Finalists announced for the Amazon everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards 2022

Amazon is proud to sponsor the everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards for the third consecutive year. The awards celebrate the vital contribution women make to transport and logistics across all sectors of the industry – from freight and retail to automotive, maritime and air transport. Now in its 15^th year, the finalists for this year’s awards demonstrate the progression, accomplishments and increasing avenues of opportunity within the traditionally male-dominated industry.

The transport and logistics workforce is one of the largest and most vital in the UK with over 2.5 million employees. Although more women have taken up senior roles since the awards launched 15 years ago, they still only account for 20% of the workforce, showing that there is still more work to be done to attract women to careers in the industry.

Kerry-Anne Lawlor, Country Director of Amazon Logistics said, “Amazon is proud to support the everywoman in Transport and Logistics Awards and to celebrate the exceptional achievements of women in the industry, showcasing them as role models for the next generation.

“As a company it is important for us to inspire women to continue to drive innovation and new ways of thinking and to develop fulfilling careers by providing opportunities for all.”

Each year the awards showcase and celebrate the success of women in a diverse range of roles in the hope of inspiring others to launch a career in this industry.

The awards will recognise two winners per category; one successful industry “Leader” and one individual at any stage in their career who is going “Above and Beyond” for their business. There will also be a recipient for the Industry Champion Award, Male Agent of Change Award, Apprentice of the Year Award and Woman of the Year Award.

“We are thrilled to announce the finalists for the 2022 Amazon everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards,” said Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founder of everywoman.

“It’s been another extraordinary year for transport and logistics, with a continued need for adaptation and innovation at every level and across growing areas of the industry. In our finalists we identify and celebrate the passion, dedication, skills and leadership that are making transport and logistics dynamic and resilient, and that kept the country moving in persistently difficult times.

“We look forward to the awards ceremony where we can shine a spotlight on some of the most exceptional women whose achievement will motivate others to consider a career in a male-dominated industry, paving the way for future generations of ground-breaking women to succeed.”

Since her first day as a curious intern at a pharmaceutical firm in Switzerland, Amelie has demonstrated a passion for the sector of supply chain management. Now, over 18 years later, Amelie manages Amazon’s large-scale network design planning cycles in the UK and Europe, making decisions that impact hundreds of delivery stations, and thousands of employees on a daily basis.

Amelie’s ability to engage teams and stakeholders throughout the country and connect the dots that make up national and international supply chains has gained her recognition at Amazon. She is always ready to step up to new challenges and has been involved in recruiting, mentoring, diversity and engagement activities throughout her teams.

Beth started working with Amazon two and a half years ago, based in the UK's first robotic fulfilment centre in Dunstable. In her role as an area manager, Beth demonstrated her skills in delivering results and managing her facilities, all while creating a healthy and vibrant culture within her team. After being promoted in just nine months, Beth continued to build a reputation for operational excellence with a clear focus on team engagement.

In 2021, Beth worked closely with a wide range of teams to negotiate, outline, and communicate a plan to launch the new fulfilment centre in Swindon successfully. In addition to her successful role as an operations manager, Beth mentors other women in leadership and is a founding member of the Women In Ops affinity group chapter in Swindon.

Kris joined Amazon in 2019 as a senior operations manager for an Amazon Robotics fulfilment centre before switching roles to manage the launch of a new receive centre in 2021. Today, she manages a team of hundreds of employees and is a key part of the senior leadership team at her site.

Throughout her career, Kris has always had a passion for championing and supporting female talent in STEM industries and mentoring women. She also worked with the recruitment team at her site to attract and recruit more women.

Kris has long had an interest and passion for helping working parents and as a result of this worked with the global president of the Families affinity group in Amazon to launch the first Families chapter for fulfilment in UK operations. This group now has over 400 members and has delivered training to managers on how to support new parents. They share monthly newsletters which include resources and webinars for parents, and takes an active role in shaping new flexible working policy.

The group also work actively with local charities, donating to a local family refuge at Christmas and partnering with WEST (a small charitable organisation based in Sheffield, set up by female engineers that has been working with local schools supported by local colleges and businesses) to run workshops in primary schools in the Doncaster and Rotherham area to encourage girls to think about careers in engineering and technology. The workshops look at the range of STEM careers and include activities run by young female managers who work for Amazon and aims to provide inspiration to children to pursue a career in STEM.

After being on furlough due to COVID-19, Sarah joined Amazon in April 2020 as a temporary employee at the Dunfermline fulfilment centre. Shortly after joining, she saw an internal job advert for a step-up area manager during the busy summer period, and applied. Within three months Sarah had gone from picking everyday essential items for Amazon’s customers to managing the entire outbound process as a step-up area manager.

After the peak season finished, Sarah looked for a new opportunity with Amazon’s logistics team at the delivery station in Edinburgh. Following the move, her enthusiasm for community and team engagement grew and led her to play a key role in the site’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategy, as well as being on the launch team for a campaign to keep the site safe during COVID-19. Eventually, Sarah took the opportunity to move back to the Dunfermline fulfilment centre as a general manager’s assistant. During this role, she launched the Women in Operations affinity group at the site – the first time this affinity group had ever been launched at an Amazon Logistics site.

After International Women’s Day 2021, Sarah was so inspired by the theme of #ChallengeChampionChange that she felt she could do more for Women in Operations. As a result, she created her own network wide campaign called #bethechange where she challenged senior leaders across Amazon to pledge to help drive positive change for women within their team. Within six months, Sarah has received 778 pledges and counting, including pledges from country directors, regional directors, senior managers and shop floor employees.

Based on her successes, Sarah was invited to join the Women in Operations UK board as Engagement Director where she is now helping women in every function in the UK gain confidence and provide them with resources to launch their own Women in Operations groups at their sites.

The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony held on 30^th June 2022 in London.

Learn more about the women at Amazon that are breaking stereotypes in logistics