Nominations now being accepted for 2026 WING Core Value Awards

Nominations open for 2026 WING Core Value Awards

Carlo Cariaga 7 May 2026

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2026 Women in Geothermal (WING) Core Value Awards, which recognizes members of the geothermal community who embody one of the WING Core Values: Caring, Courageous, Empowering, Open.

Nominations will be accepted only until 20 May 2026. Click here to submit your nominations.

You may nominate more than one person for awards, and please encourage friends and colleagues to submit independent nominations. If an individual deserves to be nominated in more than one Core Value category, please submit a unique nomination in each appropriate category for that person and focus your nomination specifically on each core value.

Both men and women are eligible for nominations and awards. You may write your nominations in your native language.

The WING Core Value awards ceremony will be held at the Geothermal Rising Conference on September 20-23, 2026  in Houston, Texas (USA). Awardees will be notified well in advance of the event to allow time to make travel arrangements if receiving award in person.

The WING Core Values

The behaviors that demonstrate the WING Core Values are described below:

CARING

• Create safe work environments
• Be open minded and empathize with others’ situations
• Think beyond your borders; make the world your community
• Demonstrate social responsibility and contribute to sustainable development

COURAGEOUS

• Be imaginative and ambitious; stimulate new ideas
• Use foresight and identify opportunities and challenges
• Challenge accepted truths and enter unfamiliar territory
• Make clear demands on each other and push for constructive change
• Understand and manage risk

EMPOWERING

• Focus on strengths without micromanagement
• Connect the right people
• Champion and support others’ efforts and ideas
• Give recognition
• Contribute to a positive working environment

OPEN

• Be truthful and act with integrity
• Be curious, work together, and share experience
• Promote and value diversity
• Communicate in a precise way
• Give and accept constructive feedback
• Bring up ethical issues and challenges immediately

The WING Core Values in action

If you need some inspiration on how the WING Core Values are demonstrated, then check out the profiles of the 2025 awardees.

Andrea Warren – Courageous

Andrea Warren demonstrates extraordinary courage as the Project Coordinator for Tu Deh-Kah Geothermal, a groundbreaking, 100% Indigenous-owned and women-led clean energy initiative in northern British Columbia. As a proud member of the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation, Andrea is reshaping the future of energy by standing at the intersection of tradition, innovation, and advocacy.

María Cristina Higuera Cardozo – Empowering

Maria Cristina exemplifies the Core Value of Empowering through her outstanding leadership as Co-Founder and Director of the Geothermal Cluster of Colombia. Her work has consistently focused on creating opportunities, building inclusive networks, and promoting knowledge-sharing in the geothermal and broader energy sector.

Brittany Gierke – Open

As Senior Drilling Engineer at Fervo Energy, Brittany’s leadership is grounded in transparency, curiosity, and a deep commitment to collaboration, qualities that have made her an indispensable member of the Fervo team and geothermal community. As one of the few female drilling engineers in the geothermal sector, she is breaking ground literally and figuratively with boldness, vision, and grit.

Vanessa Salcedo – Caring

As a senior geologist for the Dewhurst Group in Colombia, Vanessa has shown her dedication to duty, sense of fairness, and enthusiasm for the geothermal industry. She consistently demonstrates her caring nature by championing geothermal development in complex regulatory and financial environments, and integrity through transparent, inclusive, and fair engagement with stakeholders across Latin America.

Source: Email correspondence