Engendering Utilities partner EDESUR Dominicana (EDESUR) , an electricity utility in the Dominican Republic, joined the program in 2019 and has made significant progress. Recently, EDESUR staff brought their adolescent daughters and sons, 26 girls and 11 boys, to the Punta Catalina Thermoelectric Power Plant. The trip exposed the students to various opportunities in the Dominican energy sector. The utility designed this activity so that EDESUR staff had an opportunity to encourage young girls to pursue technical and engineering careers, and urge the boys to support their female classmates with the long-term vision of contributing to increased gender balance in the energy sector. .

Staff at the Distribuidora de Electricidad Delsur (DELSUR) electric utility in El Salvador visit 23 schools per year to raise awareness of electricity and safety issues through its “Electroguardianes” outreach initiative. Engendering Utilities recently supported the initiative to add a gender equality component to this existing program to encourage both girls and boys to study STEM subjects and to teach them about STEM-related career paths. Engaging with the next generation studying STEM is a critical part of building a qualified pipeline of women who can work in and lead the energy sector.

Initiatives at EVN Macedonia in North Macedonia, such as the Young Engineers Program and Next Generation of EVN, help the utility engage with aspiring female engineers. Last year’s Young Engineers Program was 62 percent female, while the utility’s young electro fitter program had four female interns (compared to only one young woman in the two previous years). These successes are due to EVN’s investments in improving their outreach campaigns to target girls and improvements of its programs for young students to build the next generation of their workforce.

The Engendering Utilities team at Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) in Nigeria coordinated the utility’s annual DISCO for Women Conference for distribution company (DISCO) staff. Attended by more than 460 employees, this year’s focus was on creating awareness and sensitizing staff on gender equality in IBEDC, as well as the available growth opportunities for women within the organization. The conference was organized by IBEDC as an Engendering Utilities initiative with guidance from their dedicated change management coach. Presentations and discussions provided opportunities for female staff to learn how to position themselves for career growth; navigate the complex, competitive work environment; engage male coworkers as champions for career growth; address sexual harassment in the workplace; and how Engendering Utilities can support the aforementioned efforts.

More than 120 girls from secondary schools in Malawi attended a science camp sponsored by the Electricity Generation Company of Malawi (EGENCO) . The utility provided support for 10 girls from Chikwawa Secondary School to attend the camp. All participants visited the Nkula Power Station and wore EGENCO-branded apparel. The camp contributed to changing the girls’ perception towards science, and the utility hopes it will increase the number of girls studying STEM subjects to strengthen the pipeline of qualified women applying to work in the energy sector in years to come.

The GRIDCo Ladies Association received an award at the Women in Energy Conference for being one of the few such associations formed within Ghana’s energy sector. The utility seeks to further strengthen the GRIDCo Ladies Association to become a vibrant and influential stakeholder within the utility as well as the Ghanian energy sector.

In honor of International Girl's Day, Engendering Utilities partner Kosovë Operator Sistemi, Transmisioni Dhe Tregu (KOSTT) , in collaboration with the Association of Women in the Energy Sector in Kosovo, joined the global #GirlsTakeOver initiative. The initiative encourages young girls to seek equal power, freedom, and representation in their societies and promotes the empowerment of girls. KOSTT used the initiative to encourage more girls to pursue energy sector careers and to promote the equal employment of women in the energy sector.