How will the world meet the energy demand while reducing emissions? What technology and human capital policy in education are needed to make this energy transition a reality? What are the myths and hard truths about all forms of energy, our environment, and our economy? The Voices of Energy sets out to explore these questions with the people who have the heart of making these changes a reality. We’ll go from conversation to application by focusing on action and strategies that will drive the world and our industry into a new era. In this episode, host Katie Mehnert, Founder and CEO of Ally Energy, is joined by Kathy Eberwein.
Kathy Eberwein is the founder and CEO of Golden Edge Consultants. Kathy started the Global Edge Consultants in 2008 with the vision of building a global business and driving it forward at high levels while maintaining the small-level feel and preserving the very fundamentals that built these businesses in the first place: people. The Global Edge team consists of international recruitment specialists operating on every major continent with the vision to become the agency of choice in the international recruitment arena. From her worldwide experience and travels, the Doyenne Initiative was born. Kathy started this nonprofit with the mission to positively impact women around the world, elevating them to an expert level in their field.
Doyenne means “a woman who is most respected or a prominent person in a particular field.” The goal for these women is for them to reach their maximum potential to then become leaders and role models who will influence their communities, countries, families, and generations to come. This is a powerful movement that we had to share!
Kathy shares how she first started her career in recruitment, and how she is an engineer by background. She started her own company and it was challenging competing with larger or more established companies, but she focused on the clients and became really impactful on a global stage. Kathy attended an African summit on the need for economic empowerment for women in Africa and she then started the Doyenne Initiative.
For this program, they recruit the best of the best. They look for women that have a passion for social responsibility and already have things they are doing on top of their personal lives. In this fully paid-for program, these women receive their masters in Reliability Engineering. They then complete an internship program that includes on-the-job experience with support, love, encouragement, and community. After completing the master's degree and internship, these women are expected to go back to their home country and be that example and role model for other women for five years. There are other pay-it-forward requirements in this initiative including a mentoring aspect, teaching academia, and spreading awareness. Kathy says a lot of people have ideas and want to make a difference, and you just need to start small. Get your ideas in motion and then they will grow.
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Timestamps:
0:41 - Welcome
0:47 - Katie introduces this episode and guest, Kathy Eberwein
3:12 - Kathy shares how Global Edge Consultants began and her background
5:01 - “Our passion is our people”
8:51 - The Doyenne Initiative and how it started
11:05 - The process of the Doyenne Initiative
13:24 - What women in the Doyenne Initiative receive
15:44 - Kathy’s global mission for the Doyenne Initiative