Ports handle the world’s trade.Women hold 16% of the roles.That’s not high performance.
Women in Ports is a free global community connecting, developing and elevating women across the maritime and port sector — and giving the organisations around them the tools to build workforces that truly thrive.
Open to individuals and organisations · Global community · Takes 2 minutes
See how your organisation can get involved02The Problem
The port industry has a performance problem. It’s just not talking about it.
“The organisations willing to go further deserve a partner who knows how.”
Ports are among the most complex, high-stakes operating environments in the world. They run on precision, leadership and the ability to solve problems under pressure.
Yet women hold just 16% of port operations roles globally. In seafaring, that figure drops to 1.3%.
This isn’t a pipeline problem. There are women in the sector at every level. What’s missing is visibility, progression and genuine institutional commitment to change.
The result? Boards making decisions without diverse perspectives. Leadership teams missing the problem-solving capability that comes from genuine inclusion. Organisations spending on DEI programmes that don’t move the numbers — because activity isn’t the same as impact.
Diversity in workplaces directly correlates with higher creativity, better decision-making and stronger economic performance. The data isn’t ambiguous — the industry just hasn’t caught up with it yet.
Women in Ports exists because tick-box isn’t good enough. And because the organisations willing to go further deserve a partner who knows how.
03The Solution
One structural problem. Five hubs.
Women remain underrepresented in this sector — and the reasons are structural, built into how ports work rather than down to individual women. Women in Ports addresses this through five hubs, each tackling a different part of the problem. Fixing one in isolation just pushes it elsewhere, so the hubs work together.
Innovation
Equipping women with the digital and technical skills to lead the transformation of ports, not watch it happen around them.
Research & Analysis
Building the gender-disaggregated data that ports and policy-makers need to make interventions that actually work.
Advocacy
Amplifying women’s voices through networks, our podcast and direct campaigning for structural reform — getting more women onto stages and into the conversations that shape the sector.
Knowledge
The Women in Ports Academy. Certification, leadership programmes and peer learning built for the realities of maritime.
Future Ports
Ensuring women are not just included in the green transition. They’re leading it.
An organisation dedicated to women in ports and port services — a sector at the heart of global trade.
04Why Join
Built for organisations. Designed for individuals. Free for everyone.
For organisations
Joining Women in Ports gives your organisation a genuine partner in building a workforce that performs. Access to the global community, the Academy, roundtables and research initiatives — plus a platform to demonstrate active, measurable commitment to change. Not a badge. A partnership.
For individuals
Whether you are stepping into your first port role or preparing for the boardroom, Women in Ports exists to make sure you are not doing it alone. Community, training, speaking opportunities, mentorship and visibility — in a sector where women have too often gone unseen. Free to join. Always.
Membership is free. All we ask is that you show up.
Takes 2 minutes · No cost, ever · Open to individuals and organisations globally