The annual Pamela Lavin Bernstein Women of Influence Lecture, presented by Alfred University’s Judson Leadership Center, will be offered on Monday, November 2, at 7 p.m. in Nevins Theater, Powell Campus Center. Ugwem Eneyo, co-founder and former CEO of Shyft Power Solutions, an energy technology company that pioneered integrated software solutions for microgrids and smart cities in Africa, will be the keynote speaker.
Eneyo, a Nigerian-American engineer, inventor, climate entrepreneur and advisor, co-founded Shyft in 2016 while a graduate student in civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University. Seeing the promise of Africa’s emerging tech ecosystem—and after winning the MIT Clean Energy Prize and University of California, Berkeley Clean Energy Prize—she took a chance at entrepreneurship, building the original technology and securing patents that were the basis for the company’s advanced metering infrastructure (AMI).
Shyft was founded as a venture-backed energy technology, building patented distributed energy resource management systems for Africa's fastest growing power companies. Eneyo led the 2024 acquisition of Shyft Power Solutions by Steama Company, where she served on the Board of Directors and led Product and Innovation.
Eneyo’s family and upbringing in the coastal regions of the Niger—a region with a complex history when it comes to environmental affairs, human rights and industry—inspired her early interests in climate and sustainability. Eneyo graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in civil and environmental engineering. Prior to attending Stanford, she worked as an Environmental and Regulatory Risk Advisor for infrastructure projects throughout South Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
She has been recognized by Forbes “30 Under 30” (Energy) and Climate & Capital Media’s “Ten to Watch,” and continues to advise organizations advancing climate innovation, energy access, and resilient infrastructure across emerging markets.
The Pamela Lavin Bernstein Women of Influence Lecture Series, which began in the spring of 2015, is endowed and supported by Alfred University alumna Pamela Lavin Bernstein '71.
