One Woman Changing The Course of Sustainability

Anyone who doubts one person can impact sustainability has not met Raquel Azevedo.  

In 2017, Raquel was Assistant to the CEO of Atlas Renewable Energy, the second largest renewable energy company in Latin America. Atlas was strongly committed to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) including equity and inclusion, but due to a scarcity of STEM trained female candidates, only 2% of Atlas’ construction force was female.  

When Raquel’s duties shifted to pre-construction community engagement, she saw an opportunity to bridge workforce needs, build community leadership and investment, and hit SDG targets. She began working with local communities to identify potential female construction employees and collaborated with local educational institutions on training efforts. She recognized what this endeavor could do - Atlas would leave community members, particularly the large number of women leading families on their own, better prepared for future employment. On the business front, Raquel knew Atlas would receive better loan interest rates for diversifying its workforce.  

Armed with this knowledge, Raquel advocated for a small Brazil pilot: open one position to a female candidate who would complete STEM training and stay on through construction. Atlas received 80 applications from female candidates in one day.  

The success from this pilot paved the way for additional pilots. Data showed that training and hiring and integrating female candidates into a diverse workforce decreased errors and accidents, improved quality, and resulted in projects that were completed on time or ahead of schedule.  

This led to Atlas’ expansion and Atlas meeting UN SDGs: 15% of Atlas’ workforce is now female. In Brazil, a large portion of this workforce is Black. Many candidates have gone on to work for Atlas at other sites.  

Raquel’s careful listening to communities about what is needed for success - before and during the project - played a large role in this success. For example, one barrier for women was the fear of working in a predominantly male environment, so Atlas provided security for female employees and facilitated discussions about site culture. These discussions led to other productive workplace discussions, including discussions about positive and toxic masculinity, domestic violence, LGBTQ+ rights, and transphobia. 

What advice would Raquel give to someone looking to make a big impact? 

  • Clarify the company’s purpose

  • Listen carefully - each community has different needs and opportunities

  • Identify win-win opportunities that align with the company’s purpose and business goals while making positive contributions to local communities 

  • Start with pilots 

  • Scale what’s successful

  • Evaluate and revise as necessary

  • Continually evaluate ROI

  • Keep the C-Suite updated

  • Celebrate wins 

Raquel inspires us all to realize we have the power to make our workplaces and our world more sustainable simply by working with what is in front of us.

Update: We’ve highlighted the remarkable work Raquel Azevedo and Atlas Renewable Energy are doing on diversifying their workforce, providing STEM training to marginalized communities, and expanding Atlas' sustainability efforts. We wanted to clarify the still impressive figures - Atlas increased their female construction workforce from 2% to 15%. Women represent 32% of the total renewable energy market (all positions).

Jake Nicholas