Incident Management + Organizational Resiliency (Jun 28-29)

Jayson Lelli has been with Tacoma Power for 18 year’s, a majority of that time has been spent as their Generation’s Dam Safety Department’s Emergency Action Plan (EAP) Coordinator; writing, maintaining, training and exercising the EAPs for their four hydroelectric projects. In 2019 Jayson was promoted to Tacoma Power Emergency Manager to oversee, develop and help coordinate the Emergency Management program for all five sections of Tacoma Power. Since being selected as Tacoma Power’s Emergency Manager the majority of his time has been spent on coordinating and managing Tacoma Power’s response to the COVID-19 Pandemic as well as reconstituting personnel as the pandemic came to an end. Although managing the COVID-19 Pandemic took a majority of his time during the past few years Jayson has continued the development and coordination of Tacoma Power’s Emergency Management program working with his utility counterparts to complete a utility level Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP), performing an extensive maturity model related to Tacoma Power’s program and then tying the deficiencies to a strategic plan for the future, establishing utility wide activation levels and is developing an ICS structure that incorporates all sections of Tacoma Power which will feed up into a utility wide ICS activation. These are just some of the projects among many others that have enhanced emergency response and relationships with Tacoma Power’s community partners. Jayson’s knowledge of Tacoma Power’s electrical system and team mentality adds to the coordination between Tacoma Public Utilities and the City of Tacoma to ensure interdependencies are addressed and a whole community approach is taken towards Emergency Management.

Mona currently works for San Diego Gas & Electric as the Emergency Operations Services Manager where she oversees emergency planning, EOC Operations, and regulatory compliance for the utility. Mona came from the City of San Diego Office of Homeland Security Senior Homeland Security Coordinator where her projects included EOC Manager, Emergency Planning, Training & Exercise Program, Access and Functional Needs Program, Care & Shelter Program, and Disaster Recovery. Prior to joining the City, she worked for Heartland Fire & Rescue as the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator. Her responsibilities included development of emergency plans (COOP, EOP, and Evacuation Plans) for a tri-City area. Additionally, Mona was responsible for the Community Emergency Preparedness and Outreach programs.

Previous to working the government sector, Mona’s experience also includes non-profit organizations. She was on the steering committee to develop the 211 system and eventually work for 211 San Diego as the Chief Operating Officer as well as the American Red Cross where she held several key management positions, including Director of Disaster Response and Preparedness.

Mona has been involved in disaster preparedness training, planning, response and recovery efforts for over 25 years. She was involved in major disaster responses, both locally and out of area, most notably the Northridge earthquake, Hurricanes Katrina, Gustav and Ike, the 2004 Tsunami in Thailand and the 2003 and 2007 San Diego wildfires.

Mona Freels has a dual bachelor’s degree in Homeland Security & Emergency Management from National University, is certified by the California Office of Emergency Services with the Advanced Professional Series certification and has a Type III credential in 6 EOC positions from the California State Training Institute. Mona is in the process of obtaining her Masters degree in International Sustainability and Climate Change.

Rachel Allen has a BS in Electrical Engineering from Gonzaga University and has worked in the power utility industry for 30 years. She has completed the NWPPA and TCC Leadership Training as well as Willamette University Utility Management Certificate (2012) and Business Leadership Academy (2014) training.

Rachel started her career working for ten years at Avista Utilities in the Generation, Transmission, Distribution, and Operations Engineering Groups. She gained experience in generation equipment automation, line design, relay settings, protection coordination, materials and outage coordination. She also held the position of Construction Manager for Avista Utilities’ Lewiston Office responsible for the daily work assignments of 60 employees consisting of operations crews and technical staff in both electric and gas including construction crews, meter reading, construction design and materials management.

In 2002, Rachel accepted a position at Tacoma Power and worked for the next seven years in T&D System Planning and Operations followed by five years as the T&D Asset Management Supervisor. Rachel then managed the T&D Meter-Relay Shop for three years and in 2016 was promoted to T&D Electrical Services Assistant Manager over New Services Engineering, Electrical Inspection, Meter-Relay and Administrative Support Staff. In 2018 Rachel was again promoted to Power Section Manager leading the Power Shared Services section over Strategy, Training and Development, Facilities, Emergency Management, Reliability and Compliance, and Internal Communications.

Rachel gained valuable knowledge working at the regional planning and operating level on NWPP and WECC committees as well as compliance including the self-certification processes and evidence gathering for NERC/WECC audits. She has years of budgeting experience leading the T&D Capital Budget Planning Team and as a representative of the Budget Review Team for Tacoma Power as well as years of involvement in Strategic Planning efforts. Rachel has experience in emergency response with two years as the T&D Emergency Response Plan Coordinator and eight subsequent years in various emergency response lead roles. In 2012, she was given an additional role as the Tacoma Power Economic Development Liaison in which she has gained economic development planning experience.

Rachel has participated on the T&D Core Values Team since its inception in 2006, promoting communication, employee development and recognition as well as a respectful and professional environment at Tacoma Power.

Elizabeth “Eli” King is the Director of Energy Emergency Management for Washington State and the lead for the state fuel action and emergency energy assurance plans. Mrs King is an internationally Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) and Master Exercise Practitioner (MEP). In addition to her daily responsibilities, Eli is an Instructor for FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute, and the Washington State Emergency Management Division. She is certified to teach FEMA’s Incident Command System (ICS), Master Exercise Practitioner Program, Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Program (HSEEP), Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Situational Awareness and Common Operating Picture (SA-COP), and the Integrated Emergency Management Course (IEMC). Mrs. King is also a co-founder of the Cascadia Virtual Operations Support Team (VOST), a cross-disciplinary initiative that provides social media monitoring and analysis to government agencies. In 2022 she was appointed to the national Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission. The Commission plays a key role in recommending how federal agencies can better prevent, manage and suppress wildland fires.