A special session titled “Empowering Women in Engineering, Energy, and Cybersecurity” was held as part of the IEEE Conference on Power Electronics and Renewable Energy.
The session celebrated pioneering female leaders and shared inspiring success stories in energy, technology, and digital transformation.
Pyramisa Isis Island,Aswan,Egypt.
Eng. Sabah Mohamed Mashaly – Deputy Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy.
Eng. Yousra Assaker – Senior Energy Specialist at the World Bank.
Eng. Abeer Khedr – Group Head of Cybersecurity at the National Bank of Egypt.
The growing intersection between cybersecurity and the energy sector.
Increasing cyberattack risks to critical infrastructure such as electricity grids, renewable energy systems, and cross-border interconnections.
The urgent need for robust digital protection strategies alongside energy transition efforts, ensuring both sustainability and security.
Determination and pursuing dreams.
Continuous skills development.
Professional competence.
Family and community support as essential drivers of women’s excellence and leadership.
Professor Mohamed Abdelaziz, Vice President of Aswan University and Chair of the Conference, honored the distinguished speakers for their outstanding contributions to energy, engineering, and cybersecurity.
Women are not only capable of competing in these demanding fields,
but also of leading them and shaping a secure and sustainable future.
A workshop focusing on the empowerment of women in engineering and promoting gender diversity in the field:-
✓ Cyber Security
✓ Women in STEM
✓ Gender Diversity
✓ Leadership Opportunity
Abeer Khedr is the Group Head of Cyber Security at the National Bank of Egypt and the Chair of the Cyber Security Committee at the Federation of Egyptian Banks. Abeer has more than 20 years of experience in technology and information security fields.
As the bank’s CISO, Abeer has established and maintained the cyber security strategy & program at the bank and put in place an information security management system for the bank’s data centers,
call center and digital branches. This ISMS that has been ISO 27001:2013 certified since 2016. The bank successfully achieved the transition to ISO 27001:2022 as the first bank in Egypt and Africa to achieve the transition to the new standard in 2023. Abeer has also put in place a PIMS (Privacy information management system) that has also been ISO 27701:2019 certified as the first bank in Egypt and the Middle East to achieve this certification.
Prior to joining NBE, Abeer was leading the security consulting and IT audit service lines at Deloitte Egypt serving different industries. Abeer ranked the first in the category of security directors in IFSEC global security influencer awards in 2020 and was named among top 30 Egyptian successful women in the same year. Abeer has also been recognized among Egypt’s Top 50 influential women in 2019. Additionally, she was recognized among top regional government security leaders in the Middle East by the Dubai CISO Council. Further, she been awarded as regional and local CISO of the year 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 & 2023 by several regional and local entities.
Abeer has a master’s degree in business information technology from Middlesex university and a Bachelor of Computer Science from the American University in Cairo. Abeer has several security-related certifications including C|CISO, DPO, CISM, CGEIT, CRISC, CISA, ISO 27001 lead auditor as well as being a certified Corporate Director.
A distinguished leader in the electricity and renewable energy sector with over 35 years of experience, currently serving as the Deputy Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy. Previously, the first woman to chair the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), managing more than 26,000 employees with an annual budget of nearly 10 billion USD.
Holds a B.Sc. in Electronics and Electrical Communications Engineering from Cairo University, and is a graduate of both Harvard Business School and the Nasser Leadership Military Academy.
Led the update of Egypt’s national energy strategy to expand reliance on renewable resources, successfully integrating over 10 GW of solar and wind power, and signing MoUs for an additional 50 GW. Oversaw the execution of large-scale transmission and interconnection projects, including upgrading the national grid backbone to 500 kV and expanding cross-border links with Jordan, Libya, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Europe (via Greece and Italy).
Internationally, elected as President of the Mediterranean Transmission System Operators Association (MED-TSO), representing 22 countries across Europe, Africa, and the Arab region. Serves as a board member of several global technical organizations including IEC and CIGRE, and actively represents Egypt in the World Energy Council.
Recognized among the Top 50 Most Influential Women in the Egyptian Economy (2018) and awarded in 2019 by WFEO as one of the world’s highly commended women in engineering.
Renowned for exceptional expertise in mega project management, strategic negotiation with international financing agencies, risk management, stakeholder engagement, and policy development.
Yousra is a seasoned energy engineer with 25 years of experience in the energy sector, she is a senior energy specialist at the World Bank working on the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAAP) region. Her current main focus is energy transition and decarbonization, she led World Bank engagements in Egypt and other MENAAP countries including energy policies, planning and operational efficiency, renewables, Green Hydrogen, oil and gas decarbonization, methane abatement, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), along with regional energy integration. Yousra has a special interest in promoting diversity and inclusion in energy, she is leading the World Bank program for the Regional Network in Energy for Women (RENEW MENA) comprising 50+ reputable institutions. Before joining the World Bank, Yousra worked on Egypt energy sector reforms, transformational policy setting, regional cooperation, and development projects in cooperation with multilateral development banks. She led mega infrastructure projects and worked as the team leader under the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources for the establishment of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF).
