LONDON – Dec. 12, 2018 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) celebrated the outstanding contributions and achievements made by women from across the defence sector at a ceremony held at the Imperial War Museum in London.
The awards ceremony was hosted by BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour presenter Dame Jenni Murray with the Secretary of State for Defence, The Rt Hon Gavin Williamson MP announcing the winners.
Northrop Grumman was among the 30 finalists and had nominations in three categories; the Promotion of Gender Balance, Inclusive Teamwork and Unsung Heroines awards. This was the highest number of finalists by any company. In addition, Northrop Grumman sponsored the STEM in Defence category for the second consecutive year.
Northrop Grumman receptionist, Maggie O’Connell-Western, won the Unsung Heroines award in recognition of her unstinting loyalty to the company and tireless contribution in providing encouragement and support to others. Lieutenant Colonel Deborah Taylor, Army, won the STEM in Defence award category for her outstanding work in masterminding the first STEM careers showcase for secondary school girls hosted at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
“Two areas that we are passionate about and which are vitally important for our future success are diversity in the workplace and inspiring future generations through STEM outreach,” said Ben Palmer, director, European strategy and business development, Northrop Grumman. “Creating a workforce and a workplace that values diversity and fosters inclusion is pivotal to promoting innovation and helping maintain leadership in technology. We are immensely proud of our finalists’ achievements and we offer our congratulations to Maggie O’Connell -Western and Lt Col Deborah Taylor on being inspiring ambassadors for the work that women do in defence. We look forward to the Women in Defence Awards in 2019.”
Now in its third year, the Women in Defence UK Awards had more than 300 nominations from across the defence community, including the Armed Forces, Civil Service, defence industry and the defence third sector organisations.
Women in Defence UK was founded in 2011 to recognise the contribution made by women across defence and to provide a platform for networking, discussion and the exchange of ideas and experiences for women working at all levels in both public sector and industry in UK defence.
Northrop Grumman is committed to expanding and enhancing the pipeline of diverse, talented STEM students globally and to providing funding for sustainable STEM programmes for schools and universities. Our primary STEM programmes in the UK are CyberCenturion and the Summer Time Advanced Aerospace Residency (STAAR) summer camp.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, space, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews, for more information.