POWERful Women (PfW) is working for a gender-balanced, diverse and inclusive energy sector.
They are a professional initiative, based at the Energy Institute, that seeks to address the continued underrepresentation of women at the top of the UK energy industry and in the leadership pipeline. Their goal is for women to be in at least 40% of middle management and leadership roles in the UK energy sector by 2030.
They aim to achieve their goal in three ways:
- SUPPORT – practical support for companies committed to improving their gender diversity and inclusion (for example through their D&I forum and sharing good practice) and for women to advance their careers (for example through their mentoring programme, POWERful Connections, and career resources);
- CHALLENGE – reporting on progress and challenging organisations on their commitments (for example through publishing annual board statistics and company pledges, and through the work of the Energy Leaders’ Coalition)
- CONNECT – running events and providing platforms for women to network and for companies, regulators, government and experts to collaborate.
They are focused on advancing diversity within the most significant employers in the UK energy sector, alongside government and the regulators. They also work with international partners (such as UN Women and EqualBy30 and other similar national initiatives) and a range of diversity organisations and advocates, for example through the Women’s Energy Networks Assocation (WENA), and through the energy sector’s DE&I taskforce TIDE.
