Advancing the Role of Women in the Energy Transition Through Mentorship

In 2018, GWNET launched its first mentorship programme for junior/middle management women professionals in the energy sector, in response to frustration caused by the limited professional connections between women as well as the identified need to boost women’s careers in the clean energy sector.

The GWNET mentoring programme 1/2018, aimed to promote the transfer of knowledge and skills from experienced women energy experts to upcoming women professionals, while also creating a framework and structure for guidance and support in order to increase the probability of career success.

With 10 mentees and an equal number of mentors from Africa, China, Europe and the Middle East as well as North and Latin America, this initial programme was a success and created the foundation from which we have launched several other programmes.

“I am proud to be part of the first batch of GWNET Mentees and can only recommend the mentoring program to other young women in the energy sector that seek inspiration, guidance, or maybe a little encouragement to take the next step. I got all of that from my mentor, which among other things resulted in the co-founding of a start-up. My engagement with GWNET does not end with the mentoring program, as I look forward to being part of the Alumni and engaging with fellow-minded women in the sector.”

Stine Carle, a mentee in the GWNET mentoring programme 1/2018

“It is a great privilege to get someone who guides and helps me to discover and use untapped potential. My mentor groomed me to be [a] sound professional in [the] RE sector. Spending time with her was an interesting and memorable experience. I will always be grateful to her support and kindness. She has opened my eyes to new stages of opportunity and strength. In fact, the support I received has driven me to create a network of women energy professionals in Ethiopia, where we share personal and professional support. There are already 30 women in this network after 2 months, and we look forward to expanding even further over the year.”

Filagot Tesfaye, a mentee in the GWNET mentoring programme 1/2018

Our Current Programmes

Following the success of the 1/2018 programme, GWNET launched the second mentoring programme 2/2019 in March this year, with an expanded reach of 22 mentees from Africa, Europe, North, Central and South America. The programme will run for one year and will foster the bilateral mentor-mentee relationship, giving them the tools and necessary support to define and make progress towards selected and agreed-upon goals.

Additionally, after a tough selection process, we have just kicked-off the Women in Wind Global Leadership Programme together with the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). This programme is designed 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. The initial group of 8 mentees from Africa, Asia and South America, will benefit from:

• A series of knowledge-transfer webinars and virtual mentorship meetings;
• A specially designed work experience program, with skill-building elements for leadership, communication, presentation and industry visibility;
• A week-long conference in Europe, including visits and meetings at key institutions, facilities and company headquarters relevant to the wind sector, as well as high-level seminars and workshops;
• Network-building opportunities at major international energy, renewables and wind events; and,
• A ceremony for program completion held at a high-level industry summit.

Our Upcoming Programmes

In June, we will be launching a series of mentorship programmes for women in selected MENA  (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia) and LAC countries (Brazil, Mexico) in partnership with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ).

Should you be interested in any of these programmes (either as a mentee or mentor), please contact the GWNET Secretariat at info@globalwomennet.org.

Become a mentor – what’s in it for you?

GWNET is looking for senior professionals who are eager to make a difference and have a positive impact on a younger woman’s career in the energy sector. With the ever-changing dynamics of the business fields, digitalisation, knowledge and knowledge sharing has become more important than ever. As a mentor, you get the opportunity to give something valuable back to more junior professionals and to expand your own knowledge through the mentees’ perspective. Mentoring will contribute to personal and professional development for both you and your mentee, as well as, shaping the direction of future generations within your field of expertise.

If you are interested in volunteering as a mentor in one of GWNET’s mentoring programmes (which involves approx. 1 – 1.5 hours of engagement per month plus optional participation in knowledge-transfer webinars), kindly fill-in the Mentor Datasheet.

Our core goal at GWNET is to advance the role and participation of women in the energy transition, and we believe that we can achieve this by facilitating mentorship programmes that connect women professionals from around the world. If you’d like to keep updated on our mentorship programmes and our other activities, sign up for our newsletter today.