CHATTANOOGA, TN. – The Tennessee Valley Public Power Association recently recognized 10 of their “women in power” who are leading local power companies in the Tennessee Valley. In their post the TVPPA stated, “Here in the Valley, the ranks of female general managers have more than doubled over the last three years, increasing from four to 10. This change highlights the industry knowledge, leadership skills, and valuable experience these women bring to their organizations.”
The women recognized are: Stacey White of Arab Electric Cooperative Inc., Angela Verdell of Columbus Light & Water, Allison Bright of Cullman Power Board, Mary McDuffa of City of Florence Utilities, Candace Vannasdale of Harriman Utility Board, Kathryn West of North Georgia Electric Membership Corporation, Belva Bess of Sparta Electric & Public Works, Loxcil Tuck of Tarrant Electric Department, Jennifer Brogdon of Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation and Andrea Harrington of Weakly County Municipal Electric System.
The Cullman Tribune reached out to local Stacey White and Allison Bright to highlight their impressive careers and discuss the increasing number of women in the industry.
Stacey White was appointed the general manager of the Arab Electric Cooperative in January of 2020. She started at the company 13 years ago as a customer service representative and worked her way up the ranks to becoming general manager.
When asked about why she believed the shift of women entering engineering and power safety fields was happening, she said, “I think women are stepping up and able to show that they are good leaders and I think our boards and communities are seeing that.”
White stated that she did not originally intend to work her way up the corporate ladder when she first started in customer service. “Once I got into the career and saw that it was a good career, I realized this was something that I wanted to do. My dad is a retired lineman from Guntersville, so I have grown up in the utility industry, if you will, my entire life and I knew it was a good career, and after I started here, we were like a family, so I wanted to stay local and work local. My kids went to school here and I believe in giving back to the community and I think being in this position affords me that opportunity,” White said.
She continued, “I have some really good employees, and without each and everyone of them I would not be where I’m at now. They are a great support. I’ve got great team members who work hard.”
Allison Bright was appointed the CEO of the Cullman Power Board last October. Similarly to White, she said that the reason she joined her career field had to do with an influence from her stepdad. She said, “He worked for a utility company, and I was interested in math and science and so originally I was interested in maybe the medical field, but the more he shared the kinds of things he did at work the more interested I became in engineering.”
Bright also stated her opinion on why more women are entering the engineering field, stating, “I think that there are more women that are in manager positions because there are more women now in the engineering workforce. Back in 2000, there were a lot less females graduating from engineering versus in 2010 or 2015—those numbers have increased dramatically. There are more women in the workforce which means there are more women that are vying for those management positions.”
Bright also stated that she believes women are getting more interested in STEM majors at a younger age while in high school thanks to more programs being made available to them to educate about STEM careers.
Bright mentioned that companies are pushing for diversity and a desire to have their managers embody the reality of their workforce. Companies are asking, “Are we representing the workforce – the people that work for us? Do our managers, our CEOs and our supervisors, do they look like or are reflective of the people that work here?”
She said she thinks the field is still technically male dominated for the most part, “It will be like that for a long time. I think women have a lot to overcome just because they need that exposure at a young age to give girls confidence to try new things and to think about careers in a male-dominated field that they may not have considered before.”
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