Nora Ammar Abu Saida is an engineer by training and a change-maker by conviction. With advanced degrees in electrical engineering and engineering management, Ms. Abu Saida has devoted much of her 13+ year career to resolving complex challenges and advancing development solutions. “The engineering profession and the services provided by engineers are related to civilized progress, including the protection and harnessing of natural resources to serve the community and raise its standard of living,” she says.
Currently, as Head of Development and Mechanization Generation in the General Electric Company of Libya (GECOL), Ms. Abu Saida is working with USAID’s Libya Public Financial Management (LPFM) activity to modernize the company’s systems and provide reliable electricity services for the country. USAID assists key energy sector partners, like GECOL, to develop and implement both supply and demand-side management reforms to improve efficiency and sustainability.
In collaboration with USAID, Ms. Abu Saida helped create a web-based, interactive dashboard, which has transformed GECOL’s ability to track electricity usage, billings, and payments across all its service regions in nearly real time. Currently, she is working with USAID on a version for consumers that will offer direct access to detailed information about their consumption, accounts, and ways they can be more energy efficient.
Ms. Abu Saida is a strong proponent of women’s engagement in male-dominated fields, such as hers.
“I entered the engineering sector, with all its complexities, to show everyone that there is no work too difficult for a woman. I have proven myself in the profession and am an example of what women can do armed with high levels of self-confidence and capabilities.”
As part of the Libyan Women Engineers Committee of the Syndicate of Engineering Professions in Libya (associated with the Federation of Arab Engineers), Ms. Abu Saida continues to promote the greater inclusion of women in the engineering professions in Libya and internationally, while further honing her own professional skills and connections.
Ms. Abu Saida is not only committed to being an advocate for women in the workplace but she is also dedicated to helping girls in Libya learn to be leaders. She volunteers with the Friends of the Libyan Girl Scouts and Girl Guides, where she serves as a mentor, teacher, and organizer for displaced families and their children. “For all my professional achievements, it is this work that is closest to my heart and makes me very proud,” she says.
Photo: Pragma