As we race to combat the climate crisis, we’re fighting with one hand tied behind our backs.

We know that incorporating diverse perspectives and the presence of gender diversity in political and corporate decision-making processes produces better outcomes. Climate change is the most urgent global challenge of this generation, and confronting it isn’t just a moral imperative for the future of our planet, but an economic imperative as well. And still, despite positive trends in recent years, women represent just 25% of the workforce in the energy sector, compared to 47% of the overall American labor force, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Intersectional identities like gender and sexuality only deepen the divide.

While the impacts of global warming disproportionately impact women and the LGBTQ+ community, our voices are often excluded. We’re failing to harness the full potential of underrepresented voices, such as women and members of the LGBTQ+ community, who are often paid less than their white male counterparts, have fewer opportunities for professional development and advancement, and are more likely to face discrimination in the workplace.

Pride Month provides an important opportunity to not only reflect on the ways that trailblazers like Rachel Carson, whose book Silent Spring founded the global environmental movement, and Wangari Maathai, a Nobel laureate who promoted intersectional environmentalism, championed environmental justice to build the foundation for a more equitable and sustainable future—but also to recognize that gender diversity in energy and environmental fields is essential to meeting our greatest existential challenges.

Thanks to leaders in businesses and nonprofit organizations throughout the energy and environmental sectors like you, we’re creating a more gender diverse and inclusive workforce that will better reflect our communities and deliver the benefits of our transition to a cleaner future to historically vulnerable groups suffering the most harm from industry and climate change. According to the U.S. DOE’s 2023 Energy and Employment Report, the number of women working in energy increased by nearly 150,000 in 2022, a nearly 8% increase. As a convenor of these thought leaders driving diversity, equity and inclusion in energy and environmental careers, we’re proud to be at the forefront of the charge to raise the voices of those traditionally underrepresented in our fields—including the LGBTQ+ trailblazers whose contributions continue to drive meaningful progress.

As NEWIEE has evolved into a gender-diverse and inclusive community of more than 1,200 active members across New England, we’re strategically addressing the issue head-on by celebrating and amplifying the achievements of diverse women in energy and environmental fields, empowering career advancement with our mentorship program and peer circles, enabling career entry with networking opportunities and our Revolutionary Power fellowship, and supporting career opportunity exploration among the next generation of leaders with NEWIEE+ On Campus. Our approach is powerful because representation matters.

Last month, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, the first woman and openly LGBTQ+ person elected to the commonwealth’s highest office, joined NEWIEE to recognize the exceptional achievements of diverse women in energy and the environment. Standing on the shoulders of visionary women like Carson and Maathai, this year’s 2024 NEWIEE Annual Awardees Sonali Anderson, Lissette Andino, Rebecca Foster, and Joanna Troy carry the torch and continue to send the elevator back down for more women who have the unique skills that it will take to confront our most urgent climate and environmental crises.

This Pride Month, let’s recommit ourselves to advancing gender equity and inclusion in our workplaces. Let’s continue to support one another, advocate for change, and create a world where everyone has equal opportunities to thrive. Our future depends on it.

NEWIEE’s DEI Co-Chairs

Deanna Sassorossi (she/her)
Principal Sustainability Analyst
Electric Power Research Institute

Tamika Jacques, Ed.D.
Manager of Workforce Development
Avangrid

Also of Interest

• Join NEWIEE
• NEWIEE Event Calendar
• NEWIEE Jobs Board