I Didn’t See Anyone Like Me. Now I’m Trying To Change The Industry. Satia Rai CEO of IPSA and Founder CEO of WIPS

The People Keeping Us Safe: Satia Rai on Safety, Visibility and Purpose

Security professionals are everywhere.

In our hospitals, shopping centres, supermarkets, workplaces, transport hubs, major events and some of the UK’s most sensitive infrastructure.

Yet the scale, capability and importance of this workforce is often overlooked.

In this episode of The Impact Room, Michelle Ansell is joined by Satia Rai, CEO of the International Professional Security Association (IPSA) and Founder and CEO of Women in Protective Services (WIPS).

Having started her own career on the frontline around 30 years ago, Satia has experienced first-hand both the opportunities within the security profession and the barriers that can prevent people from seeing it as a long-term career.

She shares why professionalising the sector means more than licensing. It means better training, development, working conditions, recognition and career pathways for the people entrusted with public safety every day.

The conversation also explores Satia’s drive to bring more women into protective services.

Through WIPS, she wants to make successful women more visible, connect women across security, policing, fire and other protective services, and build stronger pathways into leadership.

Satia also discusses an area particularly important to her: violence against women and girls.

With security professionals often among the first people to notice when somebody is vulnerable or at risk, Satia believes this workforce could play a much greater role in public protection through awareness, training, empathy and partnership.

Her own story runs throughout the conversation too. From frontline security to CEO, from feeling underrepresented to becoming a visible industry leader, Satia describes finding her purpose through people and learning the importance of authenticity, representation and belonging.