March 7, 2025
When Julianne Nezgoda first joined the military, she was immediately forced to confront the fact that her workspace was built to exclude her. As a former member of the Brazilian Navy, when she would come aboard a vessel to test the ship, it quickly became clear that much of what the other male sailors took for granted would not be available to her.
“We were going to sea trials, and they didn’t have any accommodation for women,” she said. “I’m talking about ships that have accommodation for like 300, 400 people. They didn’t think about having one place for females.”
Today, as the only female director in the Operations department here at Seaspan, Julianne continues to break barriers. 
Because of the additional challenges that women must face to succeed in this industry, it is crucial to recognize and appreciate their efforts — to take small steps to foster a more inclusive workplace.
As a part of this effort, Seaspan is proud to sponsor Canada’s Women in Defense and Security (WiDS), an organization driven to create a more diverse and inclusive defense and security community nationwide. With our sponsorship, we at Seaspan are given the opportunity to nominate two women from our workforce for the WiDS “Remarkable Leader” program.
WiDS defines someone worthy of this distinction as a person who can serve as a testament to the progression of inclusivity in their workplace, serving as a role model for those around them.
Here at Seaspan, there was nobody more fitting of that sentiment this year than our two nominees, Julianne Nezgoda and Valerie Brandenburg.
Julianne is the Director of Facilities at Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards — a role that, while simple in title, holds a wealth of responsibilities.
“I look after the facilities, so maintenance of the equipment, maintenance of our assets, buildings… we need to look into the facilities overall to make sure that it’s capable of doing the business we’re trying to,” said Julianne.
As she sees it, her department’s role is to set the rest of the workforce up for success, smoothing out the processes occurring throughout the rest of the campus. While that work may not always be flashy, it is incredibly essential.
“We ensure that we are the silenced workers in the background,” she said. “If everything goes well, no one hears us, no one complains, but we’re here for them.”
While Julianne is well-versed in the intricacies of the shipbuilding industry today, her first brush with the field was more of a crash course. When she started her career in the Brazilian Navy, the expectations she held for her role were promptly flipped upside down.
“When I joined the Navy, the reason I joined was because they were working in a nuclear submarine program, and as a chemical engineer, I wanted to be part of that,” she said. “I learned that once you’re in the military, your background academically will not necessarily dictate where you go in the corporation… that was incredibly difficult because I didn’t have the fundamentals.”
So, instead of working on submarines, she was assigned to assist with shipbuilding, where, despite her initial lack of knowledge, she would soon pick up the skills she needed — skills that would stick with her throughout her career.
Another aspect of her naval experience that has carried over to the present is the unique perspective she gained as a member of the military.
“Our customers are in the military and Navy,” she said. “So I know what they’re expecting, what their pains will be when they’re actually sailing, and you want to make sure that you hear them out because you know what the years after will be like for all of them.”
Valerie, on the other hand, is a Paint Chargehand at Seaspan’s Victoria Shipyards, helping to lead the effort to protect the exteriors of the ships that come through the shipyard.
“I work on the Navy ships protecting all the steel,” said Valerie. “When the warships go out, without paint, it’s just going to rot. So, we put thick coatings on it, on the hull, all the deck, superstructure, inside all the compartments.”
For Valerie, while her career didn’t begin in shipbuilding, the craft of painting has remained a constant for her — albeit in a different setting.
“I was a painter before I came down here, in residential,” she said. “Then when I came down here, the prep was a lot different. The coatings are different. For doing residential, it’s more for beautification. We’re doing it here for protection.”
Despite the differences between the two environments, she was still able to transition smoothly and adapt to the changes thrown her way. This flexibility is something she attributes to the support she received from those training her.
“They trained me from the ground up how to do everything,” she said. “I had some really good charge hands while I was an apprentice. They took me under their wing and taught me everything that I know now.”
Jumping ahead to today, Valerie has now gotten the opportunity to pass the wisdom she received down, serving as a mentor to new apprentices at the shipyard.
“I just teach all the new apprentices what I was taught so the younger workforce can learn everything that I’ve learned,” she said. “I feel like I’m more of a leader rather than a boss.”
Valerie’s demonstration of mentorship is just one of the numerous ways she has been able to demonstrate her leadership. In addition, she has taken charge in improving safety conditions across her workplace, serving as the chair of the Site Safety Steering Committee.
“It’s bringing everybody closer and looking out for each other’s safety, because it is a dangerous place to work, accidents can happen,” she said.
For Julianne, she has refined her leadership through the example she sets for her team, reflecting an example of authenticity to serve as an inspiration for those around her.
“You learn that it’s okay for you to be yourself, to be your authentic self,” she said. “Then you build that fostering culture where everybody feels that they can be themselves and it’s easier to work with each other.”
Setting an example is just the start of the work Julianne undertakes to build a strong team culture. She strives to actively seek out what makes each of her team members unique — helping and supporting them where they’re at.
“We need to think day-to-day about what we’re doing to actually make people feel included,” she said. “Truly embedding that in the way you talk to people, the way you make people comfortable. It is difficult because every person has a different take on what they will be able to share. But you need to be able to treat people differently because they are different.”
This idea of creating a welcoming culture is one that resonates with Valerie as well. In her role, she pushes to make herself available to those she works with, implementing direct, hands-on solutions to any problems her team might face. 
“I want to reach people,” she said. “These people all have my phone number. They will text me if they have any problems. I have personal relationships with them. They can come to me for anything.”
Underlying both Julianne and Valerie’s leadership efforts is the drive to create a more equitable and inclusive workplace. For Julianne, the idea of equity and inclusion isn’t just a concept to her. Even now, as she has broken boundaries and become a female leader in a male-dominated space, she recognizes that there is still more work to do.
“It’s very interesting because there is that part that is fulfilling — to say, well, I made it. I’m breaking those paradigms and finding my way through,” she said. “But at the same time, there are moments that you look around and you wish you had more of that same representation around.”
On the bright side, however, that change in representation she’s looking for is one she can help foster herself.
“If you actually give everyone a chance to talk, to speak their ideas, it gives you that perspective,” she said. “You have that empathy because you remember when you were there and were wishing someone offered you that opportunity.”
For Valerie, as someone working in a more physically demanding role, creating inclusivity is about inspiring other women by showing what’s possible for them. As part of this, she volunteered to speak at Camosun College’s Women in Trades Training Program to spark other women to join the skilled trades.
“I wanted to let the women in the trades know that they can do it too. It’s not just men down here that can do these really hard jobs,” she said. “I’m tiny. I’m 5’2″, and I’m 120 pounds. You don’t have to be a muscular big guy to do it. You can do it.”
While they may come from vastly different fields — even working in different cities — both Julianne and Valerie stand as testaments to what remarkable leadership means here at Seaspan. They have broken barriers, fostered an inclusive culture, inspired those around them, and made their workplace safer. They make their teams stronger. Because of this, we are proud to nominate them as our 2025 WiDS Remarkable Leaders. Congratulations Julianne and Valerie!