Developing energy leaders for a diverse and inclusive energy transition
Ensuring you have a diverse and inclusive workforce that nurtures the leaders of the future is a challenge facing many industries and the energy sector is no different. At the AIEN International Energy Summit in Miami, Florida, our panel looked at the importance of creating space for diverse new talent.
Moderator Bianca Roberson, Legal Counsel – Supply Chain, Shell USA, kicked off the session by asking why this was such a hot topic now.
Leen Zaza, Partner, Khoshaim & Associates, began by expressing her incredulity that we are still having to talk about why diversity is important. “Why are we justifying it? You don’t have to explain why a company needs to be profitable. It is a hot topic now because the topic still hasn’t been sufficiently addressed. It is also becoming more of an acute issue – the existing talent pool, as it has typically been, is finite so we need to build leaders from a new talent pool. Communication has also advanced significantly. Those who have borne the brunt of the lack of representation now have a bigger platform to bring it to the fore.”
Melody Boone Meyer, President, Women with Energy LLC & Melody Meyer Energy LLC, also thought this is a subject that should have been brought to the forefront a long time ago. “We started working long ago on this, but it was difficult to build a case when there were so few diverse people in the room. Now data can prove why diversity matters. I think about how much stronger we could be today if we had done more for diversity in the past.”
Bianca also asked the panel how the industry can attract and retain the best talent.
“People tend to hire people who reflect themselves, so we need different thinking and bring in diversity of thought when it comes to recruiting,” said Lydia Johnson, Global Manager – Upstream Commercial Negotiations and Contracting, ExxonMobil. “The talent is there. We need to relearn and not rely on tools of the past. Let’s talk to the people who were losing out or don’t want to enter the industry. Let’s work with them to redesign how to work through this. We have the bones; we just need to figure out the nervous system.”
Shakwa Nyambe, Managing Partner, SNC Incorporated, highlighted how diversity and inclusion needs to extend beyond the workplace. “We need to take DI beyond the workplace and corporations into contracting, all the expertise you need for your project – the consultants, lawyers, engineers you work with. Bring these people into the fold and part of the projects.
“And it goes even further. Some parts of the world are finding it hard to get financing for their energy transition projects, and you are then excluding them from the larger transition projects. You cannot be inclusive on the transition if you are leaving people behind. It might be a transition in Europe and US, but not in Africa or Latin America. What do we need from them for them to be part of the transition. How do we support them?”
The discussion was an extremely optimistic one, even as the panel agreed on the urgent need to do more.
“The tools we have aren’t working, we need to look at it differently,” said Leen. “We can’t look for puzzle pieces that fit into a jigsaw, we need to change the jigsaw.”
About AIEN:
The Association of International Energy Negotiators, formerly Association of International Petroleum Negotiators, is an independent not-for-profit professional membership association that supports international energy negotiators around the world enhancing their effectiveness and professionalism in the international energy community. Founded in 1981, AIEN has roughly 2,800 members in more than 110 countries, representing international and national energy companies, governments, law firms and academic institutions.
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