Julianne Verma, a Leadership Fiji alumna and property developer, has formalised a growing movement to boost women’s participation in Fiji’s construction and trade sectors with the creation of Women in Construction and Trade (WICAT) in 2021. What began from a personal experience of isolation while overseeing the renovation of Toorak Central in Suva has since expanded into a network of about 240 women and a governing board that Verma chairs as founder and executive chair.
Verma said the idea for WICAT crystallised when she realised she was often the only woman on site during the Toorak Central project. “I felt quite lonely,” she recalled. “Every day I was dealing with men – contractors, subcontractors, architects. I thought, there must be other women in this space.” WICAT was launched to connect women working across engineering, architecture, trades and construction administration, and to give them a platform for mutual support, skills sharing and advocacy.
Her own pathway into property development was shaped by a combination of formal study and leadership training. A 2013 Leadership Fiji graduate, Verma later returned to tertiary education as a mature student at the University of the South Pacific where she specialised in land management. She has also completed a diploma in project management and continues further studies. Those experiences, she says, informed both her professional pivot from business development in the beverage sector into property, and her approach to building WICAT.
Beyond networking, Verma emphasises WICAT’s policy ambitions: increasing female representation in decision-making spaces that shape the built environment. “You’re building infrastructure that will be used by everyone. So it’s important that women are part of those conversations,” she said. The organisation’s growth to roughly 240 members and the establishment of a board highlight its transition from a personal initiative into a more structured body seeking to influence industry norms.
Verma has been candid about the barriers women face in male-dominated construction roles. She pointed to instances where women are not seen or heard on job sites, and she warned that internal barriers — hesitation to claim leadership roles — can be as limiting as external bias. “Sometimes the seat is there, but we don’t take it. We step back. We need more women to be confident, to step up and believe in their value,” she said. She also noted family responsibilities often interrupt technical training for women, but urged that careers can be resumed later: “It’s seasonal — you can come back and continue.”
Raised in Martintar, Nadi and having spent part of her childhood in Australia, Verma moved to Suva in 1999 and now runs the Toorak Central development. She attributes much of her outlook to being raised by her grandparents and to the networks formed through Leadership Fiji, which she describes as an enduring source of professional support.
As WICAT grows, Verma frames its mission within a broader call for inclusive leadership. She argues those in positions of privilege have a responsibility to lift others and ensure access to basic needs such as housing, while pushing for representation at planning and decision-making tables. With WICAT’s membership base and a formal board now in place, the body appears positioned to press those issues more publicly in the months ahead.
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