Celebrating how far women have come in the energy sector and addressing how far we’ve yet to go! Women are traditionally underrepresented in the energy industry. This program addresses some of the evolving opportunities and challenges that women face and advocates for workplace inclusion and teamwork across gender, racial, and generational demographics. Open to both women and men, Women in Energy Symposium participants join together to explore areas such as leadership, education, networking and mentorship. We strive to incorporate both professional development and industry evolution on the agenda. With a growing emphasis on cross-functional teams and diverse skill sets, this program supports utility directives to build a cohesive workforce.
Women and men in all facets of the utility industry, whether leadership, craft, technical, or professional, are encouraged to join us for this dynamic conversation. Women can gain knowledge and perspective on how to develop and get ahead in a traditionally male-influenced industry. Men can gain insight into the issues women face in the industry to improve team development and synergy. And everyone can learn where utilities are seeing successes in attracting and retaining their female workforce, while effectively leveraging the benefits of greater organizational diversity. If you have an interest in this for yourself or your employees, join us!
Conference Registration: $299 USD
Registration provides full access to conference sessions, meeting materials, and roster.
The Women in Leadership participant ticket is available to enrollees of the 2020 Women in Leadership Mentoring + Development program. This $100 discount off the regular conference rate is applied at registration. Includes full access to conference sessions, meeting materials, and roster.
3:30 PM - 5:15 PM
Virtual Social Hour
Join your fellow Women in Energy Symposium attendees for virtual social time in themed “rooms”. Room themes and relevant information along with allocations will be sent to each participant prior to the event.
7:00 AM - 8:00 AM
Virtual Coffee Hour (optional)
Grab your favorite morning pick-me-up and drop in to say “Good Morning!”. WEI staff will be on hand to help with technical questions, process late registrations, or just share a cup of joe as we get ready to begin the Women in Energy Symposium at 8:00 am Pacific.
8:00 AM - 8:30 AM
Welcome + Conference Overview
Speaker(s): Britt Bachtel-Browning, Chief of Privacy and Data Ethics/Senior Counsel, Avista Corp.
The Chair of the 2020 Women in Energy Symposium, Britt Bachtel-Browning, will welcome attendees, give an overview of what’s in store during the conference, and share important announcements.
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Networking Activity/Icebreaker
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Spotlight in Resilience: Surviving and Thriving in a Post Pandemic World
Speaker(s): Regina Mayor, Global Head of Energy, KPMG LLP
Join Regina Mayor as she shares her own story of achieving career success while tackling challenges and turning obstacles into opportunity. She will also discuss the changes driven by industry disruptions that will be the most enduring and how the Energy industry can survive and thrive. Learn what you can take from the challenges of 2020 and make your career and your organization more resilient for the future.
10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Break
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Women in Trades - Innovations in Inclusion
Moderator(s): Kacee Woods, Training & Apprenticeship Coordinator, Tacoma Power
Panelist(s): Kori Wormsbecker, Journeyman Gas Local Rep Ritzville, Avista Utilities, Lisa Bean, Pump & Reservoir Technician Trainee (retired), Eugene Water & Electric Board, Christian Paige, Education Outreach Manager, Tacoma Power, Reneé Nickles, Line Operations Supervisor, Portland General Electric, Jennifer Walker, Director of Gas Control and System Planning, Southern California Gas Company
With the number of women currently employed in a utility trade hovering at approximately 3%, it is understandable that the prospect of joining those ranks would be daunting for most women. In this year’s Women in Trades Panel we will have a conversation about increasing diversity and inclusion in trade career paths. We will also look across the industry at emerging models to educate, encourage and empower women to participate in skilled trades.
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Leading a Team When You Are Not the Subject Matter Expert (SME)
Moderator(s): Kristin Cook, Field Operations Supervisor for Meter Services, Portland General Electric
Panelist(s): Laura Vickers, Director of Culture, Diversity and People Services, Avista Corp., Phillip Andrew, Vice President - Utilities, Jacobs, Tamara Bradley, AMI Program Manager, Avista Utilities, Mayra Santiago, Relay Technical Operations Manager, Portland General Electric
As you progress in your career it becomes more difficult as a leader to be the Subject Matter Expert (SME) in all areas, but do you need to be the SME to be a successful leader? This session includes a variety of scenarios in which the leader of a team is not a Subject Matter Expert (or not as educated on a subject as their team). The interactive panel discussion includes industry leaders sharing their own experiences and addressing situations like leading a team of technical experts when you yourself, are not a technical expert and also a woman leading a team of all males. You will have the opportunity to hear, to learn and then take back simple action items that will benefit you, your employees, and your company.
12:30 PM - 1:00 PM
Break
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Virtual Table Topics
Open and informal discussions on topics relevant to our communities, personal and professional lives today. Each group will have a facilitator to aid in leading the discussion. Share your feelings, thoughts, hear from others, be part of a solution or just gain a different perspective. “All things that matter to you”.
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Northwest Electric Power Landscape Exploration, 2020 – 2035
Speaker(s): Joshua Binus, Policy Strategist and Industry Foresight Lead, Bonneville Power Administration
This lecture will explore a range of trends shaping the future of the Pacific Northwest’s power industry landscape through 2035 and potential impacts to the rest of North America. Trend areas covered include environmental changes, clean energy, distributed energy, end-use loads, market/regulatory structures, and the competitiveness of various utility-scale electric power generation types.
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Break
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Social Hour Open House
Members of the Program Development Team will host “rooms” exploring a variety of topics and interests ranging from practical to just plain fun. Stay with one theme or move from room to room to investigate different topics and encounter more people.
8:00 AM - 8:30 AM
Welcome to Day 2
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM
Fires and COVID and Storms, Oh My!
Moderator(s): Darlene Fawcett, Business Resilience Manager, Jacobs
Panelist(s): Renita Mollman, Chief Administrative Officer, Burns & McDonnell, Robin Furrer, Chief Administrative Officer, Bonneville Power Administration, Mona Freels, Emergency Operations Services Manager, San Diego Gas & Electric Company
2020 has been a challenging year to say the least. Between wildfires, tropical storms, hurricanes, droughts, flash floods, heat waves, and a pandemic, how does one navigate through a crisis that can’t be controlled or anticipated? Our panel of industry leaders who have not only faced some of these events, but have guided their companies through some of these emergencies first hand, are here to share how they prepared, planned, and got through these unprecedented times in 2020.
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Unlocking the Secret to Influence
Speaker(s): Brandon Towle, Chief Performance Officer, Yielded Consulting Services
In this interactive session you’ll learn what influence is, the four components needed to gain trust, and about the secret to unlocking influence that leads to long term relational impact. You’ll walk away from this session with some practical tools that will immediately improve your ability to influence and lead others. Come ready to learn about your own personal style of influence!
10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Break
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Gender Gap – What Do We Need to Do Differently?
Speaker(s): Martha Feeback, Senior Director, Account Services, Catalyst
Over the last several years, we have seen women achieving more representation in leadership and at the top levels of companies. However, women still continue to be underrepresented across all levels of the organization. The recent renewed interest and focus on diversity and inclusion raise questions on understanding where historical efforts have been challenged in their effectiveness and what we can do differently this time around. Navigating the lived experience of inclusion and exclusion is far more complicated than any framework can tell us. Join this session to build on our learnings of implicit associations as we uncover tangible “unconscious bias hacks,” i.e. small actions we can take to help us build connections in our everyday lives. We’ll explore how you can expand your lens for yourself and others through tangible small steps with big impact.
• Understand unconscious bias and its impact on underrepresented talent in the workplace
• Understand the impact of Covering and Emotional Tax on the feeling of “other” in the workplace
• Become aware of microaggressions and begin to address internal, interpersonal and organizational biases
• Identify and commit to actions to create a more inclusive culture
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Navigating Career Advancement in Male Influenced Industries
Moderator(s): Nada Siddik, Manager, TC Energy
Panelist(s): Eric Dillinger, Vice President, Managing Director Strategic Consulting, Woolpert, Leslie Kass, Executive Vice-President, Technical Centre, TC Energy
The panel will discuss strategies for career progression in industries that have traditionally been male-influenced. Panelists will talk about navigating workplace mentorship and sponsorship with leaders, especially across genders, and how to position themselves with hiring and promoting managers. The panel will discuss the increasing number of women progressing through industries where men are generally in influential positions and adjustments they are making to support more women in management. Participants will learn what techniques they can use when entering and progressing in these environments, and walk away with fresh insights on how to advance their careers.
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Break
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Work-Life Balance – An Unending Quest
Moderator(s): Deepa Poduval, Associate Vice President, Senior Managing Director Advisory & Planning, Black & Veatch
Panelist(s): Tiffany Callaway-Ferrell, VP Operations, Southern Company Gas, Latisha Hill, Vice President, Community & Economic Vitality, Avista Utilities, Nina Godiwalla, US Director of Diversity & Inclusion, Norton Rose Fulbright, John Kundly, Gas Operations Portfolio Manager, Southern California Gas Company
Finding a balance between demanding careers and our personal lives has always been a challenge, especially for women in the workforce. The current pandemic has potentially exacerbated feelings of imbalance with less separation between work and family life, and increased child-care and other family responsibilities. On the other hand, the ability to work from home may have opened avenues to achieve more time for our personal lives than typically possible. This panel will examine the continued quest for work-life balance faced by most women with focus on the changes that the current global pandemic has created in our historical work practices. We’ll explore ways to support a healthier balance, ways to achieve satisfaction from accepting being off-balance as needed and how to achieve improved well-being.
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM
Closing Comments
Speaker(s): Britt Bachtel-Browning, Chief of Privacy and Data Ethics/Senior Counsel, Avista Corp.
Take Action – Feed Hungry Communities
Millions of people are getting help from food banks for the first time and we can all help. Join us in donating food and/or funds to a local food bank and let’s support our communities collectively!
To make donations easier we’ve identified a food bank in each person’s area that is currently open for food as well as cash donations. Click here to view the list.
Black & McDonald will donate $500 to the food bank receiving the highest single point donation.
How to Participate
• Collect donations for your local foodbank
• Weigh the food prior to delivering it to the foodbank
• Take a picture of your donation. The picture can be of the food, you writing a check or the smile on your face after pushing the Venmo button!
• Post a picture of your donation along with the weight or amount on the Symposium app prior to the beginning of Day 2, Friday, November 6.
Rules
• One (1) point is awarded for each pound of food or dollar donated.
• If a company makes a group donation those points will be divided by the number of Women in Energy Symposium full registrations from that company.
• In case of a tie the reward will be divided equally among the winning foodbanks.
• A picture of the donation must be posted on the Symposium app’s Social Wall.
Please contact Beverly Woolf if you have any questions.