On Friday the 5th of February, the University hosted a talk by Dr Rhonda Snook, Chair of the Athena SWAN Committee from the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield. Dr Snook talked about the success story of improving gender equality in her department, leading to a Silver award recognition by the Athena SWAN. It was a fantastic opportunity to gather ideas for initiatives we could run in support of our own award, and also get a unique glimpse of ‘behind the scenes’ activities that were instrumental to enable her departments success. A truly inspirational talk by an inspirational academic.