The Women in Energy series is a joint project between USEA and USAID to help improve the visibility of women's participation and leadership in the traditionally male-dominated energy sector and their active participation in policies and gender outcomes at their respective organizations and the sector overall.

Every month we feature a woman who has shown exemplary leadership. The women highlighted come from diverse backgrounds and roles, and they bring with them a unique perspective on gender equality within the energy sector. We believe that increasing women's leadership and participation in decision-making for climate policies needs active communications campaigns and championing that catalyze behavioral change and urgent action.  

1. How have both your education and career path led you to where you are now?

Education is instrumental in setting a strong foundation for any career. Thankfully for me, I had the privilege to access quality education. I say it is a privilege because I empathize and understand that not many have access to education. In every walk of my career, Learning has assisted me in discovering my strengths and making the right decisions. If you have a strong foundation, you can build beautiful architecture.

2. What obstacles have you experienced as a woman pursuing an education and career in the energy industry? What obstacles do women vying for leadership spots face in this sector?

In a non-sugar-coated word – we are overlooked. But in my experience with perseverance and persistence, I managed to overcome them. In this journey, I realized that we are the biggest bottlenecks ourselves. Over the decades, women have forgotten the power they embody in themselves which is one of the major reasons we see the gaps in leadership roles. Women must discover their true power and believe that they are the torchbearers of the change, it is dawned upon us the noble task to bring about this change. If we visualize and believe in ourselves for the leadership roles, we are according to history unstoppable.

3. How is your organization attracting, retaining, and promoting more women into senior management positions to respond to this industry transformation? Is company data on this publicly available?

We are focussed on achieving gender parity and propelling women into strategic and key decision-making positions to reduce the gender ratio gaps noticed in the workplace as evolving technologies continue to introduce new interactive grids. In a consistent attempt of balancing the gender ratio, we have succeeded in achieving a 50% gender ratio at Vision Mechatronics. Starting at the grassroots level, we have structured our recruitment process to be STEM-centric - to promote STEM-based education and learning among women.

As an organization, the single most powerful thing that can be done is to create equal opportunities while promoting appropriate skill and merit-based talent. STEM education has been instrumental in driving this change. We urge fellow women leaders to accept this as a working example to mitigate gender disparity ratios in the energy sector and every sector while building leadership that has the quality to deliver and lead change. Transformation is a definite opportunity to improve diversity and drive innovation but to ensure business performance that is subjective - to find the amalgamation of diversity and quality performance is the innovation of new-gen leadership.

4. What changes in the sector at large do you think have launched more women into leadership positions?

There are a lot of changes that are needed and first and foremost we must begin with a grassroots involving more girls to adopt stem-based careers so that we can have them in leadership roles, a decade later. we need to sensitize the mothers. They are the first teachers of the children, both male and female to bring about this societal change. When we sensitize male children right from childhood it is easier to have more women in leadership positions later in their professional lives. We have already missed a few decades by not imbibing the right core value and hence we see the need to fill this vast gap today.

5. What are some untapped actions the energy and electricity sector could focus on to accelerate change, increase diversity, and foster a better gender balance in the boardroom?

First and foremost, we must see everyone as a human being, as energy, and then as a professional without giving it the color of caste, creed, culture, gender, or economic status. This will help us to have diversity, inclusion, and gender balance in the boardroom.

6. What could be your one practical recommendation to mentor younger women pursuing a career in energy or climate action?

One practical recommendation would be to treat yourself as a professional. Most of the women in the sector, forget that they themselves are the energy the only ones who can bring about the change because Energy is now coming into balance and we need more and more young women in to adopt the energy sector. This is the race to save mankind and not the climate that existed even before mankind and it will exist. Even after mankind. We have to understand that we have created a disbalance by exploiting the resources of mother nature and it's now time that the feminine energy in all of us brings back the balance to make the earth a more habitable place for human beings. Women must learn to focus on themselves and improve their cells every day by adding a new skill or sharpening their existing skill set. That is the only way they can prove that they are good professionals and they can contribute significantly to the sector without giving the color of gender.