Women in Green Hydrogen (WiGH) launches today the first expert database in the sector. It is entirely crowdsourced and aims to increase the visibility of women working on green hydrogen, an emerging sector that is heavily dominated by men when it comes to public speaking and stakeholder engagement.
Believing that diversity is essential for a sector that thrives on innovation and new ideas, WiGH was created during the summer 2020. It aims to promote their participation in conferences, expert talks, and media appearances, to shape a more diverse and inclusive discourse in the green hydrogen world. The new database wants to showcase female talent and offer event organizers a valuable tool to find potential speakers, to break the cycle of male-dominated events.
From an initial idea to create a LinkedIn group to connect women professionals, WiGH is now a network with international outreach. The new database exceeded the expectations for the launch, gathering 3 times the profiles the team was planning for the initial launch. Several event organizers have already warmly welcomed the initiative. “I was very happy to come across WiGH” says Carolynn Jaworska, Sales and Marketing Manager for Events and Conferences at Peter Sauber Agentur Messen und Kongresse GmbH. “When looking for speakers, we always try to bring diversity to the stage, but it has been tough. The database makes finding these connections easier, both at the national and the international level.” “It is also important for designing conference content” adds Kira Weinmann, Communications and Knowledge Manager at NOW GmbH “by giving women a voice the network enables new ways of identifying trends and hot topics in the green hydrogen discussion”.
But this is just the first step for WiGH. The team is planning on many activities to foster knowledge exchange and professional opportunities, like peer-learning formats, social media presence, mentorship projects and networking events. The first event is already set to take place on December 15th. “We already have an exciting agenda set up” says Julia Epp, Researcher at WZB Berlin Social Science Center“ We are looking forward to connecting with the other women in green hydrogen!”
If you are a woman working in the green hydrogen sector or an event organizer and want to make use of our resources, you can find us our Website, on Twitter, on LinkedIn or write us a Mail. We would love to hear from you!
Members of the WiGH founding team:
- Vaitea Cowan, Enapter Co-founder, AEM Electrolyser Manufacturer
- Kathrin Goldammer, Managing Director at Reiner Lemoine Institute
- Julia Epp, PhD at Berlin Social Science Center
- Charlotte Hussy, Advisor at Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
- Gökçe Mete, Research Fellow, Stockholm Environment Institute
- Giulia Varaschin, Young Professional at Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
- Brittany Westlake, Technical Leader at Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
- Jekaterina Boening, Senior Policy Manager at Transport & Environment
- Kirsten Westphal Senior Energy Analyst at SWP and Member of the German National Hydrogen Council
Contact: Charlotte Hussy, GIZ:
The set-up of the Women in Green Hydrogen expert database was financially supported by the German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).