10 Jan Organisations pledge to “Leave no woman behind” – new alliance launches to support women in the energy workforce
Today sees the launch of the Women’s Energy Network Alliance (WENA), a new umbrella group of initiatives and member organisations that specialise in supporting careers for women in energy.
WENA’s membership comprises Women in Nuclear, POWERful Women, Lean In Equity & Sustainability, Women’s Utilities Network (WUN), ALLY, ReWiRE, District Heating Divas and Full Circle 21 [1].
They will collaborate more closely and contribute their specialist knowledge to support women at a variety of career levels, energy industries and disciplines – from championing STEM outreach for girls to progressing senior women to the C-suite; and from focussing on engineering, renewables or nuclear sectors, to covering the whole energy industry.
The alliance has one common mission, however – to make much faster progress on female representation in the UK energy sector to meet the urgent energy transition challenges today and in the future. WENA’s collective motto is “Leave no woman behind”.
Each member is committed to sharing best practice and collaborating to support the entirety of the female energy workforce and will meet monthly to share resources, ideas and actions, starting with a conference on March 2023.
Ivan Baldwin, President, WiN UK commented:
“I’m delighted to be joining the Women’s Energy Network Alliance representing WiN UK. Nuclear energy remains a key component in the UK’s energy mix and it’s important the nuclear workforce is made up of diverse talent if we have any hope of reaching Net Zero in the most effective and efficient way.
I look forward to utilising this group to offer our members and the entire nuclear sector a source for collaboration, networking and development opportunities.”
Lame Verre, Co-Founder, Lean In Equity & Sustainability said of the collaboration:
“Whilst there are many women’s networks and initiatives, we formed this group as we believe there is a great deal we can learn from one another, both as a sector and as women’s networks.
WENA provides a one-stop-shop for women in energy at all levels and working in various parts of the value chain, providing opportunities to learn more about other segments and disciplines.
Our motto is “Leave no woman behind”, and we hope, with the support this group can offer as a collective will improve the attraction, development, retention and promotion of female talent at all levels across the energy sector.”
Rachael Mills, Founder, District Heating Divas added;
“Collaboration is at the heart of the District Heating Divas, which is why we’re so excited to be part of WENA. Together, we can really accelerate the shift to net zero and, as our motto says, ensure we leave no woman behind.”
WENA will hold its first Annual Conference on 14th March 2023, titled ‘Striving to thrive in a transitioning sector (details on how to register to be released).
To find out more about WENA and how you can get involved, please contact info@wena-uk.org.
ENDS
Contact for media enquiries:
Janine Claber
janine@marickcommunications.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS:
- The Women’s Energy Network Alliance (WENA) comprises the following organisations:
POWERful Women (PfW) is a professional initiative working to achieve a gender-balanced, diverse and inclusive energy sector in the UK to meet the needs of a net zero future. Our target is for at least 40% of middle management and leadership roles to be held by women by 2030. To deliver this we support, challenge and connect – working with business leaders, D&I experts, government, the regulators, aspiring women and partner organisations on a variety of practical initiatives to accelerate change.
Lean in Equity & Sustainability is an independent gender diversity and inclusion initiative operating under the LeanIn.Org umbrella. Lean in is a member-centric, diverse, international circle of women and allies supporting and empowering women to achieve their ambitions.
Women in Nuclear UK is one of over 30 international chapters under the umbrella of Women in Nuclear Global. Formed in 2014, WiN UK’s mission is to address the industry’s gender balance, improve the representation of women in leadership, engage with the industry, government and public on nuclear issues and support the industry with tools and information.
Women’s Utilities Network (WUN) was formed in 2018 when a group of likeminded women, working in utilities, united around a common cause. WUN has over 4,000 members and followers and provides a variety of events for members to attend as well as a free mentoring service.
District Heating Divas, where women from across the UK’s heat network sector meet to connect with each other, support each other and develop a thriving, collaborative and approachable industry, increase the profile and attractiveness of the heat network sector and retain a diverse workforce.
https://www.districtheatingdivas.com
Full Circle 21 is a free membership group available to everyone working within the net zero sector in Scotland and beyond. Aiming to support the industry to progress to a gender and ethnically balanced workforce and increase awareness to break the bias.
ALLY Energy is an online workforce development platform for professionals working and seeking work in the global energy industry. Ally Energy was founded in 2014 in Houston, Texas, originally under the name Pink Petro.
REWiRE is a mentoring programme, set up by Regen, to support women in the clean energy industry to progress their careers, building personal and strong bonds with senior women and men across the sector, mentoring matches the experience of one person with the potential of another.
https://www.regen.co.uk/project/women-in-renewable-energy-rewire-mentoring-programme/