Celebrating Australia’s New Equality in Energy Ambassadors: the API Welcomes Industry Leaders Championing Change

David Pointing
Jun 18
3 min read

Updated: Jun 23

The Australian Power Institute (API) is proud to acknowledge the appointment of Australia’s new and continuing Equality in Energy Transitions Ambassadors — an international initiative recognising leaders who are accelerating gender equity across the energy sector.

As an active member of the Australian Government’s Gender Equity in Energy Roundtable (GEiER), the API congratulates these five Ambassadors and applauds their deep connection to API’s member organisations and partners.

Australia’s current cohort of Equality Initiative Ambassadors includes:

Anna Collyer, Chair of the Australian Energy Regulator (AER)
Nicola Falcon, Executive General Manager of Forecasting at AEMO
Samantha Craft, Group Executive at GHD
Sarah Zeljko, Chair of the Board of Energy Queensland
Sabiene Heindl, CEO of The Energy Charter, and recent recipient of the Women of Distinction Award at the Clean Energy Ministerial in Brazil

These leaders represent some of the most influential voices in the energy transition and continue to drive positive change both within Australia and globally.

Why This Matters to API and Our Members

At the API, we work with a community of partners committed to building a more inclusive, skilled, and representative energy workforce. The Equality Initiative Ambassadors program aligns with this mission — not just in principle, but in practical, connected action.

Nicola Falcon’s leadership at AEMO includes launching a gender-balanced mentoring initiative, an impact program for emerging women leaders, and piloting a paid energy industry internship program for women in technical degrees — a recommendation from the Paving the Way report that directly targets systemic barriers to entry.
Samantha Craft’s role at GHD, an API member organisation, has seen continued investment in leadership pathways and mentoring support for women engineers, including engagement with API’s Powerful Women Leadership Retreat.
Sarah Zeljko, in her role as Chair of the Energy Queensland Board, brings strong governance leadership and deep industry insight to the ambassador cohort — demonstrating how public energy utilities can lead from the top.
Sabiene Heindl, through The Energy Charter, plays a unique role in uniting customer-centric, values-driven collaboration across the sector. Her recognition in Brazil reflects the global leadership Australia is offering on energy equity and inclusive engagement.

A Sector-Wide Effort for Equity

These appointments were announced during the recent Seventh Gender Equity in Energy Roundtable, themed “Making a Difference.”

Speakers highlighted the need for shared accountability and inclusive leadership — particularly the role men play as active allies. Powerful contributions from leaders like Ben Vasiliou (The Man Cave), Megan Dalla-Camina (Women Rising), and Hayden Henderson (AGL) helped reinforce a powerful takeaway: progress is everyone’s responsibility.

Meanwhile, DCCEEW’s Energy Workforce team continues to deliver critical infrastructure for change, including the upcoming Women in Energy Resources Hub (launching Q3 2025), which will support small and medium energy organisations with tools and practical frameworks to embed gender equity in their workplaces.

What’s Next?

The API is committed to playing an active role in supporting these efforts through our programs, partnerships, and leadership. We congratulate Anna, Nicola, Samantha, Sarah, and Sabiene on their appointments and thank them for their continued service to our shared mission.

We encourage API member organisations to: