Hacia Atherton is the Founder of Empowered Women in Trades (EWIT), a charity established in 2020 to increase female representation in skilled trades in Australia through work experience, educational training and ongoing support. Hacia hails from a family of skilled tradesmen and has encountered first hand the challenges women experience in this sector after discovering women only account for 3% of trades in Australia. She established EWIT to inspire women to see trades as a viable and lucrative career option and to ignite societal cultural change geared towards creating a supportive environment for these women to thrive.

Hacia is no stranger to overcoming adversity having learned to walk again after a tragic horse riding accident in 2017 left her in a wheelchair for 12 months. She overcame debilitating and chronic pain and the doctors prognosis that she will never walk unaided again to achieve her CPA from her hospital bed, riding 100km twice for charity and running multiple half-marathons.

As a result, Hacia is invited to speak regularly on mental toughness, redefining success and courage with well-known brands such as the CPA, Honda, Ladies in Finance+ Time, Girls with Hammers, League of Extraordinary Women and Deakin University. I

n 2021 Hacia was named in The NYC Journal’s Top 30 Women Disruptors To Look Out For, and the Disruptors Magazine Top 30 Inspiring Women To Look Out For In 2022. She also received the CPA President’s Award for Excellence - Emerging Leader and has been appointed the Deputy Chair of the Emerging Leaders Network.

The charity was established in 2020 after founder Hacia Atherton discovered that women account for only 3% of trades within Australia and only 1 female out of 100 hold a trade apprenticeship. In addition, Australia is approaching the lowest level of apprentice commencements since the late-1990s and the number of females commencing an apprenticeship of any type fell by 12.2% from 2016 to 2020.

You can follow Hacia and EWIT here:

https://ewitrades.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haciaatherton/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haciaatherton
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