Growing female leadership and representation across clean energy
Growing female leadership and representation across clean energy
Women currently make up less than 30% of the clean energy workforce. At Enel, we're committed to increasing female representation within our company and the broader clean energy sector.
{{ descriptionsHeading }}
As the clean energy sector expands rapidly in Massachusetts and across the country, building an inclusive workforce is a top priority for many employers. In particular, there is a critical need for greater female representation, as women currently make up less than 30% of the clean energy workforce.
We spoke with four women leaders from across Enel North America who are carving a path for the next generation. Despite serving in different roles, they all shared common motivations for pursuing a career in clean energy, including growth opportunities, mitigating the climate crisis and contributing to local and global sustainability.
Opportunities for growth
Jobs are opening up across virtually every function in the clean energy sector. Enel North America has seen a 16% increase in our total workforce, and we're actively recruiting for more than 200 openings. Moreover, in light of the boom of a new clean economy, the industry is penetrating different sectors and bringing on brand new job careers.
“Clean energy is still a relatively young industry, which means that there are still many opportunities to innovate and leave your mark."
Silvia Schuhmann, Project Execution Manager, Enel Green Power North America
Career with purpose
Tackling big goals, like mitigating climate change and electrifying our economy in new and different ways, requires a proactive approach to engaging talent across the green collar workforce — a workforce interested in mission-driven careers. Israa Ismail, a senior civil engineer at Enel Green Power North America, explained that within her role, she looks to “to practice my engineering profession while also positively impacting human life. In the face of climate change, engineers are greatly needed to find more eco-friendly and financially sustainable sources of energy.”
{{ descriptionsHeading }}
Being part of the Enel team means uniting individual strengths to make the biggest possible impact on climate change mitigation. For Hanawa, it meant a career in renewable energy. “Everything I was trying to do with climate change mitigation led me back to energy and the extraction, use, and disposal of energy. I saw the global electric grid as the center of climate change mitigation.”
Contributing to a sustainable future
Along with growing utility-scale renewables, we're working on many other aspects of the energy transition, including electrifying public and private transportation and driving the adoption of flexible energy resources like battery storage.
Molly Jerrard, director of wholesale markets and asset management at Enel X North America, said, "If everything we do as a society could be fueled with renewable and clean technologies, that would solve such an enormous piece of our current carbon dependency."
For those like Molly and her peers, the mission-driven work in sustainability is a critical benefit of their jobs.
"We are on track to have a completely sustainable energy system that leverages renewable generation, storage, grid flexibility, and full electrification of automobiles,"
Molly Jerrad, Director of Wholesale Markets and Asset Management at Enel X North America.
Creating a diverse workforce
Closing the gender gap and creating a more diverse workforce is top of mind across the clean energy industry. In practice, this means adopting a holistic approach to empowering young girls to explore future careers in science, technology, engineering, and math while hiring women and diverse candidates for leadership roles.
Growing diversity is an ongoing process. Clean energy companies need to do more than invite women into leadership positions; they need to also “empower more women in those positions, so they are similarly compelled to use their perspective to drive innovation and change,” Jerrard said.
To support the professional growth of a diverse workforce, we partner with local organizations like the Women’s Energy Network in Boston, which helps women make connections and develop leadership skills through a range of workshops and events. For younger generations, Enel is bringing clean energy to the classroom and opening up our plants and projects for site visits and educational opportunities, such as at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where we operate solar plus battery storage and electric vehicle charging stations.
With the energy transition in full swing, the clean energy industry must continue recruiting and investing in creating a diverse, multi-skilled workforce.