Sandra Shuster
Vice President, Business Development Water, Power & Dams, STANTEC, USA
Ms. Shuster is an international development professional with more than 24 years of operational management and strategic planning experience across 6 continents in over 60 countries from Peru to Angola, Bosnia to Afghanistan. Her experience includes managing large, cross-cultural teams on programs that promote stability through stakeholder engagement, good governance, community development and infrastructure delivery. In her current role as Vice President, Business Development for the Water, Power & Dams group at Stantec, Ms. Shuster manages large business development pursuits and strategic planning for renewable energy projects globally. Ms. Shuster has a Masters in International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Kiran Gupta
Head, Customer Service TATA POWER DELHI DISTRIBUTION LTD, India
Ms. Gupta holds a B.Tech (Electrical) degree from Delhi College of Engineering with ‘GOLD Medal’ from Delhi University. Ms. Gupta has an overall experience of 24 years in the Power Sector covering various Consultancy Projects for Design, Erection and Commissioning under Industrial and Government domain with Tata Consulting Engineers for initial years. Thereafter, she joined Tata Power DDL under Corporate Operations Services and led the Engineering and Procurement group for developing all Utility equipment specifications, Operation Manuals and Inspection Plans including Grid substations. She is presently heading Customer Services and Key Consumers department including all High Revenue Consumers (>100kW and Xpress consumers) with dedicated services.
Sohel Ahmed
Managing Director, Grameen Shakti, Bangladesh
Sohel is currently looking after the overall activities from policy and operational level to local and international liaison and coordination. In recent years, Sohel has been intricately involved with SDG implementation, winner of the project “Powering the future we want” of UN DESA in 2017. He is also participating in different local and global forums/workshop/seminar as a panel speaker for sometimes, that includes sessions organized by Asian Development Bank, World Bank and United Nations.
Bozenna Pasik-Duncan Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Women in Engineering (IEEE WIE) Chair/ Charmain Williams, IEEE WIE Senior Manager; Professor, University of Kansas, Mathematics Department, USA
Bozenna Pasik-Duncan received M.S. degree in mathematics from University of Warsaw, Ph.D. and D.Sc. (Habilitation Doctorate) degrees from Warsaw School of Economics, Poland. She is Mathematics Professor; EECS & AE Courtesy Professor; ITTC Investigator; CCB Affiliate Faculty; and Chancellors Club Teaching Professor at University of Kansas (KU). She is strong advocate for STEM education and for women in STEM. She is 2017-2018 IEEE WIE Chair; IEEE CSS Women in Control founder; AWM & SIAM Student Chapter founder & faculty advisor; Outreach Programs founder & coordinator. She has served in many capacities in several societies.
Ramla Qureshi CEO and Founder, Women Engineers Pakistan (WEP), Pakistan
Deeply moved by the appalling gender disparity in STEM fields, Ramla - a Fulbright Scholar - initiated Women Engineers Pakistan (WEP): a grass-roots organization catalyzing participation and enabling retention of women in STEM fields, now transformed into a nationwide movement, buttressed by the overwhelming support of women all over the globe. Mirroring Ramla's passion, WEP now works at leveling the playing field for women in STEM, helping recruit more diverse talent, and advocating for better, safer workplaces within Pakistan. When not advocating for gender equality, she is a structural and earthquake engineer, and a PhD researcher for structural safety and resilience.
Shoaib Taqi General Manager, Human Resource Division, Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Pakistan
Mr. Shoaib Taqi is serving as GM (LA&R/HRD) WAPDA. He has a distinguished career of a HR Professional and a diplomat. Mr. Shoaib has done master in International Relations and M.Phil in Conflict Resolution. He had the honor of serving diplomatic mission in Sudan. His 3-years stint exposed him to the world of diplomacy where he also served as head of mission. Mr. Shoaib has a unique honor of being the only Pakistani who was conferred with National Medal of Sudan.
Francesco Tornieri Principal Social Development Specialist (GAD), Office of the Director General, South Asia, Department, Asian Development Bank, Manila, Philippines
Francesco is ADB’s focal point for gender equality and social inclusion in South Asia. He promotes the visibility of gender equality, women’s empowerment, and social inclusion in the design, implementation, and monitoring of ADB operations in South Asia. Prior to ADB, Francesco worked as Social Development Specialist in the Africa Region of the World Bank, where he was involved in the implementation of a broad range of social development, gender and development, and social protection-related initiatives. He has also worked as advisor to several West African countries on gender and law-related issues, including gender-responsive law reform, legal literacy, and legal aid targeting women and disadvantaged groups.
Maria Beatriz Orlando Lead Social Development Specialist, Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice, World Bank
Maria Beatriz is a Development Economist and specialist in social inclusion, labor markets and gender analysis. While at the World Bank she has contributed to gender equality and inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and South Asia through applied analytical work, coordination of efforts to include the gender and social inclusion lens in operations and policy dialogue. She led the report “Getting to Gender Equality in Energy Infrastructure” published by ESMAP last year.
Gunjan Gautam Operations Officer, South Asia Energy Unit, World Bank
Gunjan Gautam is Operations Officer at the World Bank’s South Asia Energy Unit. He works on energy sector infrastructures projects in South Asia, especially in Afghanistan and Nepal. He co-leads South Asia Gender and Energy Facility (SAGE) and is part of the team organizing the First Regional Conference of WePOWER. He specializes preparing and managing energy sector projects with public and private investment. He has experience of working on solar, hydropower, transmission, micro-grids and distributed generation; and consumer side technologies. Gunjan has B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and M.Sc. in Public Policy, energy policy concentration.
Blog » WePOWER Steering Committee Members Profiles
WePOWER Steering Committee Members Profiles
Sandra Shuster
Vice President, Business Development Water, Power & Dams, STANTEC, USA
Ms. Shuster is an international development professional with more than 24 years of operational management and strategic planning experience across 6 continents in over 60 countries from Peru to Angola, Bosnia to Afghanistan. Her experience includes managing large, cross-cultural teams on programs that promote stability through stakeholder engagement, good governance, community development and infrastructure delivery. In her current role as Vice President, Business Development for the Water, Power & Dams group at Stantec, Ms. Shuster manages large business development pursuits and strategic planning for renewable energy projects globally. Ms. Shuster has a Masters in International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Kiran Gupta
Head, Customer Service TATA POWER DELHI DISTRIBUTION LTD, India
Ms. Gupta holds a B.Tech (Electrical) degree from Delhi College of Engineering with ‘GOLD Medal’ from Delhi University. Ms. Gupta has an overall experience of 24 years in the Power Sector covering various Consultancy Projects for Design, Erection and Commissioning under Industrial and Government domain with Tata Consulting Engineers for initial years. Thereafter, she joined Tata Power DDL under Corporate Operations Services and led the Engineering and Procurement group for developing all Utility equipment specifications, Operation Manuals and Inspection Plans including Grid substations. She is presently heading Customer Services and Key Consumers department including all High Revenue Consumers (>100kW and Xpress consumers) with dedicated services.
Sohel Ahmed
Managing Director, Grameen Shakti, Bangladesh
Sohel is currently looking after the overall activities from policy and operational level to local and international liaison and coordination. In recent years, Sohel has been intricately involved with SDG implementation, winner of the project “Powering the future we want” of UN DESA in 2017. He is also participating in different local and global forums/workshop/seminar as a panel speaker for sometimes, that includes sessions organized by Asian Development Bank, World Bank and United Nations.
Bozenna Pasik-Duncan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Women in Engineering (IEEE WIE) Chair/ Charmain Williams, IEEE WIE Senior Manager; Professor, University of Kansas, Mathematics Department, USA
Bozenna Pasik-Duncan received M.S. degree in mathematics from University of Warsaw, Ph.D. and D.Sc. (Habilitation Doctorate) degrees from Warsaw School of Economics, Poland. She is Mathematics Professor; EECS & AE Courtesy Professor; ITTC Investigator; CCB Affiliate Faculty; and Chancellors Club Teaching Professor at University of Kansas (KU). She is strong advocate for STEM education and for women in STEM. She is 2017-2018 IEEE WIE Chair; IEEE CSS Women in Control founder; AWM & SIAM Student Chapter founder & faculty advisor; Outreach Programs founder & coordinator. She has served in many capacities in several societies.
Ramla Qureshi
CEO and Founder, Women Engineers Pakistan (WEP), Pakistan
Deeply moved by the appalling gender disparity in STEM fields, Ramla - a Fulbright Scholar - initiated Women Engineers Pakistan (WEP): a grass-roots organization catalyzing participation and enabling retention of women in STEM fields, now transformed into a nationwide movement, buttressed by the overwhelming support of women all over the globe. Mirroring Ramla's passion, WEP now works at leveling the playing field for women in STEM, helping recruit more diverse talent, and advocating for better, safer workplaces within Pakistan. When not advocating for gender equality, she is a structural and earthquake engineer, and a PhD researcher for structural safety and resilience.
Shoaib Taqi
General Manager, Human Resource Division, Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Pakistan
Mr. Shoaib Taqi is serving as GM (LA&R/HRD) WAPDA. He has a distinguished career of a HR Professional and a diplomat. Mr. Shoaib has done master in International Relations and M.Phil in Conflict Resolution. He had the honor of serving diplomatic mission in Sudan. His 3-years stint exposed him to the world of diplomacy where he also served as head of mission. Mr. Shoaib has a unique honor of being the only Pakistani who was conferred with National Medal of Sudan.
Francesco Tornieri
Principal Social Development Specialist (GAD), Office of the Director General, South Asia, Department, Asian Development Bank, Manila, Philippines
Francesco is ADB’s focal point for gender equality and social inclusion in South Asia. He promotes the visibility of gender equality, women’s empowerment, and social inclusion in the design, implementation, and monitoring of ADB operations in South Asia. Prior to ADB, Francesco worked as Social Development Specialist in the Africa Region of the World Bank, where he was involved in the implementation of a broad range of social development, gender and development, and social protection-related initiatives. He has also worked as advisor to several West African countries on gender and law-related issues, including gender-responsive law reform, legal literacy, and legal aid targeting women and disadvantaged groups.
Lead Social Development Specialist, Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice, World Bank
Maria Beatriz is a Development Economist and specialist in social inclusion, labor markets and gender analysis. While at the World Bank she has contributed to gender equality and inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and South Asia through applied analytical work, coordination of efforts to include the gender and social inclusion lens in operations and policy dialogue. She led the report “Getting to Gender Equality in Energy Infrastructure” published by ESMAP last year.
Gunjan Gautam
Operations Officer, South Asia Energy Unit, World Bank
Gunjan Gautam is Operations Officer at the World Bank’s South Asia Energy Unit. He works on energy sector infrastructures projects in South Asia, especially in Afghanistan and Nepal. He co-leads South Asia Gender and Energy Facility (SAGE) and is part of the team organizing the First Regional Conference of WePOWER. He specializes preparing and managing energy sector projects with public and private investment. He has experience of working on solar, hydropower, transmission, micro-grids and distributed generation; and consumer side technologies. Gunjan has B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and M.Sc. in Public Policy, energy policy concentration.