A breath of fresh air

The Finnish Wind Power Association is the first to admit it is not the biggest nor the most powerful organisation in the energy world, but it is creating its own mini revolution with a team, from board level to CEO to communications officer, of only women. Heidi Paalatie, the association’s operations manager, insists the lack of men is unintentional. While all female companies are no better than all male ones in the long run, the organisation offers hope the energy industry can diversify its workforce for the benefit of all as it transitions away from fossil fuels towards cleaner energy sources

Diversity is the key to success in any industry, says Jenny-Li Holmström, vice chairperson of the wind association’s board and portfolio manager at Taaleri Energia. “Having a healthy gender mix can be compensated by having a healthy mix of different types of people,” she says. Holmström describes herself as “wanting more out of work than a salary” and sees the renewables industry as the perfect place to achieve this. “Having the opportunity to channel hundreds of millions of euros into the construction of renewable energy production is pretty cool.” And while she would prefer to be gender blind, she predicts more women will become leaders of the energy transition as they are “fierce when it comes to value driven work. I see certain middle aged men doing the greenwashing, while women generally push investments in renewables because they completely believe in the impact they will have”