The Energy Workforce of the Future

Katie Mehnert

Founder & CEO, ALLY Energy

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

CEO, Parallel

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

Head of Diversity, NES Fircroft

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

Senior Director of Operations, Worley

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

Managing Director, Deloitte AI & Data Practice

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

Generative AI Leader for Energy, Amazon Web Services

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

Vice President - Talent Empowerment, Baker Hughes

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.

Jeff Gill

Talent and Leadership Development, N5084

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.