WINenergy: Women in Energy .

Chemonics will host a webinar on March 8, 2022 at 9:30 AM EST featuring women leaders in energy.

Speakers

Jamila Amodeo, Senior Energy Advisor with the Environment, Energy and Infrastructure Division, USAID

Jamila Amodeo is a Senior Energy Advisor with the Environment, Energy and Infrastructure Division of USAID in the Development, Democracy and Innovation Bureau. She has over 20 years of experience in international development—designing, managing, and implementing energy and infrastructure projects in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and Europe & Eurasia. During the pandemic, she spearheaded the global energy critical infrastructure cybersecurity program under the Electricity Utility Partnership Program (EUPP) implemented by the United States Energy Association. This January she earned a Global Information Architecture Certification (GIAC) Security Leadership certificate. For most of her career, Jamila worked as a legal and regulatory consultant working with private firms and international donor organizations. Jamila has engineering and law degrees from Uzbekistan and a Master of Laws (LLM) from Georgetown University Law School.

Joan Larrea, CEO, Convergence

Joan Larrea is the CEO of Convergence and an expert in catalyzing investment in places that need it most. She has over 25 years of experience in emerging markets investing, including at the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC, now the Development Finance Corporation), the Global Environment Fund, and the International Finance Corporation. Since 2016, Joan’s leadership has driven Convergence to become a global independent authority for blended finance. As CEO, Joan ensures Convergence continues to grow the field of blended finance through its products and services and accelerates the flow of private capital into SDG projects across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Patricia Nzolantima, Founder and Chairwoman, Bizzoly Holdings

Patricia Nzolantima is the Founder and chairwoman of Bizzoly Holdings, a women-owned company and foundation that operates under Ubizcabs, the first female- driven taxi company in the Democratic Republic of Congo. DAR-DAR by UBIZCABS’s mission is to provide transport on demand services through a fleet of geo-localized electric vehicles in the city of Kinshasa. She also launched the first women digital bank, M’Kento, to support women with financial and banking services such as financing for women tricycle owners to buy and manage their e-vehicles and the M’Kento Green Mobile Digital Kiosk. As a serial entrepreneur, Patricia is a seasoned leader with over 18 years of experience in entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment across the African continent. She was the first female in DRC to participate in the    Young African Leaders (YALI), Mandela Fellowship program. Forbes Afrique named her as one of the top 100 African economic Leaders of Tomorrow in 2018 and in 2021, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), named her one of Top 21 of 2021 Influential Women in Mobility.

Narlene Egu, Senior Energy Advisor and Team Lead, USAID/Power Africa Nigeria

Narlene Egu is the Senior Energy Advisor and Team Lead, USAID/Power Africa Nigeria. She also served in the same position in USAID Uganda when she joined the Agency in 2017. Prior to joining USAID, Narlene held several positions in other energy and telecommunications establishments including as a field engineer for TELNET Nig. Ltd, the Nigeria Telecommunications (NITEL), and as a system analyst/line maintenance and operations engineer for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). She has over ten years of professional engineering, program planning and coordination, and management experience in the public and private sector. Narlene holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and a prospective MBA from the Washington State University in Seattle, Washington.

Anna Slother, Executive Vice President, Chemonics International – Opening Remarks

Executive Vice President Anna Slother is an international development executive with 20 years of cross-cutting experience in operations, human resource management, and program management. With a breadth of regional and technical experience, she has served for nearly two years in Kosovo and conducted several short-term assignments throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and Asia with focuses on supply chain solutions, economic growth, environment and energy, and overall project management. Prior to joining the executive team, Ms. Slother led all business operations for more than 500 staff in Chemonics’ Global Health and Supply Chain Office, including communications, talent acquisition, human resources, security, global information technology, ethics, and continual improvement. Anna’s other executive roles at Chemonics include serving as senior vice president (SVP) of the Supply Chain Solutions Division, SVP of Human Resources, and SVP of the Central and Eastern Europe Region. Ms. Slother has a bachelor’s degree in political science and Asian studies as well as a certificate in teaching English as a second language from Beloit College.

Georgia Iordanescu, Director, Energy Team, Chemonics International – Moderator

Georgia Iordanescu is a leading expert in the energy sector in emerging and developed markets with extensive in-country experience advising governments, multilateral organizations, developers, and investors in Europe, Asia, West, East and Southern Africa region. Ms. Iordanescu worked at the forefront of implementing two of the largest USAID initiatives for the energy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa: Africa Infrastructure Program and Power Africa Transactions and Reforms Program. As transaction advisor in Nigeria, she led the implementation of Power Africa’s goal to lower the cost of electricity and was a key advisor in structuring, negotiating, and achieving financial close on Azura-Edo, the first greenfield gas independent power project in the country. She also developed the first standardized private sector investment framework for solar energy independent power projects in the country. As Hitachi Research Institute Fellow in Japan, she advised on environmental sustainability policies and market entry strategies for renewable energy technologies. She holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, a Master of Laws in Banking and Financial Law from Boston University School of Law, and an Executive M.A. in NATO Studies from the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration in Romania.