Spotlighting the brilliant women across Diploma PLC

Give to Gain: The power of backing working mothers in leadership

Joanna Smith, Chief Financial Officer, Diploma PLC Controls Sector

I’ve spent two decades in finance and operational leadership across international engineering, manufacturing and technology businesses. In May 2025 I joined Diploma PLC as Chief Financial Officer of the Controls Sectors. Earlier in my career, I spent seven years as Managing Director (MD) of Fortress Safety.

I was acting MD at Fortress and expecting my third child. I’d decided the MD role wasn’t for me due to the challenges of juggling a newborn and family + leading a growing business.

The Group Chief Talent Officer couldn’t have been more supportive. She reassured me that she understood the challenges of being a working mum and that the company would support me with flexible working. She even offered to turn a downstairs meeting room into a creche which everyone at Fortress could benefit from (demographics for Fortress indicated it could have been a wider benefit for the business to consider).

I felt fully supported to take on the MD role and was promoted when I was 8 months pregnant. After I had my daughter, I returned to work part-time from 3 months but even felt able to bring her to work with me (with a childminder on hand!).

That promise of support and willingness to be so flexible changed the path of my career, and I led Fortress for the next seven years delivering record growth. I will be forever grateful to someone who offered flexibility and was willing to make that bet on my talent as a leader.

As the MD of Fortress – one of the changes I made was to improve the maternity (and paternity) policy and offered more flexible working – just one simple way I was able to pay it forward to others.

Give to Gain: Championing women in healthcare

Elena Lo Castro, Senior Vice President, Life Sciences North America, Diploma PLC

I’ve been part of the Diploma organization for 20+ years. In 2004, Diploma acquired Somagen Diagnostics which is the Canadian company where I spent many years of my career. Before my current role, I was the Managing Director at Somagen for over 12 years. My background is Medical Laboratory Science, and my passion is healthcare and innovative technologies.

Throughout my career, I have benefited from the support of trusted circles of senior female leaders and role models. These women created safe, empowering spaces where we could openly share experiences, strategies, and practical tools for navigating the unique challenges that women in the workplace face.

Learning from influential businesswomen has shown me how to thoughtfully challenge and remove workplace barriers. I have been inspired to bring my strongest self to my leadership role —combining resilience and determination with a deep passion for healthcare to best serve both my organization and our healthcare communities.

In turn, I am deeply committed to contributing to an environment where other women can thrive. I’m passionate about coaching women, encouraging their drive to pursue their ambitions, and continuously develop skills to reach their goals.

Here are my top tips for championing women in the workplace:

1. Support a visible and a trusted environment – create a workplace where women can feel confident and comfortable to showcase their capabilities, ideas and creativity. 

2. Recognize and celebrate achievements – be intentional about crediting the contributions and accomplishments of female colleagues.

3. Encourage ambition and goals – support women to pursue their career aspirations, this in turn creates strong internal role models who inspire others to succeed.

4. Build an inclusive organizational culture – build resilience through diversity and provide opportunities for women to mentor and coach others

5. Create access to “every seat at the table” – foster a workplace culture where women are encouraged to advance, and to perhaps become confident leaders

6. Invest in future talent – support the education and development of young women, providing guidance, mentorship, and opportunities to explore their interest and ambitions.

Give to Gain: The ripple effect of investing in others

Melissa Lee, Human Resources Director, Hercules Sealing Products  

Mentors are a huge part of our career journeys and I have been blessed to have some of the best female managers and mentors as I grew my career from a high school co-op, working in a huge manufacturing plant to a HR leader. 

The biggest break in my career came from a strong HR leader that took a chance on me and put me in a role that was way beyond my skillset at the time. But, she saw my potential and gave me the support and space to grow into what she knew I could do and that was the timeframe in my career when I grew the most quickly, which led to me where I am today.

I never forgot what she and others did for me and wanted to make sure I followed their example. As I grew into leadership roles, I took several chances on employees that I saw potential in, even though they may not have come from the traditional backgrounds required for the roles.

I recruited from schools that weren’t prestigious for leadership programs, pulled talent from other functions in the business into HR roles and nurtured their base skills. I asked employees career questions that no one else was asking them to find out what they were really passionate about and what they were willing to do to grow their careers.

I’m proud to say that many of those individuals that I took a chance on and supported are now leaders in their fields. They are flourishing in fields that were predominantly male-led, because they were bold enough to accept the chance I was able to help give them. 

We all had to start our careers somewhere and it is our duty to return the investment that was made in us, to invest in others.