- This event offers female role models to enhance the professional development of the students, between 10 and 16 years old, who have participated in the event.
- Nine professional volunteers from Cepsa's industrial sites in Huelva have acted as 'inspirers'.
The Fundación Inspiring Girls, which works to increase girls' self-esteem and professional ambitions, as well as their job prospects, through the experience of women volunteers from all industries, has hosted, together with Fundación Cepsa, the event 'Chicas con Energía', which aims to show girls different career opportunities and jobs.
Several studies show that the presence of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) continues to be very low. For this reason, Fundación Cepsa decided to join this initiative, which took place at the Ibero-American Forum in La Rábida (Huelva), near the industrial sites where the energy company has two large work centers.
The project began with a speed networking session in which the participants, most of them relatives of Cepsa employees, had the opportunity to talk with 9 women from different professions, scattered among 9 tables. Every 10 minutes, they changed tables so that every girl had a chance to chat with them. For this event, since the subject was related to energy, the volunteers came from professions such as chemistry or industrial engineering.
The purpose of 'Chicas con Energía', on one hand, is to bring women role models closer to school-aged girls in order to raise their aspirations and aim high in their professional development, and, on the other hand, to motivate these professionals by offering them the opportunity to share their experiences, which in turn shows them that their work is valuable and inspiring.
"At Inspiring Girls, we know that the best way to broaden girls' expectations and push them to break barriers is to learn first-hand from female role models who have striven to achieve their career goals. Joining forces with Fundación Cepsa, with whom we share a multitude of values, has allowed us to continue advancing in our mission to break gender stereotypes and create positive references among young women," said Marta Pérez Dorao, President of Inspiring Girls.
Meanwhile, Cristina Ortíz Ferrari, General Director of the Fundación Cepsa, stressed that "it is very important for teenage girls to see that there is a world full of possibilities in technology and science, where they can develop their talents; seeing first-hand the paths of STEM women from Cepsa is sure to motivate them and build confidence in themselves to fulfill their dreams."
The event was attended by Paula Gómez de la Bárcena, Director of Inspiring Girls; Teresa Millán, Head of Fundación Cepsa in Huelva, and Esther González, Director of the Cepsa Chemical Plant in Palos. The volunteers who participated were Blanca Sabadell, Rocío Bort and Andrea Rodríguez, professionals with a chemical engineering background; María García-Arreciado, with a degree in Chemical Sciences, and María López Zambrano, a Physics graduate; each of them with different profiles and professional backgrounds, who were joined by María Villarroel, Process Engineer at Cepsa's maritime terminals in Huelva; Rut Paniagua, Head of one of Cepsa's chemical plants; Inés Pérez Palanco, Process Optimization Engineer; and María Olavarría Muñoz, Head of Projects and Efficiency at La Rábida Refinery.
Thus, 'Chicas con Energía' aims to spark the girls' interest and bring them up close to a world that for many of them is unknown. For this reason, the previous events were also held in emblematic places: the Airbus factory in Puerto Real, the Museum of Natural Sciences, the Automobile Museum in Málaga and the General Air Academy.