Inclusion Moment: Catherine Barnett-Jaafar, Director, EY
Tuesday 7th October 2025
Event: Annual Conference 2025 – Mission Possible: Improving the connectedness of major projects
Good morning. I’m a director with EY, and I’m also a member of the Major Projects Association Programme Committee. Just over 12 months ago, I was asked to become a collaborator for the Infrastructure Diversity Charter. A few of my co-collaborators are here today. As you can see, a large number of organisations were involved in the charter:
Today I am going to talk about the role that inclusion plays in connectedness. I wanted to give a very personal perspective, so below are two photos of me.
I am a wheelchair user and a walking-aid user. I’m not here today in a pair of heels, which was actually going to be my plan – but today is what I’d call an ‘okay’ day. When I was experiencing my first round of wheelchair use and my most recent round of walking aids, I approached it with the mindset that as a major projects professional, I was proud that we had made adaptations. We had created a connected and inclusive society for all.
But I very quickly realised that this is not the case. From a wheelchair, I cannot pay for my grocery shopping. From a wheelchair, any form of transport is impossibly difficult – and even the most basic things, such as trying to open doors in our offices, I can’t really do. Some of the adaptations that we have made are great, but they don’t go far enough.
The reason they don’t go far enough is because they’re always thought of as adaptations. We’re not creating a connected and inclusive world because we don’t build it in at the outset. As we don’t have a truly diverse and inclusive workforce in any part of major projects, whether it’s infrastructure or technology transformation, we aren’t designing our projects from day one for all the people who are going to benefit from and use them.
In the course of my work with the Infrastructure Diversity Charter, I needed to do a lot of research.
One of the things I learned is that in Scandinavia – the cartoon above is actually from Canada, where they’ve made a very similar discovery – they found that if they cleared the walkways before the roads, it had a better effect on the economy and also on the community. In terms of connectedness, in terms of health, in terms of education, and therefore more generally, they created a more inclusive environment.
Today I am trying to emphasise just how important inclusion is. It’s not just about having a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive culture. It’s about creating a better working world.
So my message for everyone in this room today is that when you look at the teams that you’re building, the teams that are creating these amazing things – whether it is a new digital portal for how we interact with the Government, or a new asset like a road or a train station, or hospitals, schools or homes – if you have a truly inclusive team, you will have a truly inclusive solution.
About the presenter
Catherine Barnett-Jaafar
Director, EY
Catherine Barnett-Jaafar brings over 20 years of experience in advising on multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects across the globe, including eight years in the Middle East. As a leader in EY’s UK&I Sustainable Infrastructure team, leading Social Infrastructure, she has advised on multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects across a wide range of sectors: social infrastructure (and place-making programmes), transport (roads, rail, ports and airports), energy and energy transition, and defence.
Her expertise lies in structuring major projects to benefit all stakeholders – from beneficiaries and investors to the supply chain. She focuses on building operational organisations that inspire confidence and successfully deliver on their goals.
Catherine graduated from University College London with a degree in Project Management for Construction and is an active member of the Infrastructure Diversity Charter, launched by the National Infrastructure Commission in February 2025.