26 RTPI members make Planner’s Women of Influence list, including immediate past president of the RTPI Dr Wei Yang
Every year for International Women's Day, the Planner publishes its Women of Influence list, a non-ranked and non-competitive list of inspiring and influential women throughout the industry.
This year, the list comprised of 26 members of the Royal Town Planning Institute – including immediate past president of the RTPI Dr Wei Yang – and continued the tradition of celebrating the impact of women on planning and planners.
Continuing to avoid a fixed number of women, this year’s list features 51 women who the publication felt illustrated the breadth of women impacting planning and planners across sectors and disciplines.
Discover the full list here.
Victoria Hills, Chief Executive of the RTPI said, “Each year we await the Planner’s Women of Influence list, excited to see friends and colleagues, and new entrants, gain the recognition that they deserve. This year, it is an honour to see that our immediate past president Dr Wei Yang has made the list, along with 25 other RTPI members.
“The influence of women within town planning needs to be recognised and celebrated, with previous evidence suggesting that female planners have been more likely to experience barriers to their professional advancement than their male counterparts. Non-competitive and non-ranked lists such as this help to highlight and showcase the important impact women are having on our industry.”
Claire Petricca-Riding, Partner and National Head of Planning and Environmental Law at Irwin Mitchell LLP and Women of Influence judge said, “The scale, diversity and quality of nominations was to an exceptionally high standard this year. There were over 200 nominations for 130 incredible women, this shows the talent that is out there. The nominations were ranked to provide the final list, but it was an incredibly difficult task to whittle the list down as each nomination had such a compelling narrative attached to it. The end result, however, is a list that is diverse in both private and public sector together with one that incorporates every area of the UK.
“There was a real focus on 2021 achievements – it has been a challenging year for many and that is particularly so for the development sector. Dealing with, what can feel like, ever changing political direction, the Covid pandemic and the issues arising out of COP 26, navigating through all of this has tested both public and private sector professionals, but hopefully we emerge stronger and more determined to be more unified in overcoming these issues and championing the positive role planning has in shaping Britain’s future. What is clear from the nominations that women are now at the heart of defining what that future looks like.”
