100 Lewes Women #59 – Dawn Whittaker

Dawn Whittaker is the first woman to be Chief Executive and Chief Fire Officer of East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.

What do you do?

I am the Chief Executive and Chief Fire Officer for East Sussex, joining the service in June 2016. Prior to that I was a professional adviser to Ministers in the Home Office on secondment from my role as Deputy Chief Fire Officer in Northamptonshire. I have been in the Fire and Rescue Service for 16 years and prior to that I worked in a local authority for a brief spell and as a manager in John Lewis Partnership for 14 years. 

What do you love about your role?

The variety is great, from advising ministers, making executive decisions right through to attending large scale emergency incidents, or attending an event to educate children, but the main thing for me is being part of an organisation that helps people, that makes our communities safer.

I have a national portfolio as well and I am the National Fire Chiefs Council lead for water safety and through that role I helped co-author the UK Drowning Prevention Strategy.

Which women have inspired you?  

Many, but I will limit myself to three for now.

I am starting with my Mum. She is a farmer’s wife, a WI member, and has been a Women’s Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) volunteer for many years. She has a strong work ethic and would help out anyone in need if she can. She still works flat out and is in her 70s.

I am currently reading Brené Brown’s book – Dare to Lead – it has some fascinating insights in it and I am also a fan of her TED talks.

I also admire Prof Hilary Margaret Lappin-Scott, who is a British microbiologist and has been a ‘Women into STEM’ ambassador, Hilary was awarded an OBE in the 2018 New Year’s Honours list for services to Microbiology and the advancement of women in science, technology, engineering and maths. I have heard her speak in Cardiff and in Brighton – she is inspirational. 

What does leadership mean to you?

To me it’s nothing to do with your job title, nor the level you work at in an organisation.  I have worked with some very senior managers in my time that weren’t leaders.

It’s quite a lot to do with balance and behaviours and also clarity of vision and good communication and a desire to improve an organisation and develop people…with others. It’s also about not ducking the difficult bits.

In summary I guess, leadership is not about the role, it’s about the goal (and of course the means of getting there).

What is the East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service doing to improve its equality and diversity?

We have an approach which is inside and out – in other words not only based on our workforce, but how we provide service to our diverse communities. There is a strategy and action plan, but here are a few highlights:

The goal is to be more representative of the community we serve, we currently aren’t, with only around 6% of our operational workforce being women. I fully understand it’s not a job that would appeal to all women and there are demands in terms of a certain level of health and fitness, but the job is so varied and women are just as good as men at it. A big part of the challenge is breaking down some of the gender stereotypes. We run “have-a-go events” and also do talks at schools and colleges and take part in some girls mentoring programmes. We also obviously have opportunities for women in other professional roles in the organisation, finance, estates, HR, ICT, etc.

I have lived experience of neuro-diversity in my family and it’s important to me that we give people with different thinking styles every opportunity to fulfil their potential. I have written a national paper on the subject for the NFCC and in ESFRS we are members of the Business Disability Forum, which provides us with support to improve our policies and approach. We have staff network groups where lived experiences are shared, ideas are generated and support provided, chaired by passionate individuals from across the Service. They do a fantastic job in raising the profile of inclusion.

We have a diverse group of volunteers who help the service with our public events, training and public education, some of them have additional support needs, but they all bring a fantastic richness to our wider team and it’s always a pleasure to work with them.

What do you like about Sussex?

Having lived down here for four and a half years now and having had a chance to get to know the area a bit more. I love being close to the sea and spending time walking the dog on the beach with my husband. I love the Weald with its rolling green fields, it reminds me of my home in Wales. There are so many beautiful villages, with great pubs. I am an outdoors person, so those are the main things, but access to some great theatres is also a bonus and we have visited Eastbourne and Hastings venues several times – obviously pre-COVID.

I also like the ethos of “we will not be druv” it’s good to carve your own way and identity in live, as long as that’s obviously not just about being anti- establishment!