Global Women in Energy Update with Rana Alnasir-Boulos

00:00:00 Speaker 1
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00:00:27 Speaker 2
Welcome to the Energy Pipeline Podcast with your host, KC Yost. Tune in each week to learn more about industry issues, tools and resources to streamline and modernize the future of the industry. Whether you work in oil and gas or bring a unique perspective, this podcast is your knowledge transfer hub. Welcome to the Energy Pipeline.

00:00:51 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Hello everyone and welcome to this episode of the Energy Pipeline Podcast. Today it's my pleasure to welcome back our guest, Rana Alnasir-Boulos, Chairman of the Global Women Forum. We'll be discussing what's happened with the forum since we last visited last year and in general, how the status of women in the energy industry has changed since this time last year. Welcome to the Energy Pipeline Podcast, Rana.

00:01:17 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Thank you KC. It's so good to meet you again and to be invited to this episode.

00:01:24 KC Yost
It is great seeing you again. Thanks so much for joining us. Thanks so much. So, before we start talking about the forum and women in the energy industry, please take a few minutes to remind people about your background.

00:01:39 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yes, Rana Alnasir-Boulos is my name. I'm business director at the Euro Institute ITEP which is based in north of Germany and we establish platforms focusing on energy, specifically oil and gas and other industries industries linking the regions and the continents. And since I was long years in this male dominated sectors, I created a platform called Global Women Forum in order to skill and upscale women and young starters with certain skills in order to succeed in those male dominated sectors, specifically energy, AI and women in stem.

00:02:25 KC Yost
Excellent, excellent. When did you start the forum?

00:02:29 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
The forum has started in 2023. Well, first I had Covid had some advantages being home. Definitely I took this advantage and I was working on a research to see what sectors are promising sectors for the futures where we have a big need of women and what could be done. So I had the idea of doing something and gathering something, bringing culture and knowledge together. So I created Global Women Forum with the help of the AITEP Institute. And we did the first forum in November 2023 which was really brilliant, having speakers and a big audience targeting from first Europe and the MENA region which was at the first beginning the main focus.

00:03:19 KC Yost
So you originally started coordinating efforts between Europe and Arab countries?

00:03:27 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yes.

00:03:29 KC Yost
And in just two short years you've expanded globally Right, exactly.

00:03:35 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
So, absolutely. With the Global Women Forum initially focused on connecting women in Europe and the Arab world, our mission was always being global. So we're seeing increasing interest from professionals across the globe, mainly also North America, particularly in the US where there are incredible initiatives already championing women in energy, STEM and leadership. DS has a strong ecosystem of mentorship programs, diversity initiatives and groundbreaking policies that align with our vision. That's why we're expanding our outreach, building bridges between women also from the US in the US in the regions like Middle East, Europe and beyond. What is the goal? There is a certain goal, of course, and want to create a truly international platform where knowledge, experiences and opportunities, opportunities flow across borders. For instance, in our last event, which was the Global Women in pipeline, now in the energy sector, we had a high interest from speakers coming from the U.S. they shared a lot of knowledge and interest. And we also have support from associations based in the US like for instance, POTS and others. And I'm very happy about that.

00:04:47 KC Yost
I think that's very exciting. And congratulations on, on the growth of the forum so rapidly. It's, it's amazing. I'm, I'm very proud of you. Tickled to death. I think the last time we visited, we talked about me and what it was like in the mid-70s when I first got into the energy industry. There would, it was an old boys club, right?

00:05:10 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yeah.

00:05:11 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
And, and, and we would have the occasional female come in. I'm an engineer. And, and they would be the anomaly, if you will. And how do we, how do we act around this, this person? How do we treat this person? And it was a very awkward time, but it was the beginning of the inroads to get to where we are today. And I, I applaud you guys for, for pushing ahead. I think it's always important for different groups to have mentors and support personnel, whether it be just, just from a physical standpoint or from a mental standpoint, or just a mentorship, if you will, to understand. This is what we faced 50 years ago. This is what you're doing today. So build on our shoulders and, and continue on. I, I find that very exciting.

00:06:16 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
I love this sentence. I like what you have said now, right now.

00:06:20 KC Yost
Well, you, you, you recall I, I have, I have four daughters. Right. And I, and I, I, I soon, soon will have my sixth granddaughter. So, you know, it's very important to me to women have that support mechanism in place to do whatever they want, you know, and, and be exposed to STEM early on in, in their, their schooling, if you will. To see if they like it. Again, out of the, out of the four, only one works in the energy industry. But that's your prerogative and that's their prerogative to do whatever, have the exposure, have the support mechanism in place and then grow from that. Right. So congratulations on what you're doing.

00:07:12 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Thank you. If you allow me, KC, to tell you something about what you just, you know, based on what you have now shared. Last year's event during the Pipeline Technology Conference, which is the main platform we have in Berlin, we are organizing it's turning 20 years old in May. We called the initiative Global Women in Pipeline. What we have seen is that many men, they were really interested, but they haven't joined because they were afraid of this name, Global Women in Pipeline. So they were not feeling secure to attend or not attend. After a discussion we had with our advisory committee, we suggested a new naming and it's called for this year, Global Women in Pipeline. Empowering women, Engaging men. And see there they feel more comfortable. And we are focusing a lot on mentorship. So the gathering is aiming this time to connect and inspire women, but engaging our allies, men. Because without their support and understanding and having the communication with each other, we cannot foster business diversity and this sector. So we will focus on mentorship and how is it to be mentored by a man. So we are having luckily a lot of men joining us, telling us about their experiences, how they are doing it in mentoring women and the other way around, young starters, having men as mentors. And I'm really happy to hear from them. I'm very excited about this edition.

00:08:48 KC Yost
I'm sorry, you said young men as.

00:08:51 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Mentors and both we have already experienced men who are already mentors or have mentored young starters who are females. And we have young women. I have two in mind now, joining from the UAE and from Sultanate Oman, talking about their experiences being mentored by men and what are the advantages, what they have already learned from these mentors.

00:09:18 KC Yost
I think that's very exciting. Good work, good work, good work. So you mentioned diversity and we talked about this last year, by the way, it's been almost exactly a year since we visited.

00:09:33 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yes, exactly.

00:09:34 KC Yost
That's right. So, you know, I've got to tell you, not a big supporter of diversity, equity, inclusion, just for diversity, equity and inclusion. I, we, we talked about that.

00:09:48 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yes.

00:09:49 KC Yost
I am however, a big proponent in new people from new perspectives, coming up with new ideas on how to solve a problem. Doesn't matter what you're doing. Analytical problem solving is analytical problem Solving. And if you only have people working with you that have your same background, you're only going to have the same thoughts and same ideas to solve a problem. If you have someone from a. Another background, and I'll use the word diverse background, another background, they can bring a different perspective to the situation and possibly come up with ideas that you wouldn't think. Have thought of. Right?

00:10:39 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Definitely.

00:10:39 KC Yost
So, so I, I like, I like the idea of diversity. I never liked working on a project team where I had a bunch of yes people saying, yeah, that's a great idea and all that. I, I want the. What if we do this? What if we do that? Okay.So anyway, talk, talk about your, your perspective.

00:11:00 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yeah, if you me. You know, diversity isn't specifically in the energy sector. It's not just a buzzword. It's essential for innovation and resilience. So as someone passionate about bridging gaps and empowering underrepresented voices, I'm eager here. And this is the vision of Global Women Forum to see how your masterclass addresses the diverse perspectives that drive success in today's market. You know, so. And that's why diversity matters.

00:11:29 KC Yost
Well, I, I heard you use the word master class and I've never thought of men as being the master class, but you know, we, we are the dominant class in the industry. Right?

00:11:43 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yep.

00:11:44 KC Yost
So, so I, I get that. I get that. So let's talk about the, the current landscape of women's representation in the, in the energy or pipeline industry.

00:11:56 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
So still, of course, the pipeline sector is a niche here and we have a big lack of representation of women in this sector. And the vision or the mission is to highlight this sector to make it more attractive, if you allow me, more sexy for newcomers. So to highlight there is a need in this sector, we have an underrepresentation. And that's why we're making all these activities beyond the gathering, what is now yearly taking part within the frame of the Pipeline Technology Conference. We are also throughout the year interviewing women from the pipeline sector globally, within and publishing their challenges, their stories, their perspectives, their needs within our journal, the Pipeline Technology Journal. And this is really attractive. So people reading this, the audience getting more attracted to their stories, they can learn from that. And the main thing is to motivate also newcomers or to motivate young females. Okay. There is this need in the industry. I am interested to step in this industry. Additionally, we are working closely with several universities. We have something called PTC Student job. We offer students from all around the world to join PTC and We are focusing on having half, half, you know, equal number of females and male to join us, to of course, support us with the organization, but also connect them to the industry and make it more attractive for them. So this is something we are now doing for the fourth year and it's getting also bigger and getting more attention so that next year, sorry, this year we are having also an award along with the Young Pipeliner Association. What I want to say, it's not only about Global Women Forum, it's about how to collaborate and cooperate together, all together. University matters, school matters, associations matters. And this is the way you can make the best impact.

00:14:12 KC Yost
Yes, I understand. I, I am interested in how you make the pipeline industry Sexy one. Someone, someone described it to me, oh, 30 some odd years ago that you dig a ditch, throw a pipe in it, cover it up, and we get paid. You know, obviously it was a, it was a plant guy that didn't understand the nuances of pipelining. But, but fair enough, fair enough. That's, that's, that's good.

00:14:42 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
So, you know, KC, if you allow, if you allow me, of course. I'm, I'm, I'm also a mom of two boys, a proud mom of two boys. And I, and I see firsthand the impact of leading by example. My boys watch me, you know, juggle responsibilities, drive initiatives, advocate for women in this industry, and I'm doing so globally. So I see them, how they see me and what they learned from, from seeing their mom doing. So something very interested, interesting for me last week is that one of the boys and I have a small. The audience cannot see it, but you can see it. I have small Lego here with a woman as a pipeliner. Okay. I love this. And I have it, I always take it as example when I'm invited to speak, etc. And my eldest was, was asking me last time, I don't like that it's only women legal, they can be pipeliners. And I was like, okay, no, you can also be a pipeline. It's not only women being a pipeliners. And I was very happy because for him, he thought only women can be pipeliners, because he's seeing this all the time on my table and I'm taking this small figure with me wherever I'm invited. So, yeah, just a small personal story from my side.

00:16:06 KC Yost
That's, that's a wonderful story. And how old are the, the boys?

00:16:10 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Nine. Nine and six.

00:16:12 KC Yost
Nine and six. Well, they're, they're at that inquisitive age. That's good for you. Good for You. My, my youngest daughter is 38 this year, so.

00:16:25 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Wow. I still have some time, hopefully.

00:16:30 KC Yost
All right, good. So, anyway, let's talk about challenges. You know, we talked about challenges of women getting into the industry and advancing in the industry last year. Can, can we go back through that again and talk about what challenges women are facing nowadays?

00:16:49 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Well, we are, of course, you know, within one year, the challenges has not reduced rapidly. We still have, of course, same challenges, but, but I keep on highlighting the importance of mentorship and to highlight this to the industry, that mentorship is really important. When you have good mentorship program, you can really skill and give young starters a very good opportunity to learn from the experiences, etc. But luckily people are taking it now more seriously. There's a lot of, you know, initiatives happening globally to highlight the importance of, of mentorship. Yeah.

00:17:41 KC Yost
So, so what about stem? That's, that's being introduced more and more to grade school children globally, right?

00:17:52 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yes.

00:17:52 KC Yost
And talk about the, the ideas and at least expose the children to these opportunities with stem, right?

00:18:01 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yes. So, you know, women in STEM are not just important, they are essential to drive innovation and solve the industry's toughest challenges we are facing. To my mind, we have to start, of course, from school to make it more attractive to introduce not only the traditional studies women are having, but I think it will be coming, but it's coming very slow. It's a global movement. We have a lot of movements globally that are really advocating to have more women in stem. The statistics shows that there is more interest and more women are getting into stepping into these industries and also studying at universities, more and more digitalization. We are talking about AI right now and it's, it's a big, big trend and it's, it's the future. So I think it will be coming. It just needs more time. But therefore, initiatives like Global Women Forum and others matters.

00:19:12 KC Yost
I totally agree. I totally get where you're coming from. And it's not that, it's not that we're going to find that a lot of, if you will, women want to get into stem, but it's basically giving them the opportunity, like my daughters. We gave them the opportunity to get into stem. One chose it, three did not. But that was their prerogative. But at least make it accessible to them so they can make the decision on their own. Do I like this? Do I not like this? Right.

00:19:48 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Exactly. Yeah.

00:19:49 KC Yost
And then, and then, frankly, the percentages will work their way out. We can't expect everyone to be a jackhammer operator or something. Like that, you know, we can't expect everyone to be a nurse and we can't expect everyone to be an engineer.

00:20:06 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yeah, right, absolutely. But I think here also the role models, they play a big role. Like we see also ourselves when we have somebody, a lady, successful lady, telling, talking about her story, storytelling, showing this lady as a role model, you really get the audience more attractive to learn more how she did it, what I can learn from her, what is the industry she's talking about. So I think also, you know, highlighting those ladies is important.

00:20:40 KC Yost
I think that's wonderful. It encourages them to look at these opportunities and well, she did it. I can do it.

00:20:47 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Well, absolutely.

00:20:48 KC Yost
You know, if, and if there's an interest, then, then they've got that support system.

00:20:52 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yes.

00:20:52 KC Yost
With the mentorship and, and all to, to succeed. Right?

00:20:56 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yes.

00:20:57 KC Yost
So it makes, that makes, makes perfect sense. So let's, we talk about mentorship and all of that. Let's talk about career development. Okay. Skill building, career advancement and, and that type of thing.

00:21:12 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yes. So you want to hear why this is important? You mean this is not only important for women. These are words you have mentioned or specifically for everybody. You need to enhance your skills. You need to learn, to be updated with the trends, what is happening, what is going on? So what we do is we develop from the needs. When we have gatherings, the yearly forum, we hear out the needs of the audience. The audience is not only women, luckily, we always engage also men to hear from their perspectives what is needed and we develop then the needs. And one of the main skills we see a big lack in it is the understanding, for instance, of financial education. That's why we are preparing now a series of events called Unlocking Financial Empowering Women in Finance statistics shows that 40% of women, that only 40% of women are confident in their financial knowledge compared to 60% of men. And despite making up 47% of the global workforce, women control just 30% of global wealth. So financial education is essential for changing these statistics. This is just an example to let you know that we have to enhance a lot of skills in order to succeed. It's not only about women in energy or women in AI or women in stem. There are a lot of needs and also soft skills we have to enhance in order to succeed later, to really become, you know, to get a higher position or be a woman in leadership.

00:23:09 KC Yost
Well, frankly, that has to be a building block for any engineer in the energy industry. Whether we're talking about pipelines, whether we're talking about exploration, production, it doesn't make any difference. You have to be able to look at the net present value of a project operating over 20 years, yada yada, all of that kind of thing. Those are, those are basic skills that are supposed to be taught in engineering school to be passed on. And so it's important that you have that arrow, if you will, in your quiver to make that work. That's a great example. I will tell you here that my wife takes care of the day to day finances. I. Yeah, I couldn't tell you how much money we have in our bank accounts right now. Savings I take care of, she takes care of that. So we're a 50, 50 split here.

00:24:05 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yeah, this is good. But honestly. So the capacity building or financial education is essential. And we decided to make our events specific format which is called Bar Camp, which means we have the audience and we hear out the needs. We don't have an agenda before. When we hear out the needs, what they want to learn, Are they here to learn about funding? Are there startups? Are they here to learn about the words, how to use them? Then we create our agenda from the needs of the audience attending the event. And this format is called Bar Camp.

00:24:55 KC Yost
My oh my, I've not heard of that before. So literally you go in, the audience tells you what you'd like, what they'd like to learn and then you go back behind the curtain and work out an agenda and come right back out.

00:25:09 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Absolutely, yeah. That's amazing because when we took it from our own experiences, when you go, when you are invited for an event or you plan to attend an event, you go there of course, with certain expectations.

00:25:24 KC Yost
Sure.

00:25:24 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
When I don't have it, I'm really upset and of course I have a good network, hopefully etc. But I want to learn something and that's why we came up with this format in order to have an impact and to make the audience happy and really skill them.

00:25:42 KC Yost
Mm, good, good. Well, speaking of all of that, let's, let's talk about the 2025 agenda. Yes, talk about agenda. Let's talk about the 2025 schedule. What, what do you guys have planned for 2025? What, what are your, what are your presentations for this year?

00:26:04 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Thank you for asking that. KC and I here would love to invite the audience to be part of the Global Women in Pipeline event which will be again within the frame of the 20th Pipeline Technology Conference in Berlin being taking place in Berlin. From the 5th to the 8th of May 2025, we will be having the Global Women in Pipeline forum highly Global International with speakers coming from all around the world, bridging cultures and exchanging, focusing on engaging men and talking about mentorship experiences and how to make this business environment more inclusive and equitable. We are planning also in May the Global Women in Finance, the Bar camp I just have mentioned right now limiting the number of attendance in order to really have an impact and learn for 2025. Also we will be joining ADIPEC in November for several workshops specifically in the Youth Forum in order to skill young engineers from Al Khalifa Business School in Abu Dhabi and talk about leadership skills and how to have a better career development.

00:27:29 KC Yost
So if, if someone wants to find out more information about these events, where do they go?

00:27:37 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
They please go to the main website of the Global Women Forum which is Global Women Forum and you can find all the related information there. You can also sign up to the newsletter in order to be updated. We are active on LinkedIn with our main page and soon we will be launching our Instagram super, super.

00:28:02 KC Yost
Well, we're coming close to the end of time. Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?

00:28:10 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
I want to thank you. I want to thank you for allowing my voice to be heard to invite everybody to be part of this mission to engage as attendee, speaker, whatever you will have. If you have an idea, if you like to join, kindly join our movement. I say movement because everybody, we want to move together. So I don't want to add anything and I hope to welcome everybody.

00:28:46 KC Yost
Good. One last note. Self deprecation I suppose, if you will. How many languages do you speak?

00:28:56 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Let me check. Okay. Arabic and German are my Arabic. French and German are my mother language.

00:29:04 KC Yost
Sure.

00:29:05 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
English hopefully yes. And some Greek because my husband is half Greek.

00:29:10 KC Yost
Ah, so five languages. Yes. So. So back in the late 70s I was working with an Austrian here in the US. We were working on a project in Europe and he told me those who speak three languages are called trilingual. Those who speak two languages are called bilingual. Those who speak one language are called Americans.

00:29:33 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Oh no.

00:29:34 KC Yost
So I am, I are an American.

00:29:39 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yeah. Are American. Yes.

00:29:42 KC Yost
Wonderful talking to you again. Great seeing you. I. I hope we, we can do this again next year and you can tell me about all of the successes in the Global Women Forum and that's, that's going to be fantastic. So thanks so much for taking the time to, to visit.

00:29:58 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Thank you for having me again.

00:30:00 KC Yost
Yeah. So again if anyone wants to learn more about the Global Women Forum, you can find them on the web at global.women.forum. that's G L O B A L Woman W O M E N Forum F O R U M okay.

00:30:20 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
Yes. And if you like to learn more about the Pipeline Technology Conference with the in Berlin with the Global Woman in Pipeline, it's pipeline-conference.com

00:30:32 KC Yost
pipeline-conference.com

00:30:36 Rana Alnasir-Boulos
All right. Excellent. Excellent. Well, thanks to all of you for tuning into this episode of the Energy Pipeline Podcast sponsored by Caterpillar Oil and Gas. If you have any questions, comments or ideas for podcast topics, Rana, get back with me on some ideas. Please feel free to email me at kc.yost@oggn.com I also want to thank everyone at the Oil and Gas Global Network for making this podcast possible. Find out more about other oggn podcasts at oggn.com this is Yoast saying goodbye for now. Have a great week and keep that energy flowing through the pipeline.

00:31:13 Speaker 2
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