Episode 10 of Conversations in the Park podcast featuring the new host, Brittany Atkins, having an invigorating and inspiring conversation with our esteemed guests – Elisa Sayrol, Orlie Gruper, and Danielle Walsh. They spent the time talking about how mobility spaces can support women, how they can exclude women, and how the gender imbalance in the mobility industry affects not only the women that make it to the top, but the generations to follow. The perfect way to close out Women’s History Month, settle in and join the discussion.
Elisa Sayrol is an associate professor at Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya (her alma mater!) and has also served as director and UPC representative at EIT Urban Mobility. She also currently serves in Academic Associate Direction at CARNET, a future mobility research hub in Spain.
Brittany Atkins is a tech-specialist business development professional, and has been recognised as a passionate advocate for diversity in tech and for improving city-wide collaboration through community building.
Orlie Gruper is the founder of widespread organisation Women in Mobility, a general partner at Mobilitech Capital, and a self-proclaimed “mobility nerd”, as an entrepreneur, investor, connector and executive advisor in the field.
Danielle Walsh is the CEO and founder of Clearly, a B2B SaaS company that deals in mobility emission management. She spent her years following her Cambridge Studies by working as an advisor and angel investor at several companies, including Lyra Ventures, Retykle, and HigherSteaks.
The podcast takes the topic “Women in Mobility” and dives into its various segments, ranging from how mobility infrastructures affect women to how having women in leadership affects the mobility industry as a whole.
The guests discussed the fact that gender inequality has been prevalent in the mobility industry for decades, and that women have only very recently been added to the equation – Orlie Gruper let us know that, for example, female crash test dummies were only introduced in the 1970s, despite the fact that women are at a higher risk of more serious automotive injuries. Danielle Walsh notes that it can be lonely to be at the top and not see as many women as there should be leading the industry, and the pressure can be exhausting. A remarkable theme of the episode, however, is the hope these women have for the mobility industry. Elisa Sayrol highlights how Spain has taken progressive measures to accommodate female users in mobility, particularly in public transit – allowing women to stop where they need to, even if not on the transit schedule. All three guests believe that the industry is beginning to make way for the inclusion of women, and that there is hope and optimism in the idea of the mobility industry expanding and progressing.
This is only the tip of the iceberg, and much more is discussed in the podcast – which we are proud to sponsor. You can hear the full discussion on Buzzsprout, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Enjoy the listening!
