Power Engineering and Renewable Energy World Name Woman of the Year Finalists

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Oct 14, 2013, 09:56 ET

TULSA, Okla. and NASHUA, N.H., Oct. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Power-Gen 2013 Women in Power committee is pleased to announce the finalists for the first Power-Gen Woman of the Year Award.

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The finalists were selected from nominations received from members of the power community and represent diverse facets of the industry.

The finalists are Ria Persad, Founder and President of StatWeather, which provides probabilistic weather prediction tools for weather risk management for the power industry; Jane Weissman, President and CEO of the Interstate Renewable Energy Company, a non-profit organization that has been working to accelerate the use of renewable energy since 1982; and Patty West with the Tennessee Valley Authority, a U.S. government corporation that provides electricity for 9 million people.

The Woman of the Year nominees were judged in four categories with the most weight being given to how she advanced the power generation industry. In addition to advancement of the power industry, judges considered the impact that the nominees made on their communities, their ability to lead, and their success in mentoring others.

In order to encourage more women to enter the power industry, PennWell Corporation decided to recognize and award female trailblazers in the power industry, like these 2013 Power-Gen Woman of the Year finalists. "If the accomplishments of the 'early adapters' are not recognized, the growth of women in power could be jeopardized," said Rich Baker, Senior Vice President with PennWell.

While these finalists represent both conventional and renewable forms of energy and each one works in a different facet of the power industry (finance, policy and technology, respectively), the one thread that runs through each of them is their commitment to advancing and improving the power industry in North America. Each woman has dedicated her life to working in the traditionally male-dominated field of energy and each woman has exhibited determination to get where she is today. Estimates of the percentage of women working in the power industry vary but in general the number hovers around a 1:4 female to male ratio. And as you climb the ranks, that percentage of women in leadership roles gets smaller.

"We hope that these women will serve as examples to young women considering careers in power that amazing accomplishments can be achieved through hard work and dedication," said Jennifer Runyon, Chair of the Women in Power Committee.

One of these three finalists will be named the 2013 Power-Gen Woman of the Year at the annual awards banquet on Monday, Nov. 11, at the Hard Rock Live at the Universal Resort in Orlando, Fla. as part of the POWER-GEN International Conference and Exhibition and the co-located NUCLEAR POWER International Conference and Exhibition, Renewable Energy World Conference & Exhibition, North America and the Financial Forum.

The 2013 Power-Gen Woman of the Year will give a keynote speech during the Women in Power Luncheon on Thursday, November 14^th at the Orange County Convention Center also as part of the co-located conferences.

Registered attendees of any of the conferences may attend either or both the Banquet and the Luncheon by purchasing tickets to the events. More information may be obtained by visiting the conference websites: POWER-GEN International Conference and Exhibition; the co-located NUCLEAR POWER International Conference and Exhibition, Renewable Energy World Conference & Exhibition, North America and the Financial Forum.

Power Engineering magazine is the voice of the power generation industry. More than 70,000 power generation professionals read Power Engineering magazine for expert coverage of the industry's important news and emerging trends.

RenewableEnergyWorld.com is the website for Renewable Energy World magazine. With more than 52,000 magazine subscribers, 190,000 registered website users and a global readership in 174 countries, it is the No. 1 renewable energy network for news and information and the largest renewable energy information source.

The magazines, RenewableEnergyWorld.com, POWER-GEN International, NUCLEAR POWER International, Renewable Energy World Conference & Expo North America and the Financial Forum are all owned by PennWell Corp., a worldwide media company based in Tulsa, Okla.

The 2013 Power-Gen Women in Power Committee

Jennifer Runyon, PennWell Corporation
Karin Corfee, Navigant
Christina M. Swanson, GE
Mary Ann Bunn, Siemens Energy, Inc.
Linda Church-Ciocci, National Hydropower Association
Heather Manypenny, New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Bonnie Marini, Siemens Energy, Inc.
Meg Cichon, PennWell Corporation
Daryl Zeis, REC Solar
Mary Noyes Joynt, WilkinsonShein Communications
Elizabeth Ingram, PennWell Corporation
Lola Infante, Generation Fuels and Market Analysis
Heather Manganiello, Project Manager, HDR
MaryJo Rogers, Strategic Talent Solutions
Henrietta Gurri McBee, HDR
Paula Mints, SPV Market Research