For the first time in its 100-year history the board of the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Airconditioning and Heating (AIRAH) has achieved gender equity following the election of Mikaila Ganado, to the national board of directors.
Ganado has joined Paul Jackson and Ura Sarfejoo, who were re-elected to the board at AIRAH’s National Convention, which this year was held remotely due to the impact of the coronavirus. Existing board members include the president Ian Harwood, along with Bryon Price, and Liza Taylor.
Nathan Groenhout will continue to serve in the capacity of discretionary director.
Harwood said although it took a while for the AIRAH board to achieve gender equity it still represented a wonderful opportunity for the institute.
“It’s fantastic that the AIRAH board will have a balance of men and women going forward,” Harwood said. “In order for a board such as AIRAH’s to function effectively, you need a balance of different kinds of experience, backgrounds and perspectives.
“And in our case, this has been achieved without the need for quotas or the like. All of AIRAH’s directors have been elected in their own right.
“All of our directors bring a particular set of skills, so to speak, which we will need to harness to help shepherd AIRAH through such challenging times.”
Ganado will officially join the board at the Annual General Meeting, which will take place (also remotely) on May 19, 2020.
At that time, she will replace Stefan Jensen, who decided not to nominate for the board following the conclusion of his term.
“I’d like to thank Stefan for his service and his commitment to the board,” Harwood said.
“He will be missed, but knowing Stefan he will continue to offer his opinion from the sidelines.”
Ganado is the President and Associate Director of AIRAH’s New South Wales division committee. She’s also Associate and Senior Engineer at GWA Consultants.