January-February 2021
Searching for Sarah Rector: The Richest Black Girl in America
PROLOGUE “Dear sir: After reading your account of the little girl, Sarah Rector, I am writing to state that I heartily approve that part of your statement which says she ‘cannot be hid.’” That’s how John A. Melby of Gary, Indiana, began his letter to R. S. Abbott, publisher of...
Black Gold: Unleashing the Power of Black Women
In 1985, Annie Lennox and Aretha Franklin belted out the anthem, “Sisters are Doin’ it for Themselves,” celebrating the power of women to lead in the world. But for millennia preceding that anthem, Black, white and other women of color had been a powerful force in shaping the world. The...
It can be hard to pinpoint an exact figure when talking about the number of women in the energy industry. Percentages vary depending on the survey methods and metrics used; some say as high as 22 percent, others say as low as 15 percent. However, one number can be determined...
Engineering High-Tech Solutions, One Step at a Time
For someone who had her head in the clouds for much of her college career – interning for NASA and SpaceX – Hahna Alexander now has her feet planted firmly on the ground. What started as a senior design project in a mechanical engineering class at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)...
Dennis Kennedy, Founder, Energy Diversity & Inclusion Council
In today’s society, diversity and inclusion play a role in both the workplace and the community. As our country’s demographics change, the art of allyship among communities is vital to the authentic growth of society. Thoughtful and committed allyship can positively impact organizations in a number of ways, not only...
Female mentors traditionally have been in short supply in male-dominated industries like oil and gas, but as the number of women in the industry increases, so does the number of women who can offer insight and guidance. Here are some mentoring best practices from women in the C-suite who have...
Black History Month: Looking Back, Moving Forward
Given the heightened awareness of race relations of late, February 2021’s Black History Month will undoubtedly be more impactful and celebratory than ever before. Originally recognized in 1976 by U.S. President Gerald Ford, the month was set aside to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black...
A Day in the Life of . . . An Inventor and Patent Holder
6:30 am - I have been up for almost an hour. It’s the middle of fall in Houston and the mornings are as dark as night. This morning my former mentor and ex-Mozambican Minister of Natural Resources, Esperanca Bias, calls to congratulate me on my recent Society of Women Engineers...
Stacey Olson and her husband, John, are driving west through South Dakota in October just a few days after Stacey retired as president of Chevron’s Appalachia Mountain Business Unit in Pittsburgh. Cell phone coverage is weak, but our discussion about his experience as a male trailing spouse reveals critical success...
Krafting Workwear for Women Warriors
Anastasia (Ana) Kraft, founder and CEO of Xena Workwear: I came up with the Xena name by throwing out a question to my friends: “What is the most bad-ass female name you can think of?” There were quite a few suggestions but, when Xena was mentioned, I immediately fell in...
Around the World in Thirty-Three Years
Paula McCann Harris, Former Global Director, Schlumberger Fresh off a trip from Egypt . . . Texas, that is . . . where she had been visiting her parents a mere two hours before, Paula McCann Harris is right on time for our Zoom chat. Wearing stylish, oversized tortoiseshell glasses,...
Building an Inclusive Workforce Through Unconscious Bias Training
The last year has helped shed a major light on the issues existing within our workplaces, including lack of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts on behalf of many businesses, and inequality and bias within the overall workforce. In response to the general public, many companies across various industries have...
Paula Glover’s Holistic Approach to Leadership
“The way you get to really good solutions is to have a lot of people thinking differently about the same thing,” says Paula Glover, former president and CEO of the American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE), and new president of the Alliance to Save Energy (ASE). “Women think differently...
The five co-authors of The Energy Within Us share their experiences as Black women in different sectors across the spectrum of the energy industry and share their visions for the future. Joyce Hayes Giles – Corporate board member. Former senior VP of Public Affairs, Chair of the Foundation Board and...
The Wall Street Journal recently said it is “one of the hottest jobs in America – and it has a revolving door.” These chief D&I officers (sometimes the role is given a slightly different title) have been in the industry a long time and are planning to stay as they...
Letter from the Editor-in-Chief (January-February 2021)
Happy new year! Those words have never sounded better or more full of possibility than they do in 2021. OILWOMAN Magazine’s mission with every issue is to celebrate women’s achievements across the spectrum of energy and, with this first issue of the new year, in observance of Black History Month...
Transferrable Skills That Are Game Changers
According to recent findings by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment rates in the oil and gas industry have begun hitting unprecedented levels since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 6.2 percent in March of 2019, data now shows a staggering 19.2 percent unemployment rate in November 2020,...
Girl Scout badges have long been associated with camping, civics/citizenship, athletics and art. Today, girls can learn about nuclear power to earn a badge after completing a project. At GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, an annual STEM event brings together 128 middle school girls. The students’ favorite aspect – the project-based...
Nuclear Energy Myths Versus Reality
True or false? Living near a coal plant is “safer” than living near a nuclear power plant. According to J’Tia Hart, Ph.D., a nuclear engineer at the Argonne National Laboratory, a coal plant releases 100 times more radiation into the environment than a similarly sized nuclear power plant. Thanks to...
