Applications have opened for 10 female mentees and 10 mentors working in renewable energy to be part of an inaugural mentorship programme to accelerate gender diversity and inclusion of more women in leadership.
“As the country transitions to a low carbon energy sector, it’s vital to strengthen the pool of talented women, nurture young talent and facilitate growth towards a diverse renewable energy sector,” says Karen De Bruyn, WE Connect founder.
The launch is the brainchild of WE Connect, a local network of women working in renewable energy and is endorsed by South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) and South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA). KD Strategies, an advisory firm facilitating social change has designed and will run the pilot-phase of the programme – before handover to the respective industry bodies for annual rollout.
“Renewable energy is a relatively new industry in South Africa and the opportunity for us is to ensure that the industry is not faced with the same systemic structural exclusion of women,” says KD Strategies founder, Kalnisha Singh.
The mentorship programme has two levels – the first stage is for ambitious young women already working in the industry to be mentored by experienced persons in senior management and, the second phase involves the 10 mentees paying it forward by mentoring 10 selected unemployed youth or students interested in a profession in renewable energy. We believe that this is a problem about women, not a women’s problem and therefore the mentorship program encourages men to participate as well. The 10 mentors will be paired with 10 male mentors to bridge the gap in understanding of gender related challenges.
Singh said the launch this year would be the pilot phase which would run for nine months, to test the systems and identify areas of improvement.
Applications close Monday, 22 March 2021.
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