Women in Sustainable Hydropower Case Study: Inna Kremza
Meet Inna Kremza, Manager of the OTO Engineering, Experts and HyService team for Voith in North America, located in Oakville city in province of Ontario, Canada.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Voith.
I have had a very exciting career in the Hydro Industry for 27 years, 24 of them being at Voith. My professional experience has primarily been with engineering teams. My role has been constantly evolving and developing from a design engineer to leading the engineering teams and managing the Hydro School in North America. I am an expert in my field, but I always have an appetite to learn and do more. From developing training courses to overseeing Voith’s Diversity Team, my career keeps me busy, but my family is what drives me the most. Being a mother and grandmother of two young girls is the greatest treasure, and I can’t wait to see how these little women can change the world.
Tell us more about the work Voith is doing to ensure gender equality in the workplace and how you have benefited.
I have found that the most effective way to make a difference in the workplace is to be involved. I became engaged with the Diversity team more than 10 years ago, organising and participating in special events for “Women in Hydro”. To change the leadership in the company I became one of the Culture Ambassadors. I have experienced being the only woman in engineering to shaping the new generation of “Women in Engineering”.
As a successful female role model for other women interested in working in the hydropower industry what advice would you give them?
My best advice is always: learn about yourself, know your value, choose the profession you will love and build a career with your company. Break out of your comfort zone, ask questions, try new things and never be afraid to push boundaries.
IHA has joined forces with GWNet to create Women In Sustainable Hydropower (WISH), a space where women in, and interested in, a career in hydropower can connect, share experiences and provide support to other women. This will help guarantee the development of a gender-balanced sector that makes the most of 100% of the global workforce available for driving the clean energy transition.
