a new organisation to connect, support and recognise female employees in the packaging industry is being launched by two leading women from the sector.joanna stephenson pic former vice president of linpac packaging and now managing director of phd marketing and and debbie waldronhoines of avanttout, formerly general manager of ds smith pre print and currently executive director of efia the european flexographic industry association have joined forces to develop the new initiative.the initiative is being launched at the packaging innovations show at birmingham nec on 26 february at 12.00 at stand f53, hosted by parkside flexibles group.stephenson said &ldquowe have some really great role models right across the breadth of our industry but there is a lack of opportunity for women to network, collaborate and learn. the intention is to address some of the gaps we see in networking and mentoring, as well as provide opportunities to recognize success and celebrate those who are leading our industry to show what a great sector we work inmanaging director of parkside, nick smith said &ldquoi think the women in packaging initiative will be a great support to my teams in enabling them to connect with their peers. i was delighted to offer the use of our stand for the launch venue to support them.&rdquodebbie waldronhoines added &ldquowhilst the packaging industry seems to have fairly good female representation, we don&rsquot really know and a first job for us is to survey the industry to truly understand what our gender balance and diversity looks like.&ldquofrom our experience we see many female employees in traditional female roles. operators, engineers and managers are often sadly lacking, along with women in senior director roles. hopefully by learning from those who&rsquove navigated their way through, we can encourage more to enter the industry and learn from each other along the way.&rdquoanyone interested in attending the launch or joining the women in packaging initiative should email womeninpackaging@gmail.com. 
