Workshop session
Discover why you can step up to become a mentor or leader, and the times when you already have without realising.
Women in Renewables keynote session
You’ve Already Done the Hard Thing – Now is the Time to Remember
Ask most women whether they are ready to be a mentor or a leader and they will hesitate. Not because they lack the experience, the wisdom, or the instinct for it, but because somewhere along the way they forgot what they are actually capable of, and have been waiting to tick one more box before allowing themselves to claim it.
This session is the moment they stop waiting.
In this keynote and interactive workshop, Joanna Denton invites participants to redefine what it means to be a powerhouse, moving the conversation away from job titles and conference stages and toward the moments of quiet courage that actually shape a career and a life. The moments that didn’t make the CV. The ones they barely registered at the time. The ones that, when named out loud in a room full of women who recognise exactly what it took, land differently than they ever expected.
Through the Powerhouse List exercise, participants surface their own history of courage and share it with the women beside them, beginning to understand at a level that goes beyond intellectual knowing that the qualities that make an exceptional mentor and leader are already inside them. They have been there all along.
Facilitated at each table by women who have already completed their mentor training and are stepping into that role in real time, this session creates a rare moment of collective recognition in a room far more used to focusing on what still needs to be done than on how far they have already come.
What participants will walk away with
A concrete, personal record of the moments they have already shown up with courage, clarity, and conviction – their own Powerhouse List, in their own words, to keep and return to when things feel hard.
A shift in how they understand what leadership and mentoring actually require – not perfection, not another title, but the willingness to draw on real experience and share it honestly, which it turns out they have been doing for years.
Women in Renewables speakers
Joanna Denton is an executive coach and keynote speaker with over 25 years of international business experience, including 18 years in Big Four companies in the UK and Luxembourg. Since leaving her tax career in 2014, she has spent more than a decade coaching senior leaders and high-performing professionals across law, accounting, consulting, and beyond – helping them to quiet the noise, reconnect to who they are, and create real movement on what matters.
A two-time TEDx speaker, Joanna works through her Brave Spaces methodology, built on the belief that her clients are not broken and do not need fixing – they just need to remember who they already are.
Keynote speaker, Joanna Denton >
Women in Renewables agenda
Time
Item
Details
9.30
Doors Open
Inclusive arrival between 9.30-10.15am.
9.30
Networking breakfast
Freshly baked scones and time to chat
10.30
Welcome
Time to meet the women at your table
11.00
Powerhouse session
Keynote and workshop with Joanna Denton, Executive coach
12.00
Panel Discussion
Hear from the all female panel of renewable experts
13.00
Buffet lunch
Enjoy a hot buffet lunch at your table
13.45
Free networking
The opportunity to connect with women at other tables and get some photos taken.
Renewable Role Models chairing round table sessions
Sara is Deputy Chair of RenewableNI and heads the planning team with Energia Renewables. A Chartered Town Planner, she is responsible for delivery of planning and environmental matters associated with development, operational and construction sites across Ireland. Projects include the development of wind, solar, battery storage, hydrogen production, and other renewable technologies and enabling infrastructure. She has successfully secured consent for a number of large scale strategic infrastructure developments and is involved in the shaping of policy and regulatory inputs to energy policy across the Island.
Sara has worked within the development industry for many years, previously involved in private consultancy, and has extensive experience of the development industry, advancing schemes for a range of major clients including energy companies.
Sara sits on the Planning Committee for Wind Energy Ireland and is a Committee member of the Planning and Environmental Law Association for Northern Ireland. She also sits on University of Ulster’s UPLAN Advisory Group.
Sara has worked within the development industry for many years, previously involved in private consultancy, and has extensive experience of the development industry, advancing schemes for a range of major clients including energy companies.
Sara sits on the Planning Committee for Wind Energy Ireland and is a Committee member of the Planning and Environmental Law Association for Northern Ireland. She also sits on University of Ulster’s UPLAN Advisory Group.
Sara is part of the Women In Renewables Mentoring programme.
Claire graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 2020 with a Master’s in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. During University she was awarded a scholarship from NIE Networks, providing 3 summer placements and a year in industry. This covered Network Access and Response, Pre-Construction Connection, Future Networks and Plant Maintenance Delivery. Getting this experience have gave her an excellent foundation and the insight this sector plays in making Northern Ireland a better place, which emphasises the great sense of purpose she has in her work.
After graduation, Claire worked in the Engineering Design department for 3 years. This role involved designing transmission substations and protection schemes, this was followed by a role in the Generation team. In May, Claire became an Investment Planning Engineer.
Claire is part of the Women in Renewables mentoring programme.
With over 13 years in the renewables and environment industry and a background of delivering onshore wind energy projects, Eimear is Projects Director at Everun, and leads a team of project and asset managers, managing over 100 wind turbine generators across multiple portfolios as well as managing Everun's project work. Her team delivers new build and repowering wind turbine generator projects, as well as consultancy services include wind farm pre-development and stakeholder support, bespoke technical solutions, and compliance services, and screening and feasibility for new RE developments. Eimear also sits on Renewable NI Distributed Generation committee.
With over fifteen years of experience in the electricity and gas sectors in Northern Ireland, Emma has been part of the Networks and Energy Futures Directorate in the Utility Regulator since 2022.
Emma represents the Utility Regulator on a number of taskforces and working groups, particularly the Offshore Renewable Energy Action Plan (OREAP) Steering Group and the Offshore Transmission Working Group (OTWG), alongside DfE and industry stakeholders. She leads the development of a regulatory regime for offshore wind development, which includes engaging with stakeholders, seeking views and experiences from regulatory bodies in other regions, drafting briefing papers, securing appropriate legal advice and representing UR at offshore and industry stakeholder events. She manages a number of projects across electricity operations including connection charging and licence modifications.
In her previous roles in firmus energy and NIE Networks, she was involved in both supply and distribution roles for both electricity and gas and undertook several key business transformation projects.
Emma has a busy family life with two children, two dogs and a wide circle of friends. She enjoys keeping fit and having active weekends with the family, as well as the odd day at Galgorm Spa!
Fiona is a skilled renewable energy professional with over two decades of experience, specialising in development-phase project management, consenting, EIA co-ordination and stakeholder engagement.
As the Stakeholder Manager at North Channel Wind, Fiona leads engagement activities for offshore wind projects, seeking to promote participation and build support across a diverse range of stakeholders for Northern Ireland's first offshore wind farms. She additionally holds responsibility for onshore planning consents.
Fiona has a strong track record in project delivery, having project managed over half a gigawatt of renewable energy projects. As Senior Development Project Manager (Lead) for RES, she led the delivery of multiple onshore wind farm and battery storage projects in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Ireland. As Lead, she held functional oversight for development management, with responsibility for supporting best practice, collaboration, training and development for a team of Development Project Managers across the UK and Ireland.
Fiona is passionate about collaboration and projects which deliver for the climate, nature and people. She holds a Masters Degree in Environmental Management, is an APM qualified Project Manager and a Practitioner Member of the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment. She is a Director and Board Member of Northern Ireland Maritime & Offshore.
Gail represents the Construction Employers Federation (CEF), advocating on behalf of employers who make up over 70% of the sector. She works closely with members to strengthen supply chain resilience, build workforce capability and ensure the industry is ready to deliver major infrastructure and energy projects.
Known for connecting industry, policy and delivery, Gail brings a strong commercial and relationship-led approach to her work. Her interest in renewable energy developed through close engagement with industry leaders and policy discussions. She continues to champion collaboration between construction and energy to ensure ambition translates into delivery.
A strong advocate for mentoring and leadership development, Gail is committed to empowering capable people to step forward with confidence and contribute at the highest level. She actively champions a culture where talent, ambition and practical expertise are supported to thrive — ensuring the renewable energy and infrastructure sectors are equipped with the right people to deliver.
Gail is a Smart Energy 2026 panel Supporting Supply Chain member.
Ruth is a Senior Associate in the Energy team at A&L Goodbody in Belfast.
Ruth acts for clean energy developers specialising in site assembly and land strategy for energy and infrastructure projects, including on shore wind, solar, anaerobic digestion and energy storage. Her expertise includes negotiating complex contracts, managing risk, and ensuring compliance with regulations.
In addition to her legal work, Ruth is dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion in the renewable energy sector and is an advocate for advancing women in renewables. Ruth is also a member of the RenewableNI Small Scale Working Group.
Steph works in a policy and public affairs role, advising on policy developments and shaping external engagement across the Irish energy sector. She delivers strategic policy insight covering renewables and cross-cutting issues across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Before joining SSE, she worked with Energia Group as a Renewable Energy Policy Analyst, building expertise in renewable integration, energy storage, and cross-border market alignment.
Earlier in her career, Stephanie served as an Economic Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State, leading on economic reporting and policy engagement in Hong Kong and Macau, and supporting high-level U.S. delegations. Her career began working for Congressman Ben Chandler and includes work experience in Latin America and community-based work across multiple continents.
Earlier in her career, Stephanie served as an Economic Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State, leading on economic reporting and policy engagement in Hong Kong and Macau, and supporting high-level U.S. delegations. Her career began working for Congressman Ben Chandler and includes work experience in Latin America and community-based work across multiple continents.
Stephanie holds an MA in Diplomacy and International Economics from the Patterson School of Diplomacy at the University of Kentucky, with earlier academic experience in political science and linguistics. She has recently earned a microcredential in Energy Economics and Policy from the University of Limerick.
Booking for Women in Renewables 2026 will open in mid-June.
Women in Renewables
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