Women inclusion in providing access to sustainable energy
Last quarter has warranted a lot to celebrate about. From record sales numbers, new partnerships, and now women who have shown exemplary performances in their departments. Women make up 37% of Sistema.bio’s Kenya staff, a move that was driven by a deliberate decision to ensure female participation in providing access to energy across Kenya and around the world. Today we shed light on Veronica Cherono – a mother and Sistema.bio technician.
Veronica joined Sistema.bio in February 2018, becoming the first female technician to break the norm by working in a male dominated job at Sistema.bio Kenya. With prior working experience at the National Youth Service, it was easy for her to adapt and be the pacesetter for the now 21% female technicians in the company. Today, she has installed over 60 digesters and trained new technicians (male and female).
The journey hasn’t been without challenges though. “Sometimes I arrive at a client’s home and the looks and comments exhibit clear indication of doubt on quality installation”- says Veronica. This coupled with selflessness being her north star has always challenged her to surprise clients with the best installations. “I want to break the norm, make the clients happy and if I come back 20 years later, I would be happy to take a cup of tea from the biodigester I installed”.- Veronica expresses with passion
Veronica is just one of the women in the field that has driven Sistema.bio to get further. In other countries, Carolina in Nicaragua, Irene Sanchez and Irene Hernandez in Mexico have also worked hard to train new technicians and provide farmers with safe, renewable, and clean energy all over the world.
V4W – Shell foundation report on business and gender
Since 2017 Sistema.bio belongs to the project of Gender Inclusion in Energy Research by Shell Foundation and Value for Women where the objective is to study the importance of gender perspective inclusion as a trigger to improve the performance of social businesses. In its first phase, Sistema.bio was part of 5 social companies in the Shell Foundation portfolio that developed gender inclusion tools in the areas of market research, marketing, sales and HR. You can find the findings of this interesting investigation in the report.
