Industry recognises Jo's exceptional personal leadership and hard work

The achievements and personal leadership of Mount Pleasant Operation Production Administrator, Jo Ufer, have been recognised at the recent New South Wales Women in Mining Awards. 

 
Jo was named highly commended in the awards’ Exceptional Woman category which celebrates the nominees’ achievements in any occupation in the resource sector. 

Jo is well known within Thiess and the mining sector as a passionate safety spokesperson. Her advocacy and her story about why she’s committed to leading safety helped launch our One HSE culture and behaviour framework – watch the video.  

Australia & Pacific Executive General Manager Abdul Jarrah said Jo’s nomination and industry commendation was based on more than her formidable safety advocacy and efforts in her role. 

“It’s a tribute to her leadership skills, resilience, her methods of overcoming barriers and seeking out and accepting new responsibilities and challenges,” Abdul said. 

“It also acknowledges her dedication and work to promote our industry’s social licence to operate including her commitment to community engagement and development, and her contribution to diversity and inclusion, empowering her teammates through mentoring and raising awareness about mental health. 

“It also recognises her focus on personal and professional development through her ongoing studies to fulfil her goal of being a full-time HR professional in our industry.” 

Jo was thrilled by the nomination and to be recognised the industry noting a congratulatory phone call from Thiess Managing Director Douglas Thompson caught her by surprise. 

“To be honest, I got a bit of a fright at first when his name came up on Team Messenger - it was a lovely surprise,” Jo said. 

"I am truly humbled and appreciative of the support that my team and the wider Thiess team has given me over the past few years.” 

She said her love of her team and her community, working hard and continually improving focused her on setting and achieving her goals. Jo joked that she would work even harder to have another go at the Exceptional Woman awards category in the future. 

Jo added that she was pleased to have her efforts recognised but was hesitant to have her personal leadership viewed as anything special. 

"I just think that leadership is up to all of us,” Jo said. 

“Everybody is a leader if they stand up for what they believe in and are willing to take a stand against things that conflict with their values.”