Joanna Osawe, Cara Clairman and Rebecca Black
Cara Clairman, President of Plug’n’Drive, was the winner of the 2018 Women in Renewable Energy (WiRE) Woman of Distinction Award for 2017. Speaking at the APPrO 2017 banquet dinner on November 20, WiRE’s Joanna Osawe and Rebecca Black described how Ms. Clairman had in six years taken Plug’n’Drive from an idea to a recognized world leader in electric vehicles.
In 2017 Plug’n’Drive established the Electric Vehicle Discovery Centre in North York, Toronto – the first facility of its kind in the world, focused entirely on providing an experiential learning environment for EVs. Plug’n’Drive’s initiatives have played a key role in the electrification of transportation as a way of addressing climate change, Black said.
Ms. Clairman has over 20 years’ experience in the environmental and sustainability fields, including service as Vice President of Sustainable Development at Ontario Power Generation, and practicing environmental law at Torys. She has authored numerous articles and given hundreds of speeches on climate change and related topics. In addition, Ms. Clairman has mentored many students and young professionals. Plug’n’Drive conducts research and provides infrastructure support for electric vehicle adoption, one of the solutions to decarbonizing Ontario’s energy system. In 2017 Plug’n’Drive established the Electric Vehicle Discovery Centre, the first of its kind in the world focused entirely on providing an experiential learning environment for EVs.
WiRE Women of Distinction Awards recognize and celebrate professional women working in the energy sector who go above and beyond business-as-usual, consistently demonstrate outstanding leadership, and have contributed significantly to the expansion and improvement of the power sector. WiRE presents three Women of Distinction Awards annually: Wind Power, Solar Power and Woman of the Year.