CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE – FEMALE LEADERSHIP Dr Marianne Foley Arup A career of championing positive change in business, industry and the community has been recognised with a major award for Arup’s Dr Marianne Foley. Dr Foley, Arup Australasia’s Buildings Leader, was named Consult Australia’s Champion of Change – Female Leadership Gold Award Winner for 2020. Chair of the Arup Australasia Region, Peter Chamley, congratulated Marianne on the prestigious award, saying she leads from the front and advocates and implements change with logic and empathy. “Marianne’s generous leadership style and success within Arup have made her a role model, particularly for young women,” Peter said. “Her professionalism and personal integrity give credibility to her views and have extended her influence and contribution beyond Arup to the industry and wider community.” Celebrated for her technical innovation as a fire engineer, Marianne has worked on famous buildings such as the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing (the Water Cube) and 50 Martin Place in Sydney. Her leadership roles have included being a Member of the Region Board, Leader of the largest office - Sydney, inaugural Member of the Arup University Council and Leader of the Consulting Sector for Australia and Singapore. In that role, she grew the business more than 60% and increased diversity within the teams. Marianne is currently the Building Sector Leader for the Region (Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia) overseeing business strategy and execution, client relationships, projects and a team of 650 professionals. Her focus is embedding sustainability into all aspects of the work. Among colleagues she is known for her mentoring (formal and informal), her regular communications, respect for others, approachable manner and generosity in sharing information and advice. She was given the firm’s highest honour becoming an Arup Fellow in 2017 for ‘technical and design excellence, and the ability to innovate and inspire’. Through conference speeches, videos, podcasts and social media, she advocates
for attitude change regarding diversity, opening up career opportunities for women in the profession, STEM education and professional excellence. Behind the scenes, she volunteers for organisations such as NGO Habitat for Humanity. Marianne is sought out for her professional knowledge, experience and award-winning expertise to advise leading industry forums, particularly on improving engineering education and levels of professionalism. Marianne said it was an honour to receive the recognition from Consult Australia which represents consulting firms in the built and natural environment. “The journey is important - what we do each day really matters. Awards help showcase what can be done and what’s being done. Role models and stories are incredibly powerful and create visibility of what’s possible,” she said. “I hope my work creates a positive impact on the community. I want to be part of making the world a better place, and we can all do that in our own small ways, in the parts that we can influence.
Judges’ Comments: In what was truly an outstanding category, Dr Marianne Foley was the deserving winner of this years Champions of Change – Female Leadership Gold Award. The judges commentated that Dr Foley was truly an outstanding entry. Her leadership credentials have been established through outstanding technical credentials as arguably Australia's and one of the world's leading consulting engineers in Fire Engineering. Some of the projects she has led are truly outstanding. Her contribution to both Arup and to the wider profession, namely UQ, Warren Centre and numerous high-level industry advisory committees are excellent. Marianne is a real champion; she is clearly an outstanding leader within Arup and has achieved great recognition for her work. She is an exemplar and a leader achieving at a high level in the profession. Her contribution to diversity and inclusion is outstanding. Marianne is to be commended for her work and is a deserving winner of this year’s gold award.
“If I can make the case for change, and help others on that journey, I guess that’s what makes a champion of change.”
The judges commentated that Dr Foley was truly an outstanding entry. Her leadership credentials have been established through outstanding technical credentials as arguably Australia's and one of the world's leading consulting engineers in Fire Engineering. Consulting Matters 35
