Disha Mittal - WiRE Intern, Student at Rotman School Of Management, University Of Toronto

Disha Mittal is currently a student completing her Bachelors of Commerce at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. She grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba before relocating here to complete her school. She hopes to become a lawyer and make a direct impact on the policies involving diversity, inclusion and ethics.

Education with a Purpose

From a young age, Disha’s parents instilled in her the value of a good education. Relocating from Winnipeg, Manitoba, she is currently studying at the Rotman School of Management. She is intent on using her education for a greater purpose. 

In her business program, there were several courses that spoke about combining business with social responsibility. She took courses including, ‘Environmental and Social Responsibility’ and ‘Leading Across Differences’ that helped her discover this partnership of values and profit. She explains, “What really intrigued me about business ethics was the idea of the triple bottom line – profit, environmental responsibility, and social responsibility. In other words, profit with a purpose”

Contrary to the status quo, she knew that she wanted to secure an internship not in a corporate company but at an organization that fit in with these values. After a reference from a professor, she connected with Aisha Bukhari, a WIRE committee member. She liked what WIRE stood for and took an internship with them when it presented itself. 

Disha’s Role with WiRE

As part of her internship at WiRE, Disha worked closely with Aisha and Joanna. Her main role is to spread the word and goals of WIRE through the completion of various projects. The main project she has worked on is creating presentations and workshop materials for WiRE’s launch in the Middle East. To develop WiREs presence, she also submitted applications for WIRE to attend international conferences and secure grants to improve WiRE’s relationship with the United States.

Recently, WIRE made an exciting expansion into the Middle East where they have set up local advisory committees to run the organization in their area. The expansion involved countries like Turkey and Jordan. A WiRE advisory committee consists of a number of roles. They would include the Marketing Lead who is in charge of the promotional material and the Events Lead who is in charge of organizing events and managing the logistics. The committee is typically supported by its members and volunteers.  You can read more about the expansion here.

Disha was able to be a part of this expansion by working on the workshop, training, and presentation materials. This material was used by Joanna to present to high ranking officials and royal family members in Jordan. Part of organizing the workshop and material also meant that she had to reach out to women in Turkey and tell them about WiRE’s mission and vision.

Because Disha can complete most of her assignments from home, she is continuing to be a contributing member to WIRE. Overall, Disha believes that WIRE’s purpose is inline with her own. In her words, “I think WiRE is all about helping organizations make sure that they are not losing sight of the purpose aspect. I love that I get to be a part of an organization that does this”.

Every Experience Counts

Disha also takes time to give back to her community. Disha’s passion for debating started when she was in middle school. After a teacher noticed her talent, she started competing in local and international debating competitions.  She was 2nd overall in the Persuasive speaking category at the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship. She explains that her love for debating comes from the fact that, each debate is like a new challenge. Debating requires you to articulate your ideas quickly and concisely. You have to be able to defend your opinion when put on the spot. 

She currently coaches a high school debating team and likes that she has an influence on them. “I feel like I’m putting my skills to a greater use that doesn’t just benefit me!”

She is also a member of the UofT Students’ Union (UTSU) representing her program. Currently, she is working on a campaign that surrounds the financial accessibility of studies at U of T. The UTSU does a lot of work to ensure student life is better through the programs and services they offer.

Disha hopes to use her education and experiences to someday become a lawyer and eventually a judge. Diversity and Inclusion is a very important factor for her and she hopes to make a difference in the field of employment and labour law. Working with unions, workers, the government and corporations will help her make a direct impact with respect to how they address social concerns. An example would be working with the government to write up and amend mandatory policies that address these concerns. 

She emphasises that these extra-curricular activities will help her in law school and in her career beyond. First, through debating, one can develop strong critical thinking and presentation skills. Being a part of the UTSU, she practices representation and advocacy. Finally, being a part of WiRE has given her experience in diversity & inclusion.

Network, Network, Network!

Disha encourages anyone who wants to get into this industry to just go for it! There is no time like the present to start a career in energy. 

It is very important to network, network, network. Whether this be meeting people at a conference or something simple like a coffee chat, networking is a great way to explore new opportunities. In Disha’s case, it was talking with her professor and networking that landed her the internship and opportunity with WiRE!

WiRE as an organization hosts several networking meetups and mentoring events. These events involve people in all different stages of their career. 

Disha recently attended a networking event where the main discussion topic was of Cyber Security. In particular, she enjoyed learning about how the government tackles security issues and how the issue of security is relevant to the field of energy. She also had the opportunity to connect with individuals who not only have backgrounds in business and law, but have used those backgrounds to further the vision of a clean energy future. In her words, “It’s easy to learn about how you can use your skill set to make an impact, but it’s totally different when you actually meet individuals doing it. I think that’s the great thing about WiRE’s networking events: you get to learn from living examples.” 

Closing Remarks

WiRE is a great organization to work at and get involved with.  Female inclusion is an understated problem, and this problem is further exacerbated when you are a woman of colour, a member of the LGBTQ community, or both and it occurs in multiple industries, not just energy!