New scholarship program helps women pursue careers in green energy

Bonnie Gao, Sunehra Mehrun, Tai Vo and Wren Droesse have been awarded the first round of scholarships from the Trellis Fund, a new awards program for students planning careers in the green energy sector.

Gao is studying in the Social Exergy and Energy Lab at the University of Victoria. Mehrun is enrolled in Automotive and Vehicle Engineering Technology at McMaster University, with a focus on electric vehicles. Vo has enrolled in the Construction Engineering Technician Program at George Brown College in Toronto. And Droesse is already in the field as a wind turbine technician after completing a training program at Lethbridge Polytechnic in Alberta. Each will receive a one-time grant of $2,500 to support their studies or transition into the workforce.

In addition to geographic diversity and a mix of industries, the eight-person advisory committee behind the award looked for factors that inspired candidates to enroll in clean energy programs, explained eco-entrepreneur Rebecca Black, who founded the fund in memory of her mother, Veronica.

“We wanted to see consideration,” she said. “We wanted to be confident that they would continue with what they set out to do. We wanted to know that they could have an impact. We were interested in their entrepreneurial or creative spirit, balanced with the idea that a lot of jobs are not entrepreneurial, they are very focused on infrastructure, so how confident were they that they were studying for a position where they could be employed.”

All of these factors were important at a time when women held just 28% of energy sector jobs. “There’s a big gap between the potential and what we’re actually seeing on the ground, when we all know that resilient solutions have a diverse group of decision-makers at the table,” Black said. “So whether you want to be a power line worker, work on clean energy policy in government, or change your business career to transition to clean energy, we’re accepting applications.”

The advisory committee also looked for candidates with a strong, practical interest in implementing climate and energy solutions.

“We have the technologies,” Black said. “We don’t have the systemic will, and that requires different ways of thinking and solving problems.”

Gao and Mehrun said the scholarship will make a big difference and help them complete their studies.

“The next two years are critical to ensuring that the energy transition is equitable and inclusive,” Gao wrote in an email. “The power and electricity workforce is changing rapidly, and it is crucial to create opportunities to ensure underrepresented groups can enter the workforce and participate in the low-carbon energy transition.”

“My goal is to use my engineering skills and knowledge to help mitigate the environmental impact of the automotive industry and promote a greener, more sustainable future,” Mehrun said. This grant is crucial to me because the current job market is extremely challenging, and finding a job that would support me during the school year has been difficult.”

Being a Trellis Scholarship recipient “not only eases the financial pressure, but also increases my confidence and motivation to succeed in my studies and career,” she added.

Mary Warner, advisory board member and co-executive director of the Toronto Renewable Energy Co-op, said the Trellis Fund helps fill a gap that makes it harder for women to access clean energy jobs.

“We collectively saw the power of having a support system when navigating an industry that is not led by women,” she said. “Those connections are so important, to have people to bounce ideas off of.” That’s an area where the advisory board members, who originally met a decade ago through the Toronto-based Women in Renewable Energy (WiRE), hope to support grant recipients with informal advice, encouragement and problem-solving.

“We did it ourselves, so we want to see it repeated,” Warner said.

Black said the Trellis fund has been launched at a time when the potential for the energy transition is enormous.

“Times have changed,” she said. “There were some tough years working in climate. But now I feel very optimistic about a lot of things happening in the world in areas like expanding the grid, affordability, deploying renewables and paying attention to greenwashing. And we’re starting to see the activism that was stalled by COVID starting to pick up again.”

All of these positive developments make for “a really great time to try and put in the effort,” she said. “It’s a good time to be busy and be on the right side of things. Despite all the hardships in the world, there’s just so much to do and focus on in a positive way.”