WOMEN’S EMPWERMENT
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH EXTRAORDINAIRE MIREILLE TOULEKIMA Interview by Jasmina Siderovski
G
lobal extraordinaire Mireille Toulekima is a citizen of the world having lived and visited more than 30 countries and born in the Gabon (Former French colony in West Africa). She grew up in this region before leaving at the age of 14 to board in a French family and study in France before going back to Gabon to work in the oil and gas industry after the tragic death of her beloved father. “I always tell people that my relationship with the oil and gas industry was love at second sight. I got into that industry because I needed the money and needed a job after my dad who was the main bread winner died. I’ve been working in the oil, gas and energy sector for the past 25 years in a range of technical and leadership roles while carrying out empowerment work with particular focus on the resources sector, STEM, women empowerment and global leadership for the last 10 years. I am
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on a mission to help individuals to become the best that they can be in order to come out of the mass and stand in their own shining light. I want them to understand that they are unlimited, and they are only limited by the limits they put on themselves.” When and why did you decide to advocate for women in engineering and STEM? When I started working in the oil and gas industry back 25 years ago, the industry was very white Caucasian male dominated. I was the only black Petroleum Engineer woman of the company I was working for. I had zero support and had to figure out things by myself for several years before getting the confidence to ask my male colleagues to sponsor, coach and/or mentor me. Going through this challenging experience led me to not only position
