It was a great weekend at the California Maritime Academy campus in Vallejo March 2-3. The Sea Sisters community was out in full force, as were representatives of WISTA, WomenOffshore, and many other guests, sponsors, attendees, and current maritime academy cadets not just from CMA, but from academies around the country.
Amid the blustery spring squalls and occasional rays of sunshine in Morrow Cove, young women and men gathered to learn from each other and from seasoned veterans of the maritime industry. The conference kicked off with a keynote speech from VAdm. Robin Braun (US Navy, Retired) in Rizza Auditorium. Panel discussion and presentation topics ranged from ISM Code and Maritime Law to Marine Salvage; Cybersecurity to Leadership Recruitment; there were workshops on time management and financial budgeting for incoming college students, and a presentation on Women in Maritime History was highlighted by a visit from World War II-era "Rosies" of the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historic Park. For the full program of events, click here (to download from Dropbox).
I had the honor of participating in two panel discussions: the first was titled "Trust Doesn't Come With The Title", and I was joined for the panel before dinner on Friday evening by Chae Guillot, a San Francisco Bay ferry captain, and Sheila LaFleur, contributor to WomenOffshore.org, to discuss actionable tools to help any young woman or man who arrives at a new job to find that due to preconceived notions of age, gender, or education, they do not immediately command the trust or respect of their shipmates. You can access a PDF of the outline to our discussion here.
The second panel gathered four women - and aspiring maritime pilots - to talk about where we are in our paths to achieving the goal of becoming pilots, and what advice we have to give anyone who also wishes to follow the same path. I was joined on Saturday afternoon by Captain Katie Love of Starlight Marine; Captain Lindsay Price of G&H Towing; and Captain Christine Klimkowski, all-star instructor and curriculum developer at the Pacific Maritime Institute as well as recently-accepted Southeast Alaska Pilots apprentice. The energy of the audience was palpable, as was the joy of the presenters in connecting with the attendees. You can download the power point presentation for that panel discussion here.
This "Paths to Piloting" panel was moderated by San Francisco Bar Pilot, and my friend, Captain Dan Bridgman. Dan asked me to touch on some things that the SFBP wanted to pass on: they wish to express their commitment to supporting women who have their sights set on becoming pilots, and to supporting women in the maritime industry at large. A few years ago they formed an outreach committee specifically to increase diversity within the association. In their own words:
"The SFBP Outreach program has been going since 2015; it has worked with the Vallejo school district, and is currently working with the Oakland school district. Those efforts have been focused on letting young people know the local jobs that are in their backyards. We've been present at WIML the last three years; as sponsors for the last two, and as presenters for all three.
We have been working to identify potential pilot apprentices who are in the industry presently, as well as cadets who are about to enter the work force. We understand that it's a long journey to becoming a pilot, and the more women who are out there in the industry, the more women pilots there will be. Mentoring played a huge role in my career, and we are happy to talk about the accessibility and steps to becoming a pilot. We see the emergence of groups like Sea Sisters and WomenOffshore as a great tool for forming networks and finding mentors who will help along the way".
Dan couldn't be more right in his assessment of the power of mentorship to keep mariners on track toward their goals. I found several incredible mentors in my ship agent years who showed me how to parlay that experience into a track toward obtaining my mate's and master's license by working on tugboats. Without them, I doubt I would be where I am today. As many San Francisco Bar Pilots are my friends and mentors, I feel it is appropriate for me to share their support for women here on Sea Sisters. Furthermore, I'm happy to say that many companies are in the same camp with regard to their commitment to bringing more women into the industry, and retaining them for the duration of their careers.
And we need to start by targeting young people. If disadvantaged kids aren't even aware that this amazing career exists, then how can they ever try to set themselves up to pursue it? No one told me I could go for it until I was 23 years old; before then, I had given it no thought whatsoever, because I assumed it wasn't available to me. Hearing "you can do this, too" is very powerful for a young girl.