Building Women's Leadership for a Public Pathway to a Just Energy Transition
Tuesday, September 30
1:00pm - 2:00pm (ET / New York)
Virtual-only Zoom event
Featuring:
Irene Calvé - Energy access and power systems expert
Suraya Jawoodeen - South African labor activist and Africa Coordinator, Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED)
Moderated by:
Irene Shen - Lead Organizer and Coordinator of the Women’s Leadership Project for a Public Pathway, Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED)
(slucuny.swoogo.com/30September2025/register)
Join us for an event on the heels of Climate Week NYC 2025 as we meet with a African labor leader and a European energy access expert to discuss a feminist approach to a just energy transition. While dominant narratives during Climate Week focused on the need for creating an enabling environment for the private energy sector, these women will explore the public pathway, an alternative approach to the energy transition that is anchored in a working class analysis and has the potential to reach climate goals while advancing a just social platform. This framework, coined by Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED), an independent project in partnership with CUNY SLU, is promoted around the world by trade unions who recognize that the market is unable to lead us to an energy transition, and a public option is essential to address the crisis of climate change. This conversation is among the many that have emerged since the launch of the Women’s Leadership Project for a Public Pathway by TUED in 2024 and will continue setting the groundwork for a feminist approach to the energy transition.
Join us on Zoom as we learn from these practitioners about energy and climate policy and the global trade union movement.
SPEAKER BIOS
Irene Calvé Saborit
Irene Calvé Saborit is an expert in power systems, distributed generation, and energy access. She has extensive experience in the electricity sector across Europe, Latin America, and Africa, working both with development finance institutions and in the private sector.
Suraya Jawoodeen
Suraya Jawoodeen is a union activist from South Africa. She is the former Deputy General Secretary of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) and the former Head of Secretariat of the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA). She currently serves as Africa Coordinator for Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED).
Irene HongPing Shen
Irene HongPing Shen is the lead organizer with Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED). Prior to joining TUED, she was a public school science teacher, a program manager with environmental justice organizations, a farmer and food just educator, and a NYC worker center organizer on anti-displacement and homecare workers campaigns.
(slucuny.swoogo.com/30September2025/register)
