Optimism for the Future
Sheri Givens is President and CEO of the Smart Electric Power Alliance.
When I graduated from law school, I assumed I would become a litigator. Like many new attorneys, I imagined a career built around courtrooms and case law. Instead, the job opportunities available at the time were in government and public service. I took a role at the Public Utility Commission of Texas, and without realizing it, the energy industry chose me.
Early in my career, someone once asked why I would want to stay in the energy sector. “It’s not exactly sexy,” he said. I remember responding without hesitation: “Energy is everywhere.” It is in people’s homes and businesses. It powers their lives. That belief, and the sense of purpose behind it, has stayed with me for more than twenty years.
What I could not have predicted then was how much my path through the energy sector would shape my perspective on leadership. Over the course of my career, I have moved from regulation to consumer advocacy, from independent consulting to executive leadership at a large investor-owned utility, and now to leading a national organization focused on supporting the industry through change. None of those roles followed a straight line, and each required learning to see the system from a different vantage point.
Looking back, I have come to believe that the energy sector is stronger because of leaders who arrive through different paths.