Polish Chapter of Women in LPG (WINLPG) Launched

The Polish chapter has become the 9th operating within the international WINLPG network and the first in the European Union. Similar branches already operate in, among others, the United States, India, South Africa, Turkey and Brazil.

The inauguration took place at the headquarters of Gaspol SA, whose CEO, Ewa Gawryś - Osińska, gave the event her patronage. The event was attended by representatives of 10 companies from the liquefied gas sector and by Alison Abbott and Nikki Brown from the World LPG Association.  

The staffing structure of the LPG industry has changed in recent years and key management positions are increasingly held by women. The energy sector, however, is still a world dominated by men. As the accounts of the participants in the meeting show, despite the ongoing change in the perception of women's role in business, they still face prejudice and stereotypes.

Let us aim for a state in which we will not have to set ourselves numerical quotas for women and men on supervisory boards. We are waiting for the times when it is the competences one holds that will decide on employment, not gender, age or skin color.

– said Nikki Brown, in the past Managing Director of Cavagna Group in the United Kingdom and currently the leader of the Women in LPG program.

The participants devoted a significant part of the meeting to discussing the practices prevailing in business that they had come across themselves. Ewa Gawryś-Osińska said:‍

I was the first woman marketing director at the company, the first CEO, the first President of the Polish Liquefied Gas Organization… Yet I reached those positions as a professional, a competent leader and an industry expert - why should that be overshadowed by the fact of being the first woman in a given position?

The meeting made it possible to gather the participants' opinions on formulating the directions and tasks for WINLPG Polska that will best allow the goals behind the initiative to be achieved.

‍We often limit ourselves, censoring our own ideas for cultural reasons or out of a lack of self-confidence.

- commented the newly chosen project coordinator, Aleksandra Kołakowska. The exchange of best practices at national and international level is meant to change this situation and to serve the strengthening of women's position in the industry.

Joining WINLPG Polska requires no more than a notification to the project coordinator. Membership is free of charge, and we invite all those interested in the question of equality in the industry to take part, from the private sector as well as from the public sector and local government. Members will receive information about the national chapter's planned activities and about the initiatives undertaken by other international chapters.

More information about the WINLPG initiative can be found on the World LPG Association website.

Please feel free to get in touch:

Aleksandra Kołakowska, Coordinator of WINLPG Polska