WiSER Opens 2026 Program To Boost Women Leaders

Masdar’s Women in Sustainability, terrain and Renewable Energy( WiSER) action has  blazoned the opening of  operations for its 2026 WiSER settlers Program, a time-long platform aimed at accelerating the careers of women professionals working at the  crossroad of sustainability, energy, and STEM. The program,co-founded in 2015 by Masdar and the Zayed Sustainability Prize, has grown into one of the most  honored global  enterprise cultivating  womanish leadership in the sustainability sector.  

Launched in 2018, the settlers Program selects a competitive cohort each time, targeting women aged 25 to 35 who  moreover have entrepreneurial experience or at least two times of professional work in sustainability,  terrain, energy, or STEM- related fields. Over the  once eight cohorts, the action has ate   further than 150 women representing over 30 ethnicities. Actors have  entered  further than  1,000 hours of professional development, including 535 hours of  shops and 515 hours of one- to- one mentoring sessions designed to strengthen specialized knowledge, enhance leadership chops, and support engagement with policy  fabrics.  

Speaking about the vision behind WiSER, Dr. Lamya Fawwaz, Executive Director for Brand and Strategic enterprise at Masdar and Program Director of WiSER, emphasized that the action was  innovated on the principle that when women lead, societies thrive. She said the program is  erecting a global movement of women whose leadership is essential to shaping the sustainability  docket. “ Our settlers are driving  invention,  impacting policy, and launching  results. As we open  operations for the 2026 cohort, we continue  erecting a worldwide network of women leaders who are  transubstantiating the global energy transition, ” she added.  

The program offers  further than academic or specialized training. It integrates structured  literacy with hands- on fieldwork and exposure to global decision- making platforms. Each time, the WiSER Cares action provides actors with immersive  gests  in applied sustainability  systems. In 2025, for  illustration, the cohort traveled to Indonesia, where they visited geothermal  shops and floating solar  installations and took part in policy  discourses  concentrated on climate finance. These  point visits combine specialized  perceptivity with artistic exchange,  icing actors gain a  predicated understanding of both the social and technological  confines of the energy transition.  

Alongside field engagements, the program connects actors to  transnational policy processes by involving them in major global events  similar as Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week( ADSW) and the United Nations Climate Change Conference( Bobby). This exposure offers arising leaders the chance to observe and contribute to  conversations that shape the world’s climate and energy  programs. For  numerous, this visibility marks their entry into global forums where the future of sustainable development is  batted  and defined.  

 The impact of the program is visible in the  places alumni have taken up worldwide. Graduates of the WiSER settlers Program are now working across clean energy companies, technology startups,  transnational associations, and government agencies. numerous have been necessary in advancing  public renewable energy strategies,  enforcing community- grounded sustainability  systems, and advising on  programs related to climate adaptability. Their  benefactions  emphasize how early- career support, combined with  transnational networking and mentorship, can accelerate systemic change across  diligence and  topographies.  

Actors themselves describe the program as transformative. Fatima Afghan, a 2025 Pioneer from the UAE, reflected on how the program shifts  openings for women entering  manly- dominated sectors. She noted that too  frequently women at the  launch of their careers warrant a seat at the table where assiduity leaders are shaping the future, but WiSER is changing that reality by enabling access, mentorship, and visibility.  

For business and policy leaders, the action highlights how  gift channels in sustainability are evolving. By investing in the leadership capacity of  youthful women from different backgrounds, WiSER aligns with broader global  sweats to bed addition within climate and energy governance. This has counteraccusations  for commercial strategies addressing ESG  exposures, for investors assessing long- term  mortal capital, and for governments balancing climate action with social equity commitments.  

 The opening of  operations for the 2026 cohort underlines WiSER’s long- term commitment to narrowing the leadership gap in energy and sustainability. Despite growing recognition of the  significance of gender diversity, women remain underrepresented in  elderly positions across climate and energy sectors. Programs like WiSER demonstrate that closing this gap is n't a matter of representation alone but of  icing that women have the specialized  moxie, policy  knowledge, and global exposure to influence  issues at the loftiest  situations.   As sustainability becomes an decreasingly central concern for governments,  pots, and communities, the  part of women leaders in shaping the line of the energy transition is critical. By fostering collaboration,  structure capacity, and  furnishing access to global decision- making spaces, WiSER positions women at the  van of this  metamorphosis. Its alumni are  formerly shaping commercial strategies,  public  programs, and community  systems that define how countries and  diligence pursue clean energy and climate adaptability.  

The 2026 settlers Program will continue this  charge, offering actors a unique  occasion to  make  moxie and influence while contributing to a  further inclusive, innovative, and  indifferent global sustainability  docket. For Masdar and the Zayed Sustainability Prize, the action reflects a belief that empowering women leaders is n't only a matter of fairness but also a prerequisite for accelerating progress in addressing the world’s most  critical environmental challenges.