Forbes has identified the companies leading the way when it comes to trying to support women inside and outside the workforces, with a ranking of "World's Top Female-Friendly Companies 2021"

Electrician at Neoenergia reinforces the company's focus on equal opportunities.

Iberdrola, Neoenergia’s parent company, is among the world’s 10 best companies for women to work. That was the conclusion of the study "World's Top Female-Friendly Companies 2021", carried out by Forbes in partnership with Statista, focused on market analysis, to identify the companies leading the way in terms of supporting women inside and outside their workforces. Gender equality is one of the commitments that Iberdrola and, consequently, Neoenergia, embed into their labor policy. Through various initiatives, all companies in the Group are committed to this agreement in four areas of their management: recruitment and selection, salary conditions, training and professional development, and communication.

Iberdrola and its companies feature more than 70 actions to help reconcile work and personal life. Financial independence is one of the main ways to empower women and, with this in mind, promoting equality in the access to the labor market is key. The company has a diversity program focused on promoting a work environment of inclusion, respect for diversity, empowerment and combating prejudice. Within the strategy, Neoenergia is reviewing its Human Resources processes, aiming to act in recruitment and selection to promote more inclusive selection processes, train its leadership for diversity management, and continue to promote actions aimed to empowerment and fight prejudice.

In addition, the company maintains an Equal Opportunity and Reconciliation Policy, establishing that the company does not tolerate any discrimination based on race, color, age, gender, marital status, ideology, political opinions, nationality, religion,  sexual orientation or any other personal, physical or social condition of professionals. The initiatives are in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially number 5, Gender equality.

"Equal opportunities, in addition to being a fundamental right, is also one of the key foundations for building a more prosperous and fairer world for all groups. When we respect differences, we are able to build, together, the world we want to live in, with more empathy, equality and opportunities for everyone. We want our employees to feel free to be who they are, with the freedom and warmth they deserve”, states Régia Barbosa, Superintendent of Organizational Development at Neoenergia.

Currently, Neoenergia has a significant number of women both in its corporate teams and in the Executive Board. The progress made so far is important, but our goal is to advance towards consolidating the company as an international benchmark in equality.

The company also promotes the School of Electricians, aimed at contributing to gender equality in a profession where the presence of men used to be dominant, through the exclusive classes for women. The initiative was internationally recognized through a case study published by WeEmpower, a UN Women program with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the European Union, aimed at encouraging good practices of the companies. The document points out Neoenergia’s project as a role model for one of the Women Empowerment Principles (WEP), i.e., promoting education and professional development for women.

Sport sponsorship

Iberdrola Group has a long history of supporting projects to promote female empowerment. With more than 330,000 athletes supported in several countries, the company is the biggest promoter of women athletes in European sports. In Brazil, through Neoenergia, it is the first company to support exclusively the National Women's Soccer Team, support that also covers the Brazilian national championship, now named as Neoenergia Women’s National Championship. The company was alongside the Brazilian women's teams in the preparation for the Olympic Games in Tokyo and will be in preparation for the Women’s America Cup 2022, the South American Youth Championship, the Women's World Cup 2023 and the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.

Iberdrola stands out as the main partner-sponsor of the Spanish Women's National Team, the U-19 and U-17 teams, the Queen's Cup and the First Division of Women's Soccer - the Iberdrola League. In 2019, it renewed its commitment to the project, and continued to offer support to different national federations. 16 women's sports federations are supported: athletics, badminton, handball, boxing, ice sports, fencing, football, gymnastics, hockey, karate, rugby, canoeing, triathlon, ping-pong, surfing and volleyball.