262 Women Advance Clean Cooking Careers Through Mentorship

Nearly three million people die each year from smoke inhalation caused by traditional cooking fires, and women bear the greatest burden of this preventable tragedy. A groundbreaking mentorship program is changing that reality by empowering women to lead the clean cooking revolution.

The Women in Clean Cooking Mentorship Programme, launched by three global organizations, has already supported 262 women professionals advancing careers in this lifesaving sector. The initiative pairs emerging leaders with experienced experts who guide them through technical challenges, policy navigation, and community-focused innovation.

Aqeela Mughal's story captures the program's transformative power. As a Project Coordinator at Revive Environment in Pakistan, she started working in clean cooking in 2021, driven by a mission to protect women and children from dangerous cooking smoke. Despite her passion and technical skills, she struggled to scale her impact beyond individual communities.

That's when mentor Joseph Hwani, a renewable energy expert with experience across three continents, entered her journey. Through their partnership, Aqeela learned a lesson that reshaped her entire approach: technical efficiency alone doesn't create change without understanding culture, behavior, and economics.

The mentorship helped Aqeela move beyond viewing clean cooking as just technology. She now sees it as a pathway to education, economic opportunity, and community resilience. "My work now focuses on the people whose lives it will change," she explains.

The guidance paid off in concrete wins. Aqeela secured funding for her projects and achieved certification for improved cookstoves that protect health while reducing environmental harm. Each certified stove represents families breathing cleaner air and women spending less time gathering fuel.

The Ripple Effect

Joseph found the mentorship equally rewarding, sharing that watching Aqeela succeed "has been deeply rewarding" and strengthened his own collaborative approach. Their partnership demonstrates how knowledge sharing creates multiplying benefits, with one mentor's guidance radiating outward through hundreds of families.

The program addresses a critical gap in the clean cooking sector, where women face financial and structural barriers despite being most affected by traditional cooking methods. By investing in women leaders like Aqeela, the initiative tackles gender inequality, climate change, and public health simultaneously.

Women now have pathways to careers that transform their communities while building sustainable businesses. The mentorship model proves that pairing technical training with strategic guidance unlocks potential that benefits entire regions.

As these 262 women advance in their careers, they're not just improving cookstoves, they're reimagining how millions of families live, breathe, and thrive.