Lucy Heintz, Partner and Head of Energy and Infrastructure at Actis, Receives 2022 MIGA Gender Leadership Award

WASHINGTON DC, March 3, 2022 — The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a member of the World Bank Group, will present the 2022 MIGA Gender Leadership Award to Lucy Heintz, Partner and Head of Energy Infrastructure at Actis during an event to be held on March 8, 2022 in celebration of International Women’s Day.

The award, now on its 7th year, recognizes senior managers with a proven track record of furthering the cause of women’s advancement and gender equality in business while contributing to the World Bank Group’s twin goals of reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity.

This year’s winner, Lucy Heintz, has over 25 years of experience in the energy industry where women still account for a small percentage of top executives. Women hold just 22 percent of jobs in energy production and distribution, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), even though they make up 48 percent of the global workforce. The number is even lower, 14 percent, among senior managers. Women fare better at renewable energy companies, but they are still in a clear minority at 32 percent. According to the IEA, this number gets smaller when one excludes administrative jobs. This is what makes Ms. Heintz’s professional achievements extraordinary.

“Lucy Heintz, has devoted her professional career to delivering clean power across the globe while making a difference for women everywhere she has touched,” said MIGA Executive Vice President, Hiroshi Matano. “At Actis, she has been instrumental in creating an environment conducive to more opportunities for women. By promoting sustainable energy solutions worldwide, she has also improved the lives of women who are disproportionately affected by the lack of access to energy.”

Ms. Heintz is fully committed to furthering gender equality in the workplace. At Actis, she co-established the Inclusivity & Diversity Committee and associated working group, which she now chairs. The committee focuses on enhancing Actis approach and policies to encourage greater diversity and inclusion. Under her leadership, the company has launched different initiatives including creation of female networks, open door policies, unconscious bias awareness, and inclusive leadership training to promote gender equality and diversity. In addition, she has implemented projects to collect data to establish a baseline on diversity metrics, identifying best practice and showcasing success stories of diverse people from Actis portfolio companies across the world. Furthermore, she initiated an innovative mentoring program for talented women with the African portfolio companies.  

Today, women represent 37 percent of staff at Actis and hold 27 percent of functional leadership positions within the wider Actis Group. Moreover, 27 percent of staff at Actis portfolio companies are women who hold 25 percent of management positions in these companies.

MIGA has been delighted to work with Ms. Heintz for over 20 years, collaborating on projects in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. In addition to promoting the use of renewable energy globally in these MIGA–supported projects, we have worked together to address barriers to women’s equal participation in employment and access to goods and services. Ms. Heintz’s meaningful contributions to gender equality make her a worthy recipient of the MIGA Gender Leadership Award.

The event is public and will be live-streamed online at live.worldbank.org on March 8 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM EST.

About Lucy Heintz             

Ms. Heintz is Head of Energy Infrastructure and Fund Head for Actis Energy Fund 5. She has over 25 years of investment experience in global markets, investing in the energy industry. She currently serves as Chair for Actis Remuneration and Inclusion and Diversity Committees and Board Chair of Lekela and Aela Energia, two of Actis renewable energy platforms.

Earlier in her career, Mr. Heintz was responsible for the Energy Infrastructure Teams activities in Africa and renewable energy generation globally. She has led or been involved in deals across South Africa, Kenya, Brazil, Senegal, Egypt, Mozambique, Chile, Ghana, India, Nigeria, and Tanzania.

Ms. Heintz holds an MA (Hons) degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) from Trinity College, Oxford and an MBA degree (with distinction) from INSEAD.

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About MIGA

MIGA was created in 1988 as a member of the World Bank Group to promote foreign direct investment in emerging economies by helping mitigate the risks of restrictions on currency conversion and transfer, breach of contract by governments, expropriation, and war & civil disturbance; and offering credit enhancement to private investors and lenders.

Since its creation, MIGA has issued over US$65 billion in guarantees across 120 developing countries.

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