The SPE International Women in Energy (SPEI WIN) Committee was launched as an SPE standing committee in 2016 to promote gender diversity in the upstream oil and gas industry by attracting, retaining, and engaging women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Our vision is to empower women to realize their full potential in the oil and gas industry. As the international framework, SPEI WIN supports the creation of local section and chapter WIN committees by providing coaching, mentorship, and access to the broader network of global WIN committees.
In 2019, WIN is proud to see the grassroots growth of local SPE section WIN committees to 24 sections (about 12% of total sections) and to have WIN-minded programming in 28 sections (about 14% of total sections). As these sections grow to build local efforts, the standing committee is here to be a resource to provide coaching, connections, and support as requested. Additionally, we expanded our global programming to include two events at the 2019 Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE). The breakfast panel session focused on “Connecting, Empowering, and Succeeding” and the panel session was on “Gender Equality in the Oil and Gas Industry–Achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5.” While globally we have made significant strides in diversity and inclusion, we still have room for continued education, growth, and development.
Our 2020 volunteer season is well under way. The SPE WIN Standing Committee would like to share our goals with The Way Ahead readers. As Mark Murphy explains in this article, we want to broadly advertise our goals so that we will be more likely to achieve them. As our committee is composed of volunteers, we welcome help and input on these goals.
Our overarching 2020 goal is “to actively promote women in SPE for professional and technical recognition through connecting women to local/international WIN volunteering platforms and international/regional award nominations.” This ties back to the committee’s five initiatives.
We would like to see and support continued growth at the section and chapter level. Specifically, we want WIN committees in SPE sections and chapters to identify best practices and share the “Best of the Best” with new and growing local WIN groups. We also want to recruit leaders to represent WIN throughout SPE’s global sections and focus on diversity networking events and programs.
Are you interested in starting a WIN committee in your section or chapter? There are resources available on the SPE section and chapter SPEConnect site for starting a group. Additionally, feel free to reach out directly to SPEI WIN for more support at globalwin@spe.org.
The SPE WIN Committee would like to maintain the presence at ATCE by continuing to host a breakfast and panel session. For 2020, we are evaluating a diversity and inclusion paper contest, live broadcasting of the WIN event to be held during ATCE, and hosting a WIN booth within the SPE pavilion at the conference.
A main area for growth is for us to further define and formalize partnership with other nonprofit organizations and corporations globally. We would like to build strong ties with other organizations and provide more resources to our section and chapter committees. We find the more that we can collaborate and share our learnings, the more impactful our programming can be, so we as an industry continue to move the needle on diversity and inclusion. If you are a member of another organization or company and have suggestions about partnerships or events we should support, please email us at globalwin@spe.org.
The annual call for volunteers for the SPEI WIN committee is now open through the SPE Volunteer Portal. Full details of the volunteer commitment can be found here. We are looking to add three more members to the standing committee, and many more volunteers to work alongside the committee. For example, these volunteers can help with our ATCE flagship event, social media idea generation post authoring, webinar content creation, and more. If you are interested in getting involved to promote diversity and inclusion goals, please apply through the volunteer portal or by dropping us a quick email at globalwin@spe.org.
[Image caption: Participants of the Women in Energy event held during 2018 ATCE.]