as the Department for Transport, since then.

In my first job I was the only woman in the team, the youngest by about 14 years, and openly gay.  I’ll be honest and say I questioned staying in my earliest days, I didn’t feel particularly well represented and wondered if I would belong better elsewhere. I’m glad I stuck it out. I worked for managers who invested time in my development, and motivated me to progress in the organisation, playing a huge part in shaping the kind of leader I am today. In MOD I have had some incredibly rewarding and challenging roles from working on the cyber programme, to being the Defence Secretary’s PS, and now working for MOD in Washington as the Minister Counsellor Defence Acquisition and Technology following a fantastic couple of years running the International Relations Group in DE&S.  I also moved to Department of Transport earlier in my career for two years to run the international trade and policy team, which was a hugely valuable experience in my broader development. These roles have offered me huge amounts of leadership, have challenged me, and I have genuinely been able to do things I never thought I would get to do for a job including traveling the world and learning how to work with cultures across the globe.

As part of my journey, I have also been a Pride champion, a member of various Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) committees, and am now a D&I champion as a member of the Senior Civil Service.  The one trend I have seen across government is that more and more is being invested in this discussion – not just because it’s seen as the right thing to do, but because we see how much benefit is driven from having people in teams who think and act differently.

I’m glad I didn’t give up so early on in my career – it is often said that you can’t be what you can’t see, and while I see our general leadership increasing in diversity, I also see so many incredibly talented and dedicated colleagues around me every day. Diversitymatters

- Laura, Defence Acquisition and Technology