President, Aecom
Search every verified Lara Poloni interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Lara Poloni, President at Aecom, has spoken publicly about gender diversity and leadership in the infrastructure and construction sectors. In a 2019 keynote address at the Women in Construction Summit, she said that leaders have "the platform and power to drive change within their organizations" and that "leadership accountability" is critical for progress on gender diversity. She described a personal experience in which a former boss, despite good intentions, "effectively discounted me from a major role because of assumptions about my family situation," which she cited as an example of unconscious bias affecting career opportunities. Poloni noted that in the Middle East, Aecom's graduate intake was "pretty much 50/50 male and female," and she described "dramatic opportunity for the progression of women in Saudi Arabia." In earlier remarks from 2016, when she was Chief Executive of Aecom Australia and New Zealand, Poloni said that upon stepping into the role she saw "a lot of power and influence" and wanted to use it to encourage more women into the professioncars. She said the company had focused on pay equity, describing it as "the right thing to do" that also brought business benefits and helped attract talented graduates. Poloni also discussed the importance of resilience, stating that it involves "staying the course through very challenging times," and said that leaders should "surround yourself with great people who can share the leadership burden with you."
“When I came into this role a couple of years ago, I noticed that discussions around the progression of women and gender diversity had fallen off the agenda, despite the importance of pay equity and government backing in other regions like Australia and the UK.”
“Leaders have the platform and power to drive change within their organizations, including decisions on recruitment, project assignments, pay rises, and recognition, making leadership accountability critical for gender diversity progress.”
“I had a pivotal conversation with a former boss who, despite good intentions, effectively discounted me from a major role because of assumptions about my family situation, highlighting how unconscious bias can impact career opportunities.”
“Our team of about 20,000 professionals generates several billion dollars of revenue, and we have a great opportunity to have frank conversations and take practical steps to improve gender diversity in the infrastructure and construction sectors.”
“Building your networks is crucial, even though it can be challenging with long work hours; industry networking events provide a unique source of support and insight into what other companies are doing around maternity leave, workplace flexibility, and mentoring.”
“Mentoring and sponsorship are both vital; while mentoring involves guidance, sponsorship requires a commitment to actively promote and be accountable for the career progression of high-potential women.”
“Being agile and open to different career opportunities, including lateral moves and global mobility, can provide valuable perspectives and growth, as I experienced moving from Australia to London and working in the Middle East.”
“Pay progression conversations are hard, and historically I was a bad example by not discussing salary expectations for 20 years; women often struggle more than men in having these conversations, but being well-prepared and organized is key.”
“Here in the Middle East, our graduate intake is now pretty much 50/50 male and female, which is a critical starting point to maintain a diverse pipeline for future leadership.”
“There is dramatic opportunity for the progression of women in Saudi Arabia, supported by partnerships with universities to promote STEM and construction careers, which is critical given the ambitious development agenda.”
“When I stepped into the chief executive role I saw a tremendous opportunity that came with the role; there was a lot of power and influence in a role like mine so I wanted to put that to good use and one of the ways where I felt that our organization and myself could really have a big impact was encouraging more women...”
“One of those was doing something tangible in the pay space because we take for granted that men and women for example have the same access to the same opportunities, they get paid the same all the time and you know we found out that it's not a level playing field.”
“Through our efforts I'm really proud that we have had a very strong focus on that; it's the right thing to do, it has definitely some business benefits and it really has fostered some amazing shared values and great relationship building with our clients which is an additional bonus.”
“Most importantly it's actually led to continuing to attract the most talented graduates that are out there available who want to come and work for us which is great.”
“You quickly realize that you have time and that it's important to take a step back and first and foremost surround yourself with great people who can share the leadership burden with you and who have different perspectives and that makes for a very rich conversation and a diverse culture in the workplace.”
'Leader of Influence' Lara Poloni, Chief Executive of AECOM Australia and New Zealand delivers a special presentation at ...
Lara Poloni, CEO of AECOM, leads a 3000-strong team across Australia and New Zealand. AECOM delivers projects to enable ...
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