My name is Ella Dickinson and I am a Graduate Stakeholder Engagement, Consultation and Communications Consultant based in the Leeds Office. I am also a Social Value coordinator for the Leeds Office.
Nearly two years now – since June 2022!
Everyday looks different as I am on a variety of large-scale energy, infrastructure and transport projects, however in every project I work closely with the client to ensure engagement with stakeholders and the community is undertaken in an effective and impactful manner. This could be by attending client meetings, hosting workshops or drop-in events or managing a consultation.
I’ve worked on the Northumberland Line since I joined AECOM in 2022, and have been involved in the community engagement, accessibility engagement and construction communications of the project. South-East Northumberland hasn’t had a public train line since 1963 and the opening of the fully accessible Northumberland Line will bring positive social and economic regeneration to the area.
To physically see the positive social impact that something I have worked on will have on local communities is an amazing feeling, especially when I’ve spoken to the people in the area and understand the opportunities and personal experiences that the Northumberland Line will bring.
Through delivering the stakeholder and community engagement on the Transpennine Route Upgrade, I am supporting the transformation of the transpennine main line to bring more frequent, faster, greener trains, running on a better, cleaner and more reliable railways.
By electrifying the line to enable greener trains to run, the carbon footprint of the journey will reduce and subsequently cause an improvement of air quality. Through engaging with the community and stakeholders, I have helped deliver the positive environmental impact messaging the Transpennine Route Upgrade will have in the local area and increase the overall positive engagement with the project as a whole.
Because the Transpennine Route Upgrade is a multi-billion pound railway programme that will better connect passengers in the North between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York, I have worked alongside many AECOM teams including our air quality, consents, ecology, environmental impact assessment, heritage, planning and water teams on this one project alone!
Being at AECOM gives me the opportunity to work on large-scale and multi-disciplinary projects such as the Transpennine Route Upgrade and allows me to collaborate and understand how other teams work and how all our work is interconnected.
Through being a Social Value Coordinator for the Leeds Office and working collaboratively with other teams on the Northumberland Line project, I had the opportunity to support the Social Impact team in delivering Social Value to the Northumberland area. As I have a passion for Social Impact, I was delighted to have the opportunity to broaden my skill set and work alongside another team on this project.
The AECOM Graduate Scheme (ADVANCE) has allowed me to meet Graduates from across Europe from all teams, giving me a unique opportunity to network and understand how other teams are structured and what their team does.
Through the virtual and in-person workshops as part of ADVANCE, I have expanded my skill set, as well as getting the opportunity to present to Directors from other teams across the UK, attend networking events and even act out pretend scenarios as a Project Manager in scenario-based work. The ADVANCE scheme has helped my career development as I now understand the impact of our work and have created a career pathway to help plan my future.
AECOM allows people to be whoever they want to be, whether that be through supporting their career pathway and career development, supporting people’s wellbeing or through their Employee Resource Group, it is never just about your job role.
By working on large-scale energy, infrastructure and transport projects, I can see first-hand the impact our work has on people by uplifting communities, improving access and sustaining our planet.
AECOM’s Freedom to Grow and hybrid work approach truly gives my day-to-day life a healthy work/life balance. Freedom to Grow allows me to go to the gym before work in the morning, go for a walk at lunch time and even finish earlier on a Friday which supports my physical and mental health.
I have loved all of the projects I have worked on, but my favourite would be the Northumberland Line project. Northumberland Line is my favourite due to the vast type of work I do, from writing to the public, to supporting accessibility workshops, delivering social value activities and hosting drop-in events, the day-to-day activities vary meaning you truly are doing something new each day! Physically seeing a project being built and talking to communities who will benefit from the Northumberland Line, truly reinstates the positive social and economic growth AECOM are helping deliver in Northumberland.
My proudest moment as a Graduate would be the final in-person workshop of the Graduate Scheme (ADVANCE 3). The final part of the ADVANCE 3 was a role play scenario of the bid process through to delivering the ‘project’ and negotiating with a pretend client. I acted as Project Manager of the team and led the team through a role play scenario of a change request that was required due to the client changing the scope of the work. I thought outside of the box and highlighted to the ‘client’ how AECOM can use their Social Value hours to support them with their goals to give back to the community and leave a positive impact on the area.
Just go for it and put yourself out there… Every opportunity you get, whether that be through your education or personal life, just say yes – you never know what it could lead to!
Innovative, inclusive and supportive.
