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SPEAKERS
Katie Mehnert
Katie Mehnert, CEO and Founder, ALLY Energy (she/her)
The modern architect of the energy workforce, Katie Mehnert is the Founder and CEO of ALLY Energy™ the community accelerating connections, jobs, and skills to drive an equitable energy transition. ALLY Energy is an inaugural member of Greentown Labs Houston, the top climate tech incubator in North America.
Ms. Mehnert has held global leadership roles with BP and Shell in safety and environment during periods of financial crisis, spills, divestment, and globalization. Her early career included assignments with Duke Energy, Entergy, and Enron. Her corporate path drove her to entrepreneurship to help energy companies prepare for the looming talent shortage and workforce diversity needs to address energy poverty and climate change.
She was appointed Ambassador to the United States Department of Energy in 2020 during the Trump Administration and has testified before Congress on the clean energy workforce of the future. She was most recently appointed by the Biden Administration to the National Petroleum Council. She’s also an Energy Institute Fellow and an advisor to Clean Energy for America.
Ms. Mehnert is a speaker, author, and trusted source in the energy industry. She has been published in Scientific American, Forbes, The Hill, CNBC, and CNN. Her first book, Grow with the Flow, was published in 2020. She most recently co-authored Everyday Superheroes: Women in Energy, a children’s book focused on energy careers. Mrs. Mehnert also has appeared in Hot Money, a documentary produced by Academy Award-winning actor, Jeff Bridges and Retired NATO General Wesley Clark on the financial complexities of climate change and finance.
Katie is a four-time World Major marathoner having completed London, Chicago, New York, and Berlin. Her husband is Vice President of Legal with Baker Hughes. They live with their 11-year-old daughter, Ally, in Houston. Bio Download | Photo Download
Cory Okeefe
Cory Okeefe is the founder and CEO of Parallel, a company dedicated to helping the next billion people find meaningful work leveraging AI. Obsessed with the realization of human potential, he wants to help the next generation of companies connect a more resilient & mission aligned workforce. Cory prior has started & sold companies across the clothing, hospitality & agency space while holding senior product and design roles at Faire, Group Nine Media, and Hathway. Alongside Katie Mehnert and Dr. Paul Stoltz, Cory is leveraging their combined 70 years of expertise to build resilient people, companies, and communities. Together, they aim to empower individuals to thrive in work and life. When he’s not designing beautiful things, Cory is an avid basketball player, a design and aesthetic enthusiast, and enjoys exploring human connection and holistic wellness. Originally from San Luis Obispo, CA, he now calls Brooklyn, NY, home.
Katy Hall
Katy Hall is the Head of Diversity at NES Fircroft, where she plays a pivotal role in shaping and driving the company's diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies. With a strong commitment to aligning DEI initiatives with organizational values and business goals, Katy has been instrumental in fostering an inclusive workplace culture.
Katy’s extensive experience in diversity and recruitment spans the professional services, insurance, legal, and staffing sectors. Throughout her career, she has been responsible for designing and implementing inclusive recruitment processes that ensure a diverse talent pool. She collaborates closely with leaders to embed diversity into hiring practices, ensuring that the company's workforce reflects a wide range of perspectives and experiences. Katy also conducts comprehensive training sessions on cultural competence and unconscious bias, equipping employees with the knowledge and skills to navigate and embrace diversity in the workplace.
Katy's efforts extend beyond internal teams, as she works with external clients to drive diversity initiatives and enhance supplier diversity. By leveraging data-driven insights, she ensures that diversity strategies are effective and impactful. Her dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion has established her as a thought leader in the field, inspiring others to prioritize and champion these values within their organizations.
Outside of her professional life, Katy is passionate about mentoring young professionals and is actively involved in community outreach programs. She enjoys traveling, exploring different cultures, and spending quality time with her family, including her two young boys, Grayson and Parker.
Katy Hall's leadership and expertise continue to make a significant impact at NES Fircroft, promoting a more inclusive and equitable work environment for all.
Natalie Valentine
Natalie Valentine, Senior Director, Mountain West Operations at Worley "Leaders make sense out of chaos."
Natalie is a multifaceted leader with 20 years of industry experience. She possesses the unique ability to think both creatively and logically in complex environments and enjoys helping others reach their fullest potential. She is a Chemical Engineer by degree and a strategic thinking problem solver by design. Some of her notable achievements include being a founding sponsor of the Women Pipeline to CEO Program within the Worley Houston operations that aims to develop and support talented women in preparation for senior executive roles within the company; and being awarded the Professional Award at the 2023 Ally Energy GRIT Awards, an event that honors the energy industry’s brightest talent who contribute to their companies, the industry and their communities.
Through an array of customer-facing and internal positions throughout her career, she has gained exposure in a multitude of geographies across the Americas, in various sectors such as downstream, upstream, chemicals, nuclear and mining and has experience in strategy & business planning, mergers & acquisitions, small and large project delivery, risk management, quality assurance, health & safety, emergency response & business continuity, organizational change management as well as innovation, agile and design thinking concepts. She now uses her breadth of skills and knowledge to lead the Mountain West business within Worley.
Vishal Mehta
Vishal is a Managing Director in Deloitte’s AI and Data practice focused on Energy, Resource, Chemical, Industrial and infrastructure sectors. Focused on delivering increased efficiencies, lower costs, and creating new business models to drive transformative growth for clients. He has more than 30 years of experience equally spread in the industry and consulting. He is best known for managing complex transformation programs with a strong focus on leveraging Digital technology and sustainability parameters to lead high growth missions. Subject matter knowledge and experience in areas of Energy, Supply Chain, Smart Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Carbon Management and Sustainability.
He is a British Chevening scholar and is passionate about building future leaders and an avid hiker and wildlife enthusiast.
Kumar Lakshmipathi
Kumar is a seasoned technology leader and AI-driven enterprise transformation expert with over 25 years of experience delivering innovative solutions. Committed to responsible AI, he currently leads Generative AI initiatives for the energy sector worldwide at AWS. Prior to Amazon, Kumar was instrumental in scaling two startups from inception, guiding their strategy, sales, and product management to success.
Melody Kelleher
Melody is a certified Human Resources executive with more than 17 years of global experience in the South Africa, UK, Canada and USA. She is a chartered HR professional in multiple countries and has a Masters Designation in Strategic Workforce Planning and a certificate with Harvard for “Building Organizational Cultures”.
Melody is a "roll up your sleeves and make it happen" kind of person with a "people first" mindset and track record of building high-performing, diverse and purpose-led teams. She has been with Baker Hughes for 13.5 years and is responsible for Talent Empowerment for Baker Hughes which is Talent Management, Learning & Development and Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging. She is passionate about people and culture and specializes in developing and implementing effective Talent Management and L&D strategies at scale.
Melody has lived in 4 countries and relocated from Canada to Houston in 2022. She is married with two children aged 5 and 8.
Melody is a "roll up your sleeves and make it happen" kind of person with a "people first" mindset and track record of building high-performing, diverse and purpose-led teams. She has been with Baker Hughes for 13.5 years and is responsible for Talent Empowerment for Baker Hughes which is Talent Management, Learning & Development and Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging. She is passionate about people and culture and specializes in developing and implementing effective Talent Management and L&D strategies at scale.
Melody has lived in 4 countries and relocated from Canada to Houston in 2022. She is married with two children aged 5 and 8.
Jeff Gill
Jeff has a 30+ year career coaching executive teams, unit leaders, and individuals to create conditions where employees can work to their fullest potential and deliver maximum value to shareholders. Successfully completed projects in 16 countries.
Souzi Weiland
Massiel Diez
By documenting her nontraditional career on Instagram and YouTube as a fresh chemical engineering grad from McGill University, the then-Wireline Field Engineer quickly rose to virtual stardom, sharing her passion for the industry and encouraging young girls to explore oil and gas careers.
Her authenticity and openness about the struggles and challenges of working away from home struck a chord with viewers, and her audience skyrocketed into the thousands, with close to half a million views in a short period of time. Massiel is an advocate for the Energy industry and passionate about Women in STEM.
Kristine Gentry
Dr. Kristine Gentry is a cultural anthropologist who transforms workplace dynamics to create cultures where employees do their best work, customers are happy, and businesses meet their goals. From lecture halls to boardrooms, her journey spans over twenty-five years of decoding human behavior and reshaping corporate cultures.
After a decade immersed in academia, Kristine discovered her true calling: helping organizations thrive by understanding the intricate tapestry of their cultural DNA. Her unique blend of scholarly insight and hands-on experience—including eight years of guiding C-suite executives and her recent role steering strategy at a major healthcare system—brings an unmatched perspective to organizational transformation.
As the founder of Culture Grove, Kristine doesn't just consult—she partners with organizations to cultivate thriving workplace ecosystems. Her anthropologist's toolkit, combined with business acumen, helps companies build cultures that don't just engage employees but ignite their potential and drive measurable results.
Through her signature "Foundations" program, insightful cultural assessments, dynamic workshops, and compelling speaking engagements, Kristine empowers organizations to write their own success stories. She translates complex cultural dynamics into practical strategies that create lasting, positive change—proving that when culture grows, businesses thrive.
Jennifer Richmond
Jennifer Richmond is Chief Strategy Officer at Wood, a leading global engineering and consultancy company employing more than 35,000 people across 60 countries.
With over 25 years’ experience in delivering best-in-class solutions for clients, leading transformational programmes and identifying strategic growth opportunities, Jennifer holds executive responsibility for Wood’s company direction and sustainable delivery. Reporting directly to the CEO, she leads strategic planning, corporate development, mergers and acquisitions, sustainability, safety, marketing and communications, supply chain, quality and strategic sales.
Prior to Wood, Jennifer worked at Jacobs, the U.S. engineering firm, where she held a variety of leadership roles including Senior Vice President of Sales for the Federal and Environmental Solutions business. She also previously served as Senior Vice President for the Advancing National Security and Defence business where she led a global team of 5,000 people delivering mission-critical solutions to the U.S. Department of Defence and other government clients.
Douglas Orr
Doug advises clients through executive coaching in both publicly traded and private equity-backed organizations. Throughout his coaching career, Doug has engaged with Chief Executive Officers, Chief Operating Officers, Executive Vice Presidents, and Managing Directors within the energy industry.
Additionally, Doug leads advisory projects that include assessment, CEO succession planning, and executive recruiting for both individuals and teams, and culture-shaping services. He previously led the Global Energy Practice for three years.
Doug served as an engineer officer in the U.S. Marine Corps for more than 10 years. During this time, he held multiple command and staff positions, deploying four times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan).
Doug earned a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the United States Naval Academy.
An active member of his community, Doug currently serves on the board of directors for Eyes On Me, Inc., a faith-based non-profit focused on community transformation in impoverished areas of Houston. Previously, he served on the advisory council for the Energy Workforce & Technology Council (EWTC) from 2021-2024. He remains an active member of the Energy Workforce & Technology Council as well as the International Coaching Federation (ICF).
Shan Escobar
Shan is the Talent Planning & Learning Lead at Expand Energy. She has over 15 years of experience in HR spanning multiple industries, including financial services, healthcare and the energy sector. She is most passionate about leadership development and helping leaders create high functioning teams that get results.
Ingrid Velasco
Ingrid Velasco is a results-driven sustainability and compliance leader with over 14 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. She specializes in developing and implementing quality, regulatory, and sustainability initiatives to drive operational excellence and environmental stewardship.
Ingrid holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from The University of Texas at Austin and certification in Business Sustainability Management from the University of Cambridge. She is actively involved in sustainability and energy initiatives, serving as an Urban Green committee member for Hermann Park Conservancy, Co-chair for Houston Climate and Energy Week 2025, and Co-chair for the Pilotathon and Events Committee for Energy Tech Nexus.
Samhita Shah
Samhita Shah brings nearly three decades of leadership experience across corporate communications, strategy, marketing, and commercial operations. As the Global Head of Industry Marketing for Energy and Utilities at AWS, she leads the global marketing strategy to drive customer engagement, accelerate business growth, and position AWS as a leader in the energy and utilities sector. As a passionate advocate for sustainability, energy transition, inclusion, and equitable leadership, Samhita is also the founder of the AWS Women Reinventing Energy group. She spearheads the Empowering the Future of Energy program, which champions diversity and inclusion as essential drivers of innovation and the future of our industry.
Chris Lacy
Chris has over 20 years of experience leading through a wide range of high impact matters in the energy industry where he has learned the value of collaboration, curiosity, and creativity and the strategic importance of bridging people and perspectives.
He currently serves as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Expand Energy, which was created as a result of the merger between Chesapeake Energy and Southwestern Energy. At Expand, he is accountable for leading Expand’s legal, government affairs, sustainability, and real estate functions. Prior to the merger, he served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at Southwestern, having first joined the company in 2014 as chief litigation counsel. Before that, Chris spent nearly a decade at a New York-based law firm and a litigation boutique with a practice focused on high value and high stakes litigation.
Chris earned his B.A. in Communication from the University of Texas and his J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center, where he graduated summa cum laude and served as a Notes and Comments editor for the Houston Law Review.
Chris has been married to his quasi-high school sweetheart for over 20 years and has three teenage boys. A lifelong Texan, Chris and his family recently relocated to Oklahoma City.
Beth Kobermann
Beth Kobermann is a strategic and relationship-driven Human Resources leader with more than 15 years of experience shaping talent strategy and workforce transformation across the pharmaceutical, energy, oil & gas, and industrial manufacturing sectors. She is known for aligning human capital strategies with business goals, scaling high-performing teams, and building systems that enable both people and performance to thrive.
As an executive board member of ESN Health, she supports the organization’s mission to empower individuals through fitness, health, and community. A native Houstonian and proud advocate for small businesses, Beth actively champions entrepreneurship and sustainable growth at the local level.
Whether she’s coaching Fortune 100 executives or small business owners, Beth encourages leaders to embrace their weaknesses as opportunities to strengthen their foundation for growth and innovation. She is passionate about developing future-ready leaders and creating environments where people and business thrive.
Beth holds a Master’s in Human Resource Management and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration with a minor in International Business from Texas A&M University.
Our guiding strategy
The Energy Workforce of the Future™ is a key enabler in developing a skilled pipeline and inclusive workforce delivering a lower-carbon and more sustainable future.
ATTRACTION
We will invest in energy literacy and develop an industry value proposition.
Technology, finance, and healthcare are more desirable industries. Energy needs a narrative, one that embraces all forms.
RETENTION
We will prepare the workforce for the energy transition.
A lower-carbon world will require exceptional talent. We will work to cross-skill, upskill and reskill talent for the transition.
CULTURE
We will develop a resilient and sustainable workforce.
We will create a sense of belonging, inclusive workplaces, benefits, and cultures that transcend policy.
COMMUNITY
We will share best practices across the energy industry.
The ALLY community convenes semi-annually to discuss, socialize, and publish best practices in the energy workforce, talent attraction and development.