"Bigger, better and even more of a buzz”. That was the verdict on Powerful Women’s second annual conference on 16th May, held in London in association with BEIS.
Gender diversity for the energy transition
Over 250 delegates met to learn, network and engage on the topic of “gender diversity for the energy transition". With standing room only at the presentations and panels, some of the most influential CEOs and professionals in the industry gave their perspective on the kind of leadership and diverse skills and talent we need to future proof our sector – and discussed how to create balanced teams that actively include women in the energy transformation.
And at the workshops, participants explored how to equip themselves and others to play a part, through career strategies and tactics to help aspiring women rise up all the way up to the boardroom. We were delighted to welcome keynote speaker Joanna Whittington, Director General of Energy and Security at BEIS, who spoke about the value of business and government working together towards ambitious targets on gender balance. And, releasing statistics showing only limited progress on the number of women on UK energy boards, our Chair Ruth Cairnie urged the sector’s biggest employers to work with POWERful Women to really start to move the dial on diversity.
It was a day of inspiring speakers, new ideas and challenging debate. In closing, PfW co-founder Laura Sandys encouraged us all to commit to doing three things: something to move our career forward, something to support someone else’s career and something to contribute to our company or sector. And she suggested we put a reminder in our calendars for three weeks’ time to act. We are very grateful to our event sponsors: Drax, Energy Jobline, ExxonMobil, Ørsted, ScottishPower, Shell and Tullow Oil. And also to our speakers, BEIS, and all the delegates who contributed so positively to such a successful event.
Read more about coverage of their conference and the announcement of their annual board statistics here.
