To all the girls and women out there – Happy International Women’s Day!
Today, we are celebrating the fabulous women throughout our company and communities who make a difference every day by being leaders and innovators, and we are reaffirming our commitment to building and maintaining a diverse and inclusive company culture.
#BalancedforBetter is the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day. IWD has been celebrated for well over a century, with the first one occurring in 1911.
Overcoming Gender Disparity in STEM
One of our initiatives to help build a #BalancedforBetter world is in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, where there is a significant gender disparity. That initiative is known as #BeThatGirl, and it’s led by our Chief Operating Officer Caroline Winn to inspire more girls to pursue studies and careers in STEM.
As part of this initiative, we are partnering with more than two dozen nonprofit organizations to connect girls with STEM role models and mentors. Our partners include the County Office of Education, Fleet Science Center, San Diego STEM Ecosystem and the National Girls Collaborative.
In 2018, more than 50 women leaders in our company who are in a STEM profession volunteered to serve as role models and mentors for young girls in our region. In 2019, we are doubling our efforts with a goal of securing100 women mentors who will directly engage girls by sharing their own stories of overcoming barriers.
Women at SDG&E & Sempra
Women make up 34 percent of the workforce at SDG&E and 31 percent of the workforce at Sempra Energy, our parent company. In our management ranks, women make up 30 percent at SDG&E while the U.S. utility average is 21 percent.
In January, Sempra Energy was named to the 2019 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, which distinguishes companies committed to transparency in gender reporting and advancing women’s equality.
More Information
To learn more about SDG&E's #BeThatGirl initiative to encourage girls to become STEM innovators, click here.