Alex joins POWERful Women’s Energy Leaders’ Coalition2, now comprising the heads of 15 of the UK’s largest energy employers and the regulators Ofgem and the North Sea Transition Authority. The leaders of the coalition have each made a commitment to drive better female representation and inclusive workplaces within their own organisation and the sector as a whole.
While the number of women in the industry has risen over the past decade, progress is now stalling, particularly in key decision-making roles where female representation remains very poor. In 2024, women occupied just 16% of executive director roles across the top 80 UK energy companies, and a fifth of those companies had no women on their boards at all3.
Alex Grant, Equinor UK Country Manager, said: “At Equinor, we strive to ensure that all our employees reach their full potential, and we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. As an industry, we know that we need to do more to ensure that women are better represented, and I am very pleased that we have joined the POWERful Women Leaders’ Coalition to help drive this.”
By joining the Coalition, leaders sign up to a charter4 committing them to communicate their company’s targets and timeline for change and be accountable for progress. Their data is published every year, alongside examples of policies that are making a difference.
Members of this unique coalition also commit to advocating with their peers and with government for better balance across the industry, meeting five times a year to learn from each other, share challenges and successes, and plan collective action.
Katie Jackson, Chair of POWERful Women, commented: “I am delighted that Alex has made this important public commitment to advancing gender diversity, equity and inclusion in the energy sector.
“This kind of business leadership is essential for driving change, particularly now, when we see some worrying pushback on diversity and inclusion. Action on DEI is about being able to access the very best talent available for your business, which leads to better performance, innovation and customer trust.
“Building inclusive workplaces benefits everyone, creating safe and supportive spaces where people of all backgrounds and experiences can work together to deliver results and thrive. I look forward to the work of the Coalition this year, to accelerate change towards our goals.”
Cordi O’Hara, President of National Grid Electricity Distribution and this year’s Chair of the Energy Leaders’ Coalition, commented: ”I am pleased to welcome Alex onto the Coalition. This year, with five years to go to meet POWERful Women’s 40% target, we have strengthened our resolve and focused on key activities that we think will make a difference, including more public advocacy by CEOs, communicating the business benefits of diversity and inclusion for building a talented workforce for the energy transition, and collaborating with others to achieve results.
“I look forward to Alex joining us in this mission and the opportunity to draw on his experience, ideas and leadership skills.”
Alex Grant added: “As a business, we are focused on improving gender diversity and have initiatives in place to support this including workforce training, our Women in Equinor UK employee group, and flexible working policies.
“We know there is always more to be done and, when tackling complex issues such as gender diversity, collaboration is crucial. Initiatives such as POWERful Women are a vital part of this. I look forward to working with them to ensure that our industry is accessible to all, and that the energy sector attracts the best talent possible.”
POWERful Women has today welcomed a public commitment from Equinor’s UK Country Manager, Alex Grant1, to a gender-balanced, diverse and inclusive energy sector in the UK and to accelerating the pace of change towards this goal.
Alex joins POWERful Women’s Energy Leaders’ Coalition2, now comprising the heads of 15 of the UK’s largest energy employers and the regulators Ofgem and the North Sea Transition Authority. The leaders of the coalition have each made a commitment to drive better female representation and inclusive workplaces within their own organisation and the sector as a whole.
While the number of women in the industry has risen over the past decade, progress is now stalling, particularly in key decision-making roles where female representation remains very poor. In 2024, women occupied just 16% of executive director roles across the top 80 UK energy companies, and a fifth of those companies had no women on their boards at all3.
Alex Grant, Equinor UK Country Manager, said: “At Equinor, we strive to ensure that all our employees reach their full potential, and we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce.
“As an industry, we know that we need to do more to ensure that women are better represented, and I am very pleased that we have joined the POWERful Women Leaders’ Coalition to help drive this.”
By joining the Coalition, leaders sign up to a charter4 committing them to communicate their company’s targets and timeline for change and be accountable for progress. Their data is published every year, alongside examples of policies that are making a difference.
Members of this unique coalition also commit to advocating with their peers and with government for better balance across the industry, meeting five times a year to learn from each other, share challenges and successes, and plan collective action.
Katie Jackson, Chair of POWERful Women, commented: “I am delighted that Alex has made this important public commitment to advancing gender diversity, equity and inclusion in the energy sector. This kind of business leadership is essential for driving change, particularly now, when we see some worrying pushback on diversity and inclusion.
“Action on DEI is about being able to access the very best talent available for your business, which leads to better performance, innovation and customer trust. Building inclusive workplaces benefits everyone, creating safe and supportive spaces where people of all backgrounds and experiences can work together to deliver results and thrive. I look forward to the work of the Coalition this year, to accelerate change towards our goals.”
Cordi O’Hara, President of National Grid Electricity Distribution and this year’s Chair of the Energy Leaders’ Coalition, commented: ”I am pleased to welcome Alex onto the Coalition.
“This year, with five years to go to meet POWERful Women’s 40% target, we have strengthened our resolve and focused on key activities that we think will make a difference, including more public advocacy by CEOs, communicating the business benefits of diversity and inclusion for building a talented workforce for the energy transition, and collaborating with others to achieve results.
“I look forward to Alex joining us in this mission and the opportunity to draw on his experience, ideas and leadership skills.”
Alex Grant added: “As a business, we are focused on improving gender diversity and have initiatives in place to support this including workforce training, our Women in Equinor UK employee group, and flexible working policies. We know there is always more to be done and, when tackling complex issues such as gender diversity, collaboration is crucial.
“Initiatives such as POWERful Women are a vital part of this. I look forward to working with them to ensure that our industry is accessible to all, and that the energy sector attracts the best talent possible.”
