BHP

As BHP Nickel West’s first female Asset President, Jessica Farrell is committed to shifting the culture of what might be considered a male-dominated workplace to a more inclusive environment. She inspires others by offering a strong voice and sound advice on a broad range of business issues, from inclusion and diversity to frontline challenges and areas for improvement. The positive impact of Jess’ leadership has been felt by all employees.

Within a year of her appointment to her current role, female representation on BHP Nickel West’s senior leadership team was up to close to 50 per cent and 30 additional female leaders had been appointed across the business. Mining Villages at Mt Keith and Leinster have had extensive security upgrades, while Jessica has helped facilitate part time and job sharing in the senior leadership team and encouraged flexible working arrangements that support a balance of family and personal commitments.

In addition to mentoring aspiring female and male leaders across the industry and establishing an Inclusion and Diversity Council for Nickel West, Jessica has used external industry platforms to call for more visible representation of females in leadership roles; participated in the WA Parliamentary Inquiry into sexual harassment against women in the FIFO mining industry; and is a sponsor for BHP Camps to Communities Challenge, which invites people to collaborate with BHP to reinvent the experience of BHP’s site-based workforce.

Jessica is also a strong advocate for the LGBTQI+ community as well as increasing representation of Indigenous leaders at BHP.