Women in shipping organisation WISTA Norway has welcomed its first man.
Nor-Shipping director Per Martin Tanggaard has joined after WISTA cleared male membership last year. Some other national WISTA associations already have men involved.
It saw Tanggaard as the ideal person to announce the next chapter in its development, it said.
“Per Martin is an enthusiastic, open minded and forward-thinking member of the maritime community. As such he is a perfect ambassador for WISTA and our mission of promoting women within the industry,” said Bjorg Ekonrud, president of WISTA Norway.
“WISTA Norway decided to allow male membership at its 2017 AGM. We want to be inclusive, of course, but also saw this as a way of building our influence, with prominent male ambassadors helping us carry our message into new arenas, engage new audiences and build new opportunities.
"Per Martin, with his role at the head of one of our industry’s most important global gatherings, is an ideal person to help us achieve those objectives.”
WISTA’s Waves of Change conference is an established part of the Nor-Shipping programme.
“Nor-Shipping has been at the front line of fighting for greater female participation in maritime for years and we see this move within that context,” said Tanggaard.
“By helping WISTA open its doors to men we can increase the reach of the organization within maritime and help effect positive change.
“To ensure the maritime and ocean industries have access to the best minds we have to commit to working together to foster an open and inclusive environment. Our message is ‘this is an industry for everybody’ and we need to promote that to ensure our best chance of sustainable success far into the future.
"Personally I’m delighted to be the first man to join WISTA Norway, and I hope there’ll be many more that see the value of engaging with this important organization to promote goals that we all stand to benefit from.”
Tanggaard has also signed up as the first male mentor for WISTA Norway and YoungShip’s Female Maritime Mentorship programme.
