The Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET) aims to advance the global energy transition by empowering women in energy through interdisciplinary networking, advocacy, training, coaching and mentoring. GWNET seeks to address the current gender imbalances in the energy sector and to promote gender-sensitive action around the energy transition in all parts of the world, through:
Networking: facilitating connections among women working in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency to advance the energy transition, through events and the cutting edge Women in Energy Expert Platform.
Advocacy: generating and disseminating information on the role of women in the energy transition as well as organising conferences, seminars, webinars, and workshops which foster discussions and promote gender-sensitive action around the energy transition.
Mentoring: leading the development of several regional and global women mentoring programmes, designed to accelerate the careers of women in the energy sector, support their pathway to leadership positions and foster a global network of mentorship, knowledge-sharing and empowerment.
Learn more here: https://www.globalwomennet.org/about-gwnet/activities/
Strategies to Foster Women’s Talent for Transformational Change
The global energy transition provides a unique opportunity not just to render energy supply and delivery systems more sustainable, but also to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce in the process.
The GWNET study “Women for Sustainable Energy – Strategies to Foster Women’s Talent for Transformational Change” examines:
• how well women are currently integrated into the corporate sustainable energy sector;
• which obstacles women encounter;
• and what recommendations – building on existing experiences and emerging best practice- can be put forward to promote women’s participation on par with men’s in sustainable energy.
Read the study here: https://www.globalwomennet.org/women-for-sustainable-energy/
Energy Transition Role Models: Inspiring the Next Generation of Women Entrepreneurs
The energy transition can only benefit from an increasingly equal engagement of women, and with this in mind we are showcasing portraits of remarkable women entrepreneurs in sustainable energy.
To balance the picture of the still predominant image of male leadership – and also male entrepreneurship, our portraits show a wide array of what is possible for female entrepreneurs in the sphere of sustainable energy, including – but not limited to – innovative block-chain based solutions, financing and legal services.
The Energy Transition Role Models have lent their stories, image and words for all interested women to move from “You can’t be what you can’t see” to the exact opposite: giving female leadership visibility and thereby inspiring and encouraging others – especially young female students and graduates – to follow suit.
Watch the 16-part video series and download the accompanying brochure (at https://www.globalwomennet.org/women-energy-entrepreneurs/) which contains global, regional, and national resources for entrepreneurs as well as personal recommendations from the women entrepreneurs featured in this series.
The Women in Energy Expert Platform
GWNET’s Women in Energy Expert Platform connects and empowers women working in sustainable energy in developing, emerging and industrialised countries with the aim to encourage greater visibility, networking opportunities and professional connections between women.
The platform which has over 1000 members from 90+ countries demonstrates the diversity of roles and skills of women already active in the sector, refuting the claim that there are no women in renewable energy.
Women working in sustainable energy are encouraged to explore the new platform and create their profile so that they can begin engaging with other professionals: https://www.globalwomennet.org/members/become-a-member/
Global Mentoring Programmes
GWNET leads the development of several regional and global women mentoring programmes, with the goal of advancing the role of women as agents of change in society and promoting best practices within the sustainable energy sector.
GWNET’s current programmes include the:
• GWNET Mentoring Programme 3/2020 – this 12-month programme began in May 2020 with over 25 mentees from around the world. Besides the bilateral mentor-mentee relationship, the programme offers a series of knowledge-transfer webinars.
• Women in Wind Global Leadership Programme 2020 -the second cohort of this 9-month programme was launched in January 2020, with the goal to accelerate the careers of women in the wind industry, support their pathway to leadership positions and foster a global network of mentorship, knowledge-sharing and empowerment. This programme is jointly organised with the Global Wind Energy Council.
• People-Centered Accelerator Mentoring Programme for Women in Energy Access – this mentoring programme is focused on women working in the area of energy access, as part of the People-Centered Accelerator, organised in partnership with Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL). This programme focuses on Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Zambia, and is designed to accelerate the careers of women in junior/middle management positions in energy access from all actors of the value chain (e.g. start-ups, utilities etc).
• Regional Mentoring Programmes for Latin American Countries (LAC) as well as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) – this programme is designed to accelerate the careers of women in junior/middle management positions in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector. This programme is organised in partnership with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).
Learn more about our programmes, our inspiring mentorship participants, and how you can get involved here: https://www.globalwomennet.org/about-gwnet/mentorship/
