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Women’s Initiative Speed Mentoring Biographies
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President and Chief Executive Officer
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Amanda McMillian is current CEO of United Way of Greater Houston. Her previous positions include Executive Vice President & General Counsel for Anadarko where she was responsible for legal, human resources, real estate and facilities, and lawyer for corporate and securities at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. She’s a board member for Greater Houston Partnership, Southwestern University, Houston Energy Transition Initiative, Health Equity Collective, Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, and Kinder Institute’s Kinder Houston Area Survey, and Upskill Houston. She received awards for Executive Woman on the Move, Premier Woman in Law, Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Oil & Gas and Most Powerful Businesswomen in Texas. |
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Barb Brooks Retired from Marathon Oil Company
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Barb enjoyed a 39-year career with Marathon Oil Company in a wide variety of finance and accounting leadership roles in several different locations in the US and internationally. Her final assignment was Accounting Services Manager, leading the transactional accounting teams. This role provided plenty of opportunities for process improvement projects and working closely with the operational teams. Another favorite assignment was leading the college recruiting and internship program for the Marathon finance organization because it provided the opportunity to meet and mentor many talented young professionals. For the last six years, she has pursued her love of art and takes courses from Rice University School of Continuing Studies and Watercolor Society of Houston. She combines her love of travel with landscape and cityscape painting, which she plans to start selling. |
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Carbon Management Lead |
Caroline has extensive experience managing and executing complex subsurface projects and has explored, developed and produced resources worldwide. She spent 15 years with ExxonMobil, where she led multiple cross-functional teams identifying and evaluating resources throughout West Africa, the Caribbean and Caspian regions. In 2021, she pivoted to Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration, and is presently Carbon Certification Lead for the Permian region at Oxy. She enjoys sharing her interest in geology with her two young daughters and their Girl Scout troop. Caroline is a board member of the Houston Geological Society, leadership team member of the AAPG Women’s Network, and mentor with Houston Women’s Energy Network. |
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Development Planner |
Christine is a development planner at ExxonMobil with 13 years of experience in business development, corporate planning, flow assurance engineering, and process simulation. In addition to United Way, she serves as an Advisory Board member for the Montgomery County Library System. She is married with two toddlers. Christine ascribes to a growth mindset and is passionate about helping others to see the abundance of opportunities rather than the perceived scarcity of a single “right” career ladder. An avid reader and dreamer, she enjoys crafting stories to inspire the next generation of leaders, and looks forward to helping you write yours. |
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Staff Development Manager |
Colette Harden is a Staff Development Manager at ExxonMobil with 26 years of value centric leadership experience in Information Technology. She is passionate about the health and wellbeing of people and spent most of her career supporting United Way initiatives and championing Diversity Equity & Inclusion within her company. Colette is a servant leader who believes psychological safety and trust are foundational to empowering others to achieve organizations goals. “We are waiting for things to return to “normal”. However, we seldom go back to what was, instead we move forward to a “new normal.” What are you doing to shape your tomorrow? You have the power to change the world!” |
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Dianne Ralston |
Dianne Ralston began her career at SLB in 1998, initially serving as legal counsel. As her career progressed, she became director of compliance and then deputy general counsel, specializing in IP enforcement. Over the next few years, she held executive leadership positions at companies throughout the energy services sector, including serving as executive vice president, chief legal officer, and secretary at TechnipFMC. In 2020, she rejoined SLB as chief legal officer, a position in which she continues to serve. Dianne has bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration and Operations Management from Texas A&M University, as well as a JD in law from the University of Houston Law Center. |
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Central Deployment Finance Manager SLB |
Frances is currently the Central Deployment Manager for Finance (Record-to-Report) at SLB, where she has worked for the past 15 years in various roles. She has experience as a Controller, GBS Manager, and Transformation Manager, with a knack for helping teams work better together. At one point she managed a team of 80+ employees, which was not only one of the most challenging but also rewarding roles. She is a dual career, mother of two girls, who has grown up all over the world and considers herself a Third Culture Kid. She loves to learn about what personally motivates her fellow colleagues, and believes you are never too old to learn something new! |
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Low Carbon Solutions Infrastructure Lead |
Hayley Ryan is the Infrastructure Lead focusing on carbon capture and sequestration in the Americas for ExxonMobil’s Low Carbon Solutions business. Using her midstream background, Hayley is working to develop the infrastructure needed to facilitate the energy transition. Prior to her current role, Hayley worked in ExxonMobil’s pipeline business as a field engineer, integrity engineer, operations supervisor, and business development lead. Hayley is an Industrial Engineer with a BS from the Georgia Institute of Technology. |
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Jay Fairley is Director HR Business Partner at Enbridge and has over 20 years with the company. She supports executive teams with strategic talent matters such as org design, talent management and M&A transactions. She started her career in public accounting as an auditor and consultant. She has had a passion for United Way and joined the United Way Women’s Initiative Steering Committee in 2010. A native Tennessean, Jay has lived in Houston for the past 16 years and considers Texas her adopted home. When she’s not working, she loves to read, travel to the beach and watch movies. |
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Guyana GHG Abatement Select Stage Manager |
Jennifer obtained her Bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. She started her career with ExxonMobil in 2006 as a facilities engineer supporting Gulf of Mexico operations in the United States. Jennifer has held a variety of technical and leadership roles across the upstream value chain- including reservoir, operations, commercial, and planning. Most recently, she has been tasked to lead the development of the GHG strategy for ExxonMobil operations in Guyana. Jennifer has a passion for inspiring and helping others achieve their dreams. She served on the Chemical Engineering Advisory board at the University of Texas at Austin and has engaged in philanthropy through United Way of Greater Houston in various capacities and currently serves on the Women’s Initiative Steering Committee. |
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Senior VP of Lower 48 |
Jillian Jopling is a seventh generation Texan and the Senior Vice President of the Lower 48 at Hilcorp. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Texas in 2004 and has worked for Hilcorp since graduation. She oversees ten asset teams and is committed to increasing value by leading with transparency. As well, she loves to mentor employees by providing them with the tools they need to achieve their full potential. Jillian also serves on non-profit boards for the Alley Theatre and the Houston Heritage Society. She and her husband have funded two endowed scholarships and support various organizations. They enjoy traveling, Longhorn sports, and spending time with their dogs. |
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Joya Shukla is currently a project development advisor with ExxonMobil Pipeline Company and has over twenty-five years of experience including fifteen years at Shell developing a core in projects particularly on the Gulf Coast. She attained an Electrical Engineering degree with honors from the University of SouthCarolina and an MBA from Louisiana State University. She is the mother of a proud Aggie and a pooch named Coco, and her hobbies include long walks, yoga, volunteering, and reading. She also is passionate about encouraging women and minorities to pursue STEM careers. |
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Graphic Design Advisor / |
Kat has been a graphic designer for 30 years with experience in printed and digital arts, filming, photography, and computer-based training. She is an entrepreneur and created her art business, Alluvion Art – 5 years ago and uses her business as a conduit for bringing hope to women through artistic expression. She has worked with United Way in helping to lead Murphy Oil Corporation in their yearly campaign. Kat is creative-minded and always finds a way to enhance the Murphy campaign each year. Her passion lies in helping women know that they can reach for and fulfill their dreams. |
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Senior Vice President, Electric Business |
Lynnae is Senior Vice President, Electric Business where she leads all aspects of Houston Electric and Indiana Electric, serving more than 2.7 million customers in the greater Houston and southwestern Indiana service areas, and execution of the company’s generation transition plan. She has 20 years of experience in combined natural gas and electric utilities and electric generation with CenterPoint Energy and predecessor companies, in addition to manufacturing and mining experience. She previously held the role of Senior Vice President, High Voltage Operations responsible for CenterPoint Energy’s transmission, substation, three phase major underground and transmission system control operations in Indiana and Texas. She has also held executive roles with oversight for the Indiana Electric business and Generation transition and led predecessor Indiana/Ohio Gas and Electric utilities. |
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Global Sales & Commercial Manager |
Mary is currently the global sales and commercial manager for production chemistry at SLB. She has 33 years of experience in the oil/gas/chemicals industry. She has a BS in chemical engineering from UT Austin class of 1990. Her career has included assignments in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Coimbatore, India as well as Houston, Texas. Her assignments have included process engineering, chemical manufacturing management, project management, customer service management, business process improvement, and setting up new centers of excellence and hubs for sales processes. She enjoys cycling, hiking, scuba diving, and has traveled to over 40 countries to log 200 dives. She is completing in her 15th MS150 bike ride in April. Mary gets her energy from people and enjoys seeing her team learn, grow, and take on new challenges. Her motto is “how have I added value today?” |
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AVP Community Relations |
Ronnie began her career in advertising and marketing in New York, where she led a national consumer research panel that advised clients on product development and positioning. Following her move to Houston, she transitioned to the nonprofit sector, working with MD Anderson Cancer Center and serving as a Junior League Outside Board Representative to United Way. She subsequently joined the United Way as director of the Nonprofit Connection, a leadership and professional development practice that works with nonprofit board and staff leaders. She is a certified professional coach and is committed to the development of emerging leaders for the sector. |
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Horkiz Rouzi Advisor of Offshore Wind Project Development |
Horkiz Rouzi is Uighur, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist. Rouzi pursued her education in China (Peking University), Australia (South Australia University) and Houston (Rice University). She has worked and lived 10 countries in Asia and America. She is currently an Advisor of Offshore Wind Project development in US and mentors young Entrepreneurs in US and Asia. She owns a Project Development and Management company – RHIS Group. In the meantime, she is the co-Chair of International Association of Business Communications (IABC) Scholars Program, Strategic advisor to the US Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) and Advisor at The Cannon Community. Rouzi is multilingual, scales high in social and emotional intelligence. |
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Chief Executive Officer |
Sandy helped start Barrios Technology, held technical and management roles, and became President and CEO when she purchased the company in 1993. Under Sandy’s leadership Barrios has grown from $10 to $100 million in revenue. Barrios provides engineering services to NASA and the commercial space industry. Both the company and Sandy have received numerous awards, consistently being named one of Houston’s largest women-owned businesses. Sandy is passionate about giving back to the community, focusing on providing educational opportunities to our underserved populations and encouraging women and minorities to pursue STEM careers. Sandy’s bucket list is to visit all seven continents, with one remaining. |
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Sara Hallam Hallam Homeschooling |
Sara Hallam is a UWWI/ADT member since 2021, a steering committee member, and a stay-at-home mom. Her desire is to help others recognize where their strengths align with their passion so they can live on purpose, for a purpose. Sara’s background is medicine, but she made the decision in 2013 to homeschool. Through that transition, she recognized her love for teaching and the importance of her own emotional health to best serve her three boys. Throughout her homeschooling journey, she has participated in and held women’s events to equip moms with encouragement and tools to thrive in their homes. |
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Senior GeoScientist |
Sushmita Dasgupta is a senior geoscientist with SLB for the past 15 years. She obtained her doctorate in geology from the University of Minnesota and has experience as a consulting geologist for both conventional oil and gas and carbon capture projects, data and software solutions, and project management. Sushmita is the mother of 3 boys. She loves the outdoors and is an avid hiker, fitness enthusiast, and loves to bake. She loves to provide counsel and advice to women about their career and work life balance. |
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AXIS Client Support Actuary |
Theresa is an actuary with 15 years of experience in the insurance industry, plus over 10 years working at a software company training other actuaries how to use the actuarial modeling software. Outside of work, she helps to put together fellowship-level exams that certify actuaries for global recognition, evaluates applications for university scholarships, and volunteers with the United Way to evaluate agency effectiveness and financial-soundness. She loves to dance and travel. She also loves to encourage others to try new experiences and supports them to expand their horizons.
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Commercial Services Representative |
Toi Anderson has worked for Williams Gas Pipeline Transco for thirty-two years in various departments. She currently works in the Commercial Services Group as Lead Representative. Toi’s responsibilities include managing all aspects of her northeastern customer’s accounts including negotiating commercial arrangements. Toi has always viewed service to her organization and the community as important. Her passion community organization is the United Way. In addition, she enjoys the opportunity to mentor and recruit to help enhance the careers of others. Her family is her joy. |
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Founder & Team Lead |
Paige Martin is a highly accomplished Broker & business owner, consistently ranked among the top 50 agents worldwide with Keller Williams. She is the founder of Houston Properties Team, with a track record of over $1 billion in residential real estate sales. Paige has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, Houston Chronicle, Fox News & Reuters. In addition, the Houston Business Journal has recognized the Houston Properties Team as the #1 small real estate team in the Bayou City. Paige also serves a variety of non-profits, civic, and community boards. She has been recognized for her philanthropic work by numerous organizations and was appointed by Houston’s Mayor to the TIRZ board. |
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Delivery Assurance Manager |
Shyann is a manager/engineer at SLB for past 19 years with experience in field operations, supply chain, manufacturing, commercial, and human resources. She is a dual career, mother of two kids, professional engineer, senior certified professional career coach, and is publishing an upcoming book on Women’s Empowerment. She helps others dream bigger so they can achieve more, live their legacy, and love their life. Her passion lies in helping female professionals discover their values, define their personal brand, and juggle their personal and professional lives. Her goal in life is to be the best role model she can be for the next generation of women leaders. |
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Chief Executive Officer |
Sylvia K Barnes is a seasoned Corporate Board Member with experience on seven NYSE, NASDAQ and TSX listed companies, and is CEO of Tanda Resources LLC, a privately held oil & gas company. She has over 30 years of experience in the energy business and an investment banking and engineering background. She has been responsible for advising boards of directors, special committees and executive management on financial decisions with strategic and governance considerations. She also has been responsible for strategic growth initiatives and budgets. She is experienced in M&A and raising private and public capital. |
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Senior VP, Ambulatory Services & Post-Acute Care |
Teal is a dedicated healthcare administrator with over 15 years of experience in health care management and operations, process improvement, strategic planning, and humanizing the patient journey. In her role as SVP, Ambulatory Services and Post-Acute Care, Teal has the executive and strategic oversight of eleven divisions across the Greater Houston area. Teal is the co-founder of Women Leaders of Memorial Hermann, an initiative that encourages women leaders to strive for their personal and professional best. Teal enjoys volunteering for initiatives that benefit our community’s youth, as well as mentoring colleagues early in their healthcare career. |
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Certified Public Accountant & Manager in Audit |
Uju’s career has been in public accounting for the past 13 years. She is a Certified Public Accountant and a Senior Manager in Audit and loves to serve her clients mostly in the Oil and Gas Servicing Industry and the Industrial Manufacturing Industry by adding valuable insight in the preparation and reporting of their financial statements under the applicable laws and regulations. Uju has a passion to enable and activate the leader in people, specifically young adults. She is a certified John Maxwell Coach and lives to help others identify and live out their values, not someday, but TODAY! |
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Dr. Regan is an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame and the McGovern Medical School. After serving as Chief Resident of pediatrics at UT Health Science Center Houston, she opened her own pediatric practice, Fannin Pediatrics, which she owned for 25 years. Dr. Regan has been active on the medical staff at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital. Her leadership roles have included Chief of Staff at Memorial Hermann TMC, President of the UT/McGovern Medical school alumni association and Pediatric Medical Director for MHMD, the physician group for Memorial Hermann. Currently, Dr. Regan is the Vice President of the Women’s and Children’s Service Line for the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, an administrative role she has been in since 2016. |
