How can a traditionally male-dominated industry create meaningful and sustainable opportunities for women while addressing both social and workforce challenges? Join Women in Cement and Construction Congress EMEA 2026 on October 30 (Tangla Hotel Brussels, Belgium) and find out! Eda Güzeldemir Demiray, CHRO, Oyak Cement, will present CEMENTA – Women Building the Future !
CEMENTA – Women Building the Future, an OYAK Cement initiative, addresses this question by challenging gender-based perceptions of “women’s jobs” and “men’s jobs” and focusing instead on competence, potential, development and job fit.
The program is particularly meaningful in the regions where our selected plants operate, where women may face greater barriers to entering the workforce. In this context, CEMENTA creates social impact while also helping an industry facing increasing challenges in attracting and retaining talent build a more sustainable workforce for the future.
The program offers an end-to-end journey combining orientation, occupational health and safety, technical and behavioral development, teamwork and hands-on production experience, with a clear pathway to employment.
In its first implementation across Adana, Mardin and Ankara, 14 women joined the program and 11 successfully transitioned into employment at OYAK Cement.
At its heart, CEMENTA is built on a simple principle: competence has no gender.
“CEMENTA is about much more than increasing the number of women in our workforce. It is about removing barriers, creating equal opportunities and opening new career paths for women in cement production. By doing so, we are investing in the future of our industry by bringing new talent into a sector that needs to build a more sustainable workforce, while creating opportunities for young women to achieve economic independence and build their own futures. We believe that competence has no gender—and CEMENTA is our commitment to turning this belief into action.”
— Eda Güzeldemir Demiray, CHRO, OYAK Cement
Join the first forum dedicated to women leaders from across geographies and companies that creates a safe space for successful stories and collaboration.
About the speaker
Eda Güzeldemir Demiray is a senior Human Resources executive with 23 years of experience in people leadership, HR strategy, and organizational transformation across leading global and Turkish organizations.
She currently serves as Country Human Resources Director / CHRO at OYAK Cement, one of Türkiye’s leading industrial companies, where she leads the people agenda supporting the organization’s transformation into a more agile, future-focused, and high-performing organization.
Eda began her career at Eczacıbaşı Group and later joined Nokia Siemens Networks, gaining experience across diverse organizational environments. She spent more than 13 years at Shell, holding strategic and global HR roles spanning organizational design and job evaluation, HR strategy for Shell Türkiye, and Global HR leadership for Supply Chain and Procurement, partnering with senior leaders across multiple geographies.
Prior to joining OYAK Cement, Eda served as Human Resources Director at Hilti Türkiye. She also served as a part-time lecturer at Özyeğin University, teaching Diversity and Inclusion in Global Organizations, bringing her corporate experience into the academic environment.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Boğaziçi University and a Master’s degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from METU. She is passionate about the future of work, leadership, organizational culture, diversity and inclusion, and building high-performing organizations.
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Want to know more about decarbonization, sustainable industry trends, and the breakthroughs driving real change? Explore the complete lineup of Industry Link’s 2026 events below:
Cementitious Materials International Technical & Trade Congress – Europe
28–29 October, Brussels, Belgium
A leading EMEA gathering on cementitious materials, market trends, regulatory updates, and regional opportunities.
CarbonZero Alternative Fuels & Raw Materials Global Conference & Exhibition 2026
Including Cementitious Europe – Congress
28–29 October, Brussels, Belgium
Global platform for Net Zero strategies, alternative fuels, raw materials, carbon capture, and emerging technologies.
Speakers include:
Claudia Albertini, CEO Holcim Belgium
Mahendra Singhi, Board Member & Strategic Advisor, Dalmia Bharat India, Board Member, GCCA
Adriana Fernandez, UNIDO
Nikos Nikolakakos, Environment & Resources Manager, Cement Europe
Irene Dominguez, Policy Manager, Embodied Carbon & Lead Markets, Bellona Europe
Maria del Mar Rojas, Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI)
Dr Martina Bassan, Corporate Affairs Director, European Metals
Eadbhard Pernot, Executive Director,Carbon Management Europe
Kerry Sutton, American Concrete Institute
Hervé Camerlynck, Managing Director, FEBELCEM
Jacob Moos, Associate Partner, McKinsey
Pilar Hidalgo, Innovation Director, Cementos La Cruz
Anna-Marise Rocha, Commercial Manager, Port of Amsterdam
Frank Mruk, National Ready Mix Cement Association USA
Luyue Tan, Senior Research Specialist, Carbon, London Stock Exchange Group
Grant QUASHA, Chairman and CEO, Eco Material Technologies, A CRH Company, USA
Dr. Stefan Puntke, Managing Director and Dr. Hans-Jürgen Klischat, Executive for Strategic Projects, Refratechnik
Hongyan Ma, Professor, Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA
Marta Diez, Country Manager Spain, Portugal, Italy, CFP Energy
Dr. Josilene TV Ferrer, Senior Analyst for International Cooperation and Climate Change, Green Planet Institute Brazil
Andres Ponce, CEO, WTEnergy Advanced Solutions
Mohammed Fouad, Business Excellence Director, Riyadh Cement Company Saudi Arabia
Mohammed Zaki, Head of Alternative Fuels & H2 Operations Management, Arabian Cement Company Egypt
Pilar Hidalgo, Head of Innovation, Cementos Las Cruz, Spain
Tien Peng, Cofounder, GreenPlum St., Portugal
Georg Lochner, Strategic company development “New Technologies”, Schwenk Building Materials Group, Germany
Duncan McLachlan, VP Growth & Enterprise, io Consulting
Alexander Makhlay, Associate Editor, Argus Media
Cobi Busst, Principal, Beaumont Bailey
Firefly
Women in Cement and Construction International Congress 2026 – EMEA
30 October, Brussels, Belgium
A dedicated forum advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion across the cement and construction sectors.
Sustainability Conference and Exhibition to include Industry 5.0 – Smart Solutions for Cement and Construction Conference and Exhibition 2026 in São Paulo (World Trade Center)- will convene leading voices from across the global construction, engineering, and infrastructure sectors to address the urgent challenges of decarbonization, embodied carbon reduction, and climate resilience. As the sector undergoes a massive digital shift, this event also focuses on the technologies defining the next generation of building: AI-driven operations, advanced manufacturing, robotics, and human-centric industrial transformation.
Speakers include:
Álvaro Lorenz – Global Director of Sustainability, Votorantim Cimentos
Vanessa Castro, Sustainability, Cementos Argos
Luciana Arouca – Head of Sustainability Services Brazil & LATAM, JLLAna Lúcia Grizzi – Senior Independent Consultant; Coordinator of the Sustainability and Innovation Committee, Votorantim Cimentos
Josilene T. V. Ferrer – Senior Analyst of International Cooperation and Climate Change, CETESB – Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo
Carla Leal – CDP Market Director for LATAM | Board Members
Patrícia Iglecias – Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of São Paulo
Juan Padial – Managing Partner, Digital Supply Chain, KPMG
Felipe Salgado – Managing Partner of Decarbonization, KPMG
Rejane Afonso – Technical and Commercial Director, Monitore
Edilson Júnior – Manager of Innovation and Industrial Technology, Cimento Nacional
Cementitious Materials International Technical & Trade Congress – MEA
8–9 December, Morocco
The premier MEA event for cementitious materials, innovation, and regional trade opportunities.
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