Jeanette Gitobu is currently the director of the Women in Wind Global Leadership Program, which promotes the expansion of women in roles in the wind sector. Gitobu is passionate about climate change and women’s rights, helping to inspire other women into exploring options within renewable energy.
As well as being program director of WIW, Gitobu is also a member of the board of directors for Student Energy, and a Women Leader in Climate Energy Fellow for Atlantic Council. In September 2023 she was named one of the 50 most influential female executives in the Pan-African energy industry and recieved the Rising Star Award by S&P Global in December 2023, and the Emerging Leader Award by the Global Energy Show in June 2023, among many other honours and awards during her career. She has also been recognised by the Kenyan Ministry of Energy as a woman leader who has made a mark on the energy space.
Gitobu is currently involved in the Meru County Energy Park project, which plans to provide up to 80MW of clean, sustainable renewable energy from up to 20 wind turbines and over 40,000 solar panels.
Gitobu’s missionary childhood initially inspired her to work in the finance sector, and she studied at New York State where she learnt that finance was a solution to drive world change. She moved into renewable energy after working in the gas and oil industry, where she began as a project developer for Windlab, after being a participant in the Women in Wind Global Leadership Program herself.
Gitobu promotes the transition into sustainability, especially for women looking into wind power, because it is a challenging industry that utilises many skills while also making an impact on the world. She is motivated through empowering the next generation.
Sources
Jeanette Mwendwa Gitobu, empowering the next generation, Lucy Buchholz, Dec 2022, https://march8.com/articles/jeanette-mwendwa-gitobu-empowering-the-next-generation
GWEC expands global team with Director of Women in Wind Jeanette Gitobu, Nairobi, 2021, GWEC, https://gwec.net/gwec-expands-global-team-with-director-of-women-in-wind-jeanette-gitobu/
Meru County Energy Park, https://www.esi-africa.com/renewable-energy/kenya-to-host-africas-first-large-scale-hybrid-wind/?trk=public_profile_project-button
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