PPG, Rosedale Tech encourage women to enter male-dominated careers

Pittsburgh firms and trade schools are trying to close the gender gap plaguing STEM and related fields. Achieving this will, their leaders say, elevate women and improve company performances.

by Joyce Gannon

This story was originally published by NEXTpittsburgh, a news partner of PublicSource. NEXTpittsburgh features the people, projects and places advancing the region and the innovative and cool things happening here. Sign up to get their free newsletter.

For International Women’s Day on March 8, coatings and chemicals giant PPG invited six top women executives in the chemicals industry to the Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin Science Center, North Shore, to share the struggles and successes they’ve encountered in a sector overwhelmingly dominated by men.

The panel discussion, “Inspire Inclusion: Exceptional Women in Chemicals,” was hosted by PPG’s Women’s Leadership Network.

But two men came up with the idea.

“It’s a strong example of men being allies,” said Irene Tasi, senior vice president, global industrials at PPG, and one of the panelists.

Marvin Mendoza, PPG’s global head for diversity, equity and inclusion and the panel moderator, told the audience he and his husband, Brandon Lyssy, were brainstorming a few years ago about how to craft a fresh approach to International Women’s Day.

Lyssy is the global director for DEI and community relations at Univar Solutions, which last year organized the first panel of women leaders in chemicals held at BASF, a German firm with U.S. headquarters in New Jersey.

At this year’s event hosted by PPG, many of the 125 in-person attendees — mostly women and a sprinkling of men — showed up wearing various shades of purple, the official color of International Women’s Day.

Deni Wagner, 19, of Charleroi, is studying diesel mechanics at Rosedale. (Photo John Beale/NEXT Pittsburgh)

Another 1,100 people who work for PPG and other companies represented on the panel accessed the event virtually.

International Women’s Day draws attention to women’s contributions and spotlights issues like women’s rights and gender pay equity. It traces its roots to women’s movements of the early 1900s; the United Nations began commemorating the day in 1975 and made it official in 1977.

In introductory remarks for the event, Tim Knavish, PPG’s chairman and chief executive and a self-described “girl-dad” of two, said it’s widely known that “diverse teams perform better.”

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PPG, Rosedale Tech encourage women to enter male-dominated careers

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