Nature conservation and conformity assessment: Q&A with Gillian Koh
Gillian Koh is a Program Manager at SCC’s accreditation services. She assesses conformity assessment bodies to ensure that the certifications they issue are credible. This includes assessing bodies in sustainable forest management and environmental manage systems. Gillian’s passion for protecting nature led her to work at an environmental non-governmental organization, where she was an auditor and technical expert for nearly a decade. She also had her own consulting firm, which helped companies make sustainable choices for their operations. Gillian has a Masters of Science in Environment and Development.
Photo caption: Gillian Koh out in the field doing an assessment
What advice do you have for young women aspiring to enter the field of accreditation or a related industry?
Many of the industries that we work in have been historically male dominant. Be confident and don’t doubt yourself – take pride in your knowledge, education and experience. Find your support and allies, seek out a mentor and a women’s professional group in your industry. If a group doesn’t exist, start one! Other young women will be in your place one day and it will be your turn to help the next generation of women in your field.
As a woman working in accreditation, how do you balance career aspirations with personal life, and what advice would you give to others navigating this balance?
Take a holistic look at your life: what are your goals and commitments?
Working in accreditation doesn’t mean you can’t have a personal life, it means you need to plan in advance and set boundaries. The parameters will vary for each person. For me, with two young kids, it means planning work travel far enough in advance to ensure we have adequate support at home; it means taking continuing education classes remotely and/or self-paced. Instead of taking weekly language courses, I take them bi-weekly. Both the employer and employee need to work together, communicate openly and honestly and be flexible to find the right balance.
There have been times when I am away for half of a month, and it will happen again. However, I don’t let that become the norm. Being a woman working in accreditation is challenging at times, but it is also personally and professionally rewarding.
What International Women’s Day (IWD) message would you like to share with the standardization network?
It has been 113 years since the first IWD. So much has improved, but there is so much left to be done. We are 47% of the labour market, but we are no where close to that representation in standardization. We have more prominence within the standardization network now than ever (hurray!), but to truly represent women, standardization needs to include all women regardless of our race, age, ability and identification.
Look around the table and ask yourself, who is missing? Standardization needs to reflect the diversity it serves. If women are not inclusively present, it’s time to make change.