WoWE 2016 Honors announced as WINDPOWER in New Orleans
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 2, 2016
The winners of the Women of Wind Energy (WoWE) Awards were announced at the annual luncheon held at AWEA’s WINDPOWER 2016 Conference in New Orleans, LA. The awards put the spotlight on professionals at the pinnacle of the industry as well as on the up-and-coming next generation of leaders. All three winners provide examples of achievement, creativity and courage.
“These awards offer a critical opportunity to showcase successful women and men across the sector – to give them the recognition they really deserve, to appreciate their accomplishments, and for others to potentially aspire to follow their paths.” said Kristen Graf, WoWE Executive Director.
2016 WoWE Award Winners
Rising Star – Ellen Crivella has over 9 years of experience in the renewable energy industry, and leads the North American Environmental and Permitting Services Team in the preparation of development activities including the siting and licensing of renewable energy projects, ensuring construction and operational compliance, and conducting due diligence reviews for financial transactions. She is also the Global Head of DNV GL’s Environmental Permitting Services Practice where she is responsible for knowledge development and quality of services delivered around the world. She holds both a BS in Natural Resources and an MS in Environmental Science from The Ohio State University and an MS in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School.
Champion Award – Anne M. McEntee leads the onshore wind business for GE Renewable Energy and is based in Schenectady, New York. Anne is a 17-year GE veteran who has worked and advanced through a series of increasingly responsible assignments in quality, manufacturing/operations and sourcing within GE’s energy divisions. Prior to her current role, Anne was president & CEO of GE’s flow & process technologies business, a division of GE Oil & Gas. In this role, Anne led the integration of Dresser, Inc. and the growth of the flow and process technologies division, which serves customers in the power generation, oil & gas and industrial segments. Previous to this role, Anne was general manager of Power Services, where she led the division’s global growth and expansion into India, Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. She has also held the role of general manager for GE’s quality organization where she was responsible for managing and deploying the energy division’s quality strategy.
Woman of the Year – Dr. Dora Nakafuji is the Director of Renewable Energy Planning in the Grid Technologies Department at Hawaiian Electric Company and has over 15 years of experience working in renewable integration and energy research. Her efforts include working with various utilities, states and national energy efforts to foster collaborations with utilities and industries to build unique partnerships. Her group has led and leveraged over $20M of grant funded efforts enabling development and deployment of “smart” technologies to sustainably transform the utilities to meet Hawaii’s aggressive RPS and energy policy goals.
About Women of Wind Energy:
WoWE was founded in 2005 and works to promote the education, professional development, and advancement of women to achieve a strong diversified workforce and support a robust renewable energy economy. Since that time, WoWE has grown to an organization with 35 local chapters in the US and Canada, an annual luncheon at WINDPOWER, and a growing grassroots network of more than 3,000 women and men. In 2010, WoWE launched the first-ever WoWE Leadership Forum and will host its seventh forum in November 2016. The organization is supported through hundreds of volunteer hours and the generous contributions of GE Energy, DNV GL, and the American Wind Energy Association and a large number of other leading renewable energy companies, as well as membership contributions.