Promote! Energetic Women Organization Helping Women Professionals at Duke & Xcel Energy
Ric Hinkie, Contributing Editor

“The results from the first Energetic Women National Conference and the ongoing internal groups formed after the conference have helped transform Duke Energy,” explains Patty Walker, Sr Vice President of Gas Operations, for Duke Energy in Cincinnati. “Every employee wants to be seen as being successful in their current assignment and having strong potential for the future. Energetic Women has helped our female employees connect with each other to further each person’s success. Duke Energy is committed to getting the most out of their investment in employees; the Energetic Women Organization is helping us to achieve this objective.”

Energetic Women is an energy industry group dedicated to enhancing the contributions of women in the energy industry while also encouraging more women to join the industry.

“I used to resist having women grouping together. I wanted them to merge into the men’s side of things. After all, the goals are the same for men and women: Deliver results, make things happen, improve the bottom line, says Cyndi Lesher, recently retired President and CEO of Northern States Power, an Xcel Energy subsidiary. “But at the conference in Chicago earlier this summer, I saw such a need for these successful women professionals to be validated. They, like their male counterparts, need to feel good about being the professionals they are. Through the gathering, they could reinforce what they are experiencing. It was a safe environment. It was empowering. Most men understand that its not at all us against them, but all of us working together. Some of the greatest women success stories are about great male mentors helping them along. Jim Howard, former Chairman of Xcel, for example, was a great mentor to me.”

“Duke sent 38 employees representing engineering and operations professionals from the power generation, power delivery and gas operations business units,” continued Walker, “It was an excellent networking opportunity to connect not only with peers in the industry, but also with co-workers at Duke. Since the conference, we have set up an internal network within Duke providing an opportunity for those who attended the conference to stay connected and provide an opportunity for those who were unable to attend the conference to participate. We now have 80 employees actively participating in the Energetic Women’s network within Duke. Networking “meet and greet” sessions at three different geographic locations, hosted by a female executive have been well received. Energetic Women is focused on improving individual performance and personal development, which has made it a positive and rewarding experience.”

“Our mission is about adding value - recognizing that beyond just wanting support from other female leaders, women must produce results,” explains Kris Nichols, Vice President, Engineering for Nicor, the gas company serving over a million customers in the northern third of Illinois and the chair of Energetic Women, “Our companies need to be impressed with our growth as leaders and the value we create. Only then will there be more women available with the skills and results to be promoted into leadership positions.”

Support! Meet The New Leadership Team Members

It’s our pleasure to introduce you to the five new members of the Energetic Women Leadership Team!

Patty Shea, Regional Business Manager for North Idaho, Avista Utilities

Patty joins Energetic Women with over 29 years in the natural gas and electric utility industry. She has spent over 16 years in leadership and management positions including operations/construction-emergency response, design, maintenance, customer service and re-engineering design team.

Patty holds a B.A. in business administration with a double major in marketing/management and a minor in communications and an MBA from Eastern Washington University. Ms. Shea is also an adjunct college instructor for Whitworth College and Webster University, teaching courses on The Woman Manager, Interpersonal and Organizational Communications and an Organizational Management Degree Program.

Mary O’Toole, President, KO Solutions, LLC

Mary has over 25 years of experience in the field of regulatory and environmental strategy development as they relate to the electric utility industry. Previously Mary was employed at Exelon/ComEd where she was responsible for negotiations and processes regarding environmental strategies, energy efficiency and renewable energy education.

She has chaired the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, the Solar Electric Power Association and is recognized as an expert on renewable development. Mary holds a Master’s in business administration from Loyola University and a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Marquette. Ms. O’Toole is a Board member of the Girl Scouts of Chicago, the Leadership Greater Chicago Fellows Association and the Marquette University National Advisory Committee, Endowment and Alumni Engineering Boards.

Cindy Norlin, Director of Renewable Energy Construction, DTE Energy

Cindy adds another 30+ years of experience in working for DTE. Her current responsibilities include engineering, design, construction and in-commissioning of wind farms. Previously, Cindy’s extensive experience included construction and contract administration particularly with overhead and underground lines and substations. She has also been responsible for system design encompassing taking a project from concept to a buildable work package.

Cindy holds a BS in construction engineering from Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan.

Heidi S. Swanson, Director, of US Gas Dispatch and Scheduling for National Grid, Keyspan

Heidi is the Director of US Gas Dispatch and Scheduling for National Grid. Her current responsibilities include managing the six US operational centers for dispatch and scheduling of emergency and non-emergency work. In addition, Heidi has lead responsibility for the Emergency Process for the US Gas Distribution Business.

Prior to joining the customer area, Ms. Swanson was Vice President and General Manager of KeySpan MyHomeKey and held positions in Strategic Marketing, Products & Services, Research and Development and Facilities Management. She worked on several Corporate Projects and Initiatives including various merger and acquisitions, launching the KeySpan Corporate Website, Joint Venture work with Microsoft and PG&E and other national utilities, Japanese Technical Exchange Program, and Construction of the MetroTech Office Building.

Ms Swanson graduated from Lehigh University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 1986 and a BA in General Studies in 1985. Heidi is an active member of several Corporate and Industry wide committees and organizations including membership in KeySpan’s Diversity Action Council, mentoring for the Women’s Empowered Program, and represents the customer area at the American Gas Association where she recently authored an article “Customers and Growth Begin with the First Call” for a newly featured column in AGA’s November 2006 magazine.

Juli Wagner P.E., Senior Engineer, Madison Gas & Electric

Juli is a senior engineer and her responsibilities include working with engineering and operations, including gas and electric distribution in such areas as reliability, asset management and distribution automation. Previously she worked in sales and application of industrial automation and control.

Ms. Wagner earned her BS in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin and is a licensed professional engineer. She is currently pursuing her MBA from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. In her free time, Juli enjoys being outside bicycling or running and loves to travel.

Your Leadership Team is here to support Energetic Women and its members by planning engaging, meaningful programs and services. We’re looking forward to their active participation and contributions on your behalf!

Recognize! The Maverick Award

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS!
The 2nd Annual Energetic Women’s Conference will feature the first-ever Maverick Award. This special recognition will be awarded to any leader (male or female) who has set the standard in promoting, connecting and strengthening female leaders in energy operations and engineering. To nominate your candidate, submit a 500 word document outlining their contributions in leadership, mentoring and advocacy on behalf of women specifically in energy operations and engineering. Complete details on how to submit your candidate can be found on the Energetic Women website.

Connect! Energetic Women On-line Services

FREE Webinars
To date we’ve held two webinars on Network Teams, the Energetic Women mentoring program, and our latest offering Dynamic Leadership – Powerful Brands was presented by Lauri Flaquer, Saltar Solutions. Energetic Women will continue to provide this service for those interested –watch your emails for future offerings! If you have a suggestion on a webinar topic you’d like to see, contact Stephanie Menning at (651) 289-9600, ext. 114.

Web Forums
Part of Energetic Women’s goals and values is to provide a supportive environment, encourage leadership and growth, and share information and expertise.

Have a question? Want some feedback? Want to simply express yourself? We are here for you!! Visit the Energetic Women website and under the “Connect” tab, select Web Forum. You’ll need to login to the website to post your queries or share your thoughts. If you do not know your login and password, contact Larissa Presho, MEA’s Database Administrator at larissap@midwestenergy.org or (651) 289-9600, ext. 115.

Network Teams
There are now two rounds completed in connecting Energetic Women with mentors, peers and mentees through our Network Team program. To learn more about a successful mentoring program, visit Network Teams on the Energetic Women website.