British renewable energy advocacy body RenewableUK has set up a ‘shadow board’ – three-quarters of whom are women – to provide a greater range of views on key industry issues to the organisation’s executive.
The eleven members represent a wide range of companies across the sector, said RenewableUK, from electrical engineering, project management, law, marketing, asset management, business development, environmental management and public affairs.
The shadow board is made up of “rising stars” from the senior ranks of the clean energy sector, with “ethnicity and gender underlining the association’s commitment to diversity”. None have had previous board-level experience.
RenewableUK’s chair Stephen Bull, who is senior vice president for wind and low-carbon development at Equinor, and RenewableUK board member Lindsay McQuade, chief executive of ScottishPower Renewables, will sit on the shadow board “to provide a link” to the main board.
“We want to hear fresh ideas from the most talented up-and-coming women and men from diverse backgrounds in this innovative sector,” said Bull. “The shadow board can provide insight and analysis from a different perspective, and in return they’ll get valuable board-level experience.
“RenewableUK is keen to play a pro-active role in developing the careers of our members, so they can step up to the top table. The shadow board gives them a pathway to do this.”
Bull told Recharge: “Driving diversity in the renewables sector is not just about reflecting the society in which our members operate, it is also a catalyst for innovation, change and making better business decisions.”
McQuade stated: “The sheer volume of high-calibre applicants from all parts of our sector demonstrates just how many women and men deserve to be fast-tracked.
· Ajai Ahluwalia, principle electrical engineer, Equinor
· Barrie Andrew, head of product services, SSE
· Emma Andrews, senior associate, Burges Salmon
· Vicki Buchan, marketing manager, Taylor Hopkinson
· Gail Clark, director of marketing, Global Marine Group
·Suzanne Clifton, asset manager, EDPR
· Rassim Hariz, business development manager, Siemens Energy
· Gemma Head, programme manager, EEEGR
· Virginia Ruiz Albacete, offshore business performance analysis manager ScottishPower Renewables
· Hannah Staab, principal advisor – Europe, Natural Power
· Emily Woolfenden, policy advisor, Ørsted
“This industry is attracting the brightest and the best because many people are passionately committed to making a difference by taking practical action against climate change.”
The shadow board is slated to meet four times a year, with members sitting for 18 months and the chair – being elected “early in 2020” – holding the post for a two-year term.
Last year, RenewableUK launched a new platform called the Switch List, a database populated by women working in the energy sector, to make it easier for those organising industry events to identify female experts, and invite them as speakers.
“RenewableUK has been instrumental in bringing better gender diversity to energy conferences with the switch list of top notch energy spokeswomen,” said Bull. “Most men find these all-male, middle-aged panels ridiculously boring too, and there is no excuse for them.”
A study published early in 2019 by the International Renewable Energy Agency, which surveyed 1,500 women, men and organisations in the clean-energy sector from more than 140 countries, found that the renewables industry employs around 32% women, compared to 22% in the energy sector overall, but that “within renewables, women’s participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics jobs is far lower than in administrative jobs".
