Apply now: Women in Energy Storage Mentoring Program 2024

To empower women as leaders of change and promote best practices towards gender diversity and inclusion in the energy storage sector, the Secretariat of the Energy Storage Partnership, hosted by the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), is once again collaborating with the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET) to launch a mentoring program specifically for women in energy storage.

Now in its 3rd cohort, the “Women in Energy Storage Mentoring Program” is designed to accelerate the careers of women who are currently in junior and mid-level technical or management positions. The program’s key goals are to:

• Increase women’s representation and permanence at managerial and decision-making levels, and in technical positions, ultimately advancing the energy transition;
• Foster gender-transformative approaches that aim for social change, encourage networking, and promote the development of innovative ideas; and
• Support participants in setting and working towards concrete career goals with a strategic approach.

This program provides a unique opportunity to help shape the future of energy storage while advancing women’s leadership in the sector.

Call for Mentees

The application criteria for participants are as follows:

• Must be a woman working in the energy storage field
• Must be a national from a developing country from Africa (AFR), Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA), South Asia (SAR), Europe and Central Asia (ECA), East Asia Pacific (EAP) or Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)[i]
• Must work in a junior/middle management or technical position
• 2 – 6 years of relevant work experience

Interested participants must fill out a from that will be reviewed by a committee formed by GWNET and ESMAP. Between 20 and 25 mentees are selected each year.

The mentoring program has the following key parameters:

• Nine months of bilateral interaction between mentees and mentors, focused on mutually agreed-upon professional development targets;
• Careful matchmaking and continuous support by the GWNET Secretariat, alongside ESMAP;
• A series of exclusive technical and soft skills curated knowledge-transfer webinars based on needs stated by the mentee cohort;
• Virtual networking opportunities;
• Certification of completion.

If you fulfil all the application criteria and are interested in applying as a participant, please fill in the application form.

Applications close on October 4th 2024.

Call for Mentors

The program is also looking for both men and women senior professionals working in the energy sector (preferably with energy storage experience) to serve as mentors and support the personal and professional development of participants.

If you are interested in volunteering as a mentor (which involves approximately. 1 – 1.5 hours of engagement per month), kindly fill in the Mentor Datasheet. The mentee-mentor pairing process will be based on how closely the goals of the mentee match the skills and experience of the mentor.

Kindly note that the program will be in English and professional working proficiency is required.

The deadline for applications is October 4^th 2024

Please email questions info@globalwomennet.org and esmap_wes@worldbank.org

About

Energy Storage Partnership (ESP)

ESP is a global partnership convened by the World Bank Group to foster international cooperation to adapt and develop energy storage solutions for developing countries. Today, the unique requirements of developing countries’ grids are not yet fully considered in the current battery storage market – even though these countries may have the largest potential for battery deployment. Recognizing the need to catalyze a new market for batteries and other energy storage solutions in developing countries, ESP aims to promote a better understanding of energy storage solutions in developing countries by focusing on: Power systems and safety; Test beds for knowledge and capacity building; Testing protocols and validation of performance; Flexible sector coupling; Decentralized energy storage solutions and mini-grids; Procurement frameworks and enabling policies; and Recycling systems and standards. For more information, please visit https://www.esmap.org/ESMAP_At_A_Glance and LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/company/energy-storage-partnership/

Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET)

GWNET empowers women in energy through interdisciplinary networking, advocacy, training, 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. For more information, please visit www.globalwomennet.org. 

Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP)

ESMAP is a global knowledge and technical assistance partnership administered by the World Bank and funded by Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, the European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, the Rockefeller Foundation, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, as well as the World Bank. ESMAP’s mission is to assist clients–low and middle-income countries–to increase know-how and institutional capacity to achieve environmentally sustainable energy solutions for poverty reduction and economic growth. For more information, visit: www.esmap.org.

[i] The World Bank’s regional categorization includes the following countries for the regions:

AFR: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

EAP: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Tonga, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Tuvalu.

ECA: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

LAC: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

MENA: Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen.

SAR: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.