Women’s Energy: between regulation and leadership

On 10 November, Leonardo Meeus, FSR Director, and Ilaria Conti, Head of Gas and Hydrogen Area, travelled to Milan to participate in the event “L’Energia delle Donne: tra regolazione e leadership” organised by Edison as part of their efforts to promote gender equality in the energy sector. As of now, only 17% of regulators in the sector are women.   

Insights from the LUCE Awards winners

Both LUCE Awards 2023 winners were also participating in the event. Onyinye Anene-Nzelu, Head of Mini Grids at Engie, Nigeria, who has received the Emerging Talent award, has recorded a video message for the audience, talking about her professional path and giving advice to other women.   

Clara Poletti, Chair of the Board of Regulators at ACER and ARERA Commissioner, participated in the roundtable alongside Leonardo Meeus. She shared her experience of pursuing efforts to promote gender equality in her workplace. She explained how she had to facilitate the creation of a dedicated working group and other incentives since no one else was willing to initiate the conversation voluntarily.  

Gender equality doesn’t just happen

Leonardo Meeus in his speech outlined the efforts FSR and EUI are making to ensure gender equality. He stated, however, that this issue is not only about leadership and organisations committing to do more, it is about introducing rules and enforcing them. On that occasion he quoted the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen: “Gender equality doesn’t just happen. It requires constant work and attention.” An inspiration and a role model to women worldwide, she embedded gender equality into her campaign and promoted policies where gender equality is an essential component.  

Today our Director ⁦@LeonardoMeeus⁩ is participating in a roundtable at the event “L’energia delle donne” organised by ⁦@EdisonNews⁩ in Milan. pic.twitter.com/AlHxJcErgO

— Florence School of Regulation (@EUI_FSR) November 10, 2023

Ilaria Conti’s presentation was preceded by a session on leadership and empowerment, where participants exchanged best practices on empowering women in the workplace. The presentation of the Lights on Women initiative complemented the session, as the initiative is the main tool of FSR to empower its employees, its larger community, and women all around the world.  

More on Lights on Women

The Lights on Women initiative at the Florence School of Regulation launched in 2017, focuses on empowering women in the energy, climate, and sustainability sectors. It began informally, promoting gender diversity in events and training courses. The initiative evolved to offer scholarships supporting women worldwide, with over 600 applications and 50 recipients. The Lights on Women team manages a blog featuring articles and interviews with accomplished women professionals. A recent achievement is Energybase, a database connecting women professionals with opportunities in the sector. The initiative also presents the LUCE Awards, recognising outstanding individuals in the energy field. Lights on Women was recognised by DG ENER and FSR was inaugurated as one of the members of the Energy Equality Platform.