Indian Engineer Neha Sakka Wins LUCE Emerging Talent Award for Advancing Green Skills and Inclusion
The award was presented to engineer Neha Sakka at the European University Institute in Florence under the Lights on Women initiative of the Florence School of Regulation, which recognises emerging female leaders contributing to climate action, sustainability, energy transition and inclusive development.
June 15, 2026. By Abha Rustagi
The award was presented at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence under the Lights on Women initiative of the Florence School of Regulation (FSR), which recognises emerging female leaders contributing to climate action, sustainability, energy transition and inclusive development.
Sakka, who works in Rajasthan's power sector and founded the Trust EV Awareness Oath Program (TEVAOP), was honoured during the LUCE Awards programme. The event also recognised Agnes Maria de Aragão da Costa, director of Brazil's electricity regulator ANEEL, in the Legacy Women category and featured senior policymakers, researchers and sustainability leaders from across the world.
The recognition highlights what Sakka describes as a critical challenge in the global energy transition: unequal access to opportunities created by the shift towards renewable energy, electric mobility, battery manufacturing and industrial decarbonisation.
While governments and businesses continue to invest heavily in clean-energy technologies, participation in these sectors often remains limited by factors such as geography, affordability, language barriers, gender disparities and access to professional networks, she said.
"Climate change affects everyone. The opportunities created by solving it still do not," Sakka said during discussions at the Florence programme.
India, one of the world's fastest-growing clean-energy markets, faces a similar challenge as it seeks to build the workforce needed to support its renewable-energy and electric-mobility ambitions. Women account for only around 11 percent of India's renewable-energy workforce, while globally fewer than 15 percent of leadership positions in the energy sector are held by women.
Through TEVAOP, a non-commercial initiative focused on sustainability education and electric mobility awareness, Sakka has sought to bridge some of these gaps. The programme has reached more than 5,500 participants through over 130 awareness and training sessions, with a particular focus on women, rural youth, first-generation learners and underrepresented communities.
The initiative has delivered more than 450 hours of engagement involving students, educators, technical institutions, government stakeholders and industry representatives.
Her professional work spans electricity regulation, industrial power systems, electric mobility ecosystems, open-access energy frameworks, sustainability awareness and workforce development.
The award comes as policymakers worldwide increasingly emphasise that the success of the green transition will depend not only on technology and investment, but also on ensuring that access to new economic opportunities is broadly shared.
As clean-energy industries expand, Sakka said the key challenge will be ensuring that the benefits of the transition reach communities that have traditionally remained outside mainstream economic and technological development.
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