By Bridget Dean, Associate Editor
An ever-growing number of rail industry organizations are championing inclusivity in the workplace, striving to make the railroad industry a more welcoming place for women to work.
RailWorks, a North American contractor providing construction, rehabilitation and maintenance services to both freight and passenger railroads, launched an employee resource group (ERG) in January titled Women@RailWorks.
“We have so many talented women who’ve grown with us, and we really wanted to create a group internally that offered professional development, provide a sense of community,” says Danielle Kandybowicz, the company’s vice president of human resources and founding member of the ERG. “It’s a very heavily male-dominated industry, and I think that can be sometimes off-putting.”
With about 50 members, Women@RailWorks meets on Teams in groups of about 15 each month for discussions, educational programming, and fellowship with other women employees in all lines of work and locations in the company.
In each group there is a member of the ERG leadership team who facilitates discussion. Leaders also meet monthly to determine the next month’s topic, which ranges from self-improvement to professional development and any issue that affects women, both in and out of the rail industry.
Bansari Pancholi is a project engineer at RailWorks. She has been in the rail industry for five years and is an advocate for women on job sites. RailWorksFor example, Kandybowicz (who’s based in New York City) and other organizers in the HR department have presented information about RailWorks’ employee benefits such as maternity leave, pregnancy care and healthcare access at a meeting.
“I usually suggest the topics that I am struggling [with] in my personal life. For example, I had some health things going on, so I suggested the [women’s] health topic,” says Bansari Pancholi, a St. Louis-based project engineer on the ERG leadership team.
The January meeting topic was financial planning for retirement. Members connected with each other through discussion about finances and savings plans, and continued to share advice and resources with each other via Teams after the meeting ended.
“It’s really made a lot of people go back and reevaluate what they were doing ... to seriously think about maybe not relying so much on if you have a spouse or a partner, to really start thinking about yourself and taking ownership for that,” says Stacey Berry, ERG leader and a project manager with PNR RailWorks, the company’s Canadian branch.
Berry began her career at PNR in 2002 and says she has seen significant changes in the railroad industry regarding women in the workplace, especially in recent years. She left the company for eight years before returning in 2021.
Danielle Kandybowicz, vice president of human resources, co-founded the women’s employee resource group at RailWorks. She is seen here on a job site, learning about equipment. RailWorks“I’ve seen the inclusivity really develop a lot since I’ve been back,” Berry says. “It’s phenomenal. There [are] so many diverse backgrounds, and even our management is really pushing for female voices, especially out in the field.”
Within the first few months of her return to RailWorks, the company’s vice president defended her when “unnecessary and unprofessional” comments were made during phone calls and meetings, she says.
“He’s really stood up, and basically gone to bat and said ‘listen, we don’t talk to our people like that,’” says Berry. “That was affirming for me to know that I made the right decision to come back to RailWorks. ... It’s been great to know that I have management support no matter what.”
Even if female voices are being heard and listened to, women are still facing practical issues at job sites.
“We don’t necessarily have women’s only bathrooms stocked with female essentials,” says Berry, who spends about 50% of her time on job sites.
When she started in the rail industry five years ago, Pancholi says she struggled to find PPE on job sites that fit her. Female sizes aren’t as readily available as male sizes.
“To this day, I still struggle finding steel toe boots,” says Pancholi, who also spends much of her work week on job sites.
The inclusion of women’s necessities on job sites — and everywhere else — is happening industry wide. There are even laws, such as OSHA’s sanitation regulations, requiring women’s restrooms be provided on work sites, Kandybowicz shares.
Women@RailWorks provides more than resources and presentations. It offers members a way to connect and network with others on a company-wide scale.
Trips to job sites aren’t frequent for RailWorks’ Director of Marketing and Communications Amanda Fiorante (center) RailWorks“I am the only female at the location in northern California, so [I’m] running the show solo here! I love having this group of ladies for networking,” says Ashley Buckley, a payroll associate.
Many members say they really enjoy meeting people who work in other offices and vastly different career fields.
“I don’t get to get out to the field that much to meet people who work in the field and hear their perspective,” explains Director of Marketing and Communications Amanda Fiorante, a founding member of the ERG.
As the ERG comes up on its one-year anniversary, the leadership team is planning to send a survey out via email to all women at RailWorks, asking them what they’d like to see from the group. Newly hired employees are given information about it, and Fiorante made fliers promoting the meetings.
“Our goal is to expand the group, too. We already have a really good population that joined us, but it’s always good to get everybody,” Fiorante says.
For the first year, the leaders simply wanted to get a group established and create a solid foundation, says Kandybowicz.
Stacey Berry, project manager, says the rail industry, especially RailWorks, has become much more inclusive from when she began her career at RailWorks in 2002. RailWorks“I think eventually we’ll get to a place where we have a budget and we can attend industry events,” she says.
The leaders also discussed bringing in a virtual speaker every year.
Whether in a corporate office or on a job site, everybody wants to feel valued, heard, and respected. A group that champions women in the industry is important, Kandybowicz says.
She also recognizes the value of the ERG for women entering the industry, who now have a network of successful role models, experienced mentors and friendly faces via Women@RailWorks to reach out to if they have questions.
“Without this group, I don't know how possible that would be,” Kandybowicz says. “I think that's the greatest aspect for me.”
