The American College of Greece had the honor of hosting a prestigious summer program funded by the Henry Luce Foundation, the Epistimi-Women in STEMM Leadership Workshop on “Women in the Energy Sector,” held from July 15 -19. The program was organized by Dr. Aggeliki Rigos, Founder and Director of the Epistimi Organization, which focuses on training women in STEMM to be leaders and co-founder of the “LEAPS — Leadership and Professional Strategies and Skills” MIT program. The event was supported by Dr. Alexia Polissidis, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, Department of Science and Mathematics-Deree and Fellow of the Center of Excellence in Sustainability (CoES) at The American College of Greece (ACG).
Twenty-seven young women active in the energy sector from 11 countries globally attended the program at ACG. The program helped them connect and build trust and self-confidence. The participants not only exchanged views on the latest developments in the energy sector and shared field experiences but were additionally introduced to new ways to observe and analyze situations, conflict resolution strategies and leadership strategies for women in the heavily male-dominated energy sector.
The closing event of the five-day workshop took place on Friday, July 19, 2024, from 18:00 to 20:00, at the ACG building in Plaka. It was co-organized by the ΦSTEM group – the Center of Excellence in Sustainability at ACG, and the EPISTIMI Organization.
The welcome remarks were delivered by the co-organizers, Dr. Stella Apostolaki, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science in the Department of Science and Mathematics at Deree and Executive Director of the CoES at ACG, and Dr. Angeliki A. Rigos, Founder and Director of the Epistimi Organization, training women in STEMM to be leaders. With great enthusiasm, they announced the establishment of the ΦSTEM group – CoES, aimed at supporting women and girls in professional development and advancement in STEM.
Dr. Zefi Dimadama, Secretary General for Equality and Human Rights at the Hellenic Ministry of Social Cohesion and Family, addressed the audience and framed the current conditions and efforts on “Promoting Gender Equality in Greece.”
Relevant initiatives of the Innovation Unit for Women at the ATHENA Research Center (RC) were presented by Ms. Eleni Petra, Head of the Innovation Unit for Women at ATHENA RC, while initiatives related to Women in Biomedical Sciences in Greece were presented by Prof. Christina Dalla, Neuroscientist of Sex Differences and Chair of the Gender Equality Committee at the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
An open discussion followed between the participants of the EPISTIMI Program, moderated by Dr. Alexia Polissidis. During this session, the participants had the opportunity to share their experiences from the program, express their gratitude, and acknowledge the benefits they received from this unique life-changing experience. The event concluded with a networking cocktail session.
