Dr. Sheila Oparaocha holds a bachelor’s degree in veterinary medicine and a master’s degree in Gender and Development Planning. The 2021 recipient of the Carnot Prize, Sheila has over twenty-six years of experience working at the intersectionality of gender equality, women empowerment and energy access. As the Director of the ENERGIA International Network on Gender and Sustainable Energy, she has initiated, developed, and led numerous projects and programs on the institutionalization of gender transformative approaches in government policies and energy access programs.

Sheila has led national as well as high-level international policy advocacy work, research and evidence development, women’s entrepreneurship development, network building and knowledge management, specifically on the social and economic empowerment of women in the energy sector in developing countries. Sheila is a strong program manager who is primarily responsible for the quality control and delivery of ENERGIA’s multi-partner/donor project portfolio, provides technical support and leadership to her team together with ample experience in annual planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation, and donor relationship management. Sheila is the co-facilitator Multi-stakeholder Gender and Energy Compact, a co-facilitator of the Technical Advisory Group for the Sustainable Development Goal 7 convened by UNDESA; and member of the Steering Committee of the Health and Energy Platform for Action and the High Level Coalition on Energy and Health that operates under the auspices of WHO and an External Advisor to the Transforming Energy Access Platform.