Innovation 2.0 – The Human Side of Leading Innovation Inside Today's Modern Utility [an Energy Central PowerSession™]

Topics we will cover include:

• Why is leading innovation so challenging? What lessons can we learn from other regulated industries that can be applied to lessons learned at your utility?
• Are we spending enough? What are the different strategies utilities are embracing to do more with less?
• How do we align innovation with risk? What are the risk management strategies that utilities are embracing to help them manage more innovation at a faster pace?
•  How are we building innovation cultures and high-performing teams? Innovation is a human team sport. Creating cultures that support innovation is as necessary as having the technical answers.
• What role can non-engineers play in the innovation discussion? Innovation is opening up opportunities for new voices in the debate and attracting new talent to the utility.
• Can innovation be a way to support DEI strategies? Diversity and inclusion are important in innovation – diversity of thought and including everyone in the process helps organizations find and adopt the best ideas.
• What are the key technical challenges each utility faces and most wants to solve? What is the connection between innovation and mitigating climate change?

Panel:

Allegra Hodges, Head of Strategic Innovation, Portland General Electric

Allegra has over 12 years of experience leading teams in the clean energy industry to develop strategy, create metrics frameworks, and launch key initiatives for business intelligence, growth, and innovation. She joined Portland General Electric in 2018 to launch the company’s corporate long-range strategic planning function — bringing teams together to work effectively to meet the needs of customers and stakeholders. Prior to PGE, she led strategic initiatives in energy efficiency, resource planning, and talent management at Bonneville Power Administration. Allegra graduated with a B.A. from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Kensey Berry, Head of Strategic Risk Management and Ecosystem Engagement, Portland General Electric

Kensey has held a number of roles across PGE’s corporate strategy, commercial, and finance teams. Currently she contributes to innovation efforts by managing PGE’s relationship with key collaborators such as Energy Impact Partners and its venture portfolio of start-ups building solutions for the energy transition.

Kensey began her career at GE Capital investing in utility-scale wind and solar projects. She did equity research at Goldman Sachs, advising institutional clients investing in ClimateTech and worked on IPOs such as SunRun, SolarEdge, and several YieldCos. Kensey was compelled to transition from banking to the utility space by the opportunity to meaningfully impact the energy transition. At ConEdison, she focused on regulatory and revenue model innovation as part of NY’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV).

Linda Hill, Co-Founder of Paradox Strategies and Harvard Business School Professor

Hill is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, and chair of the Leadership Initiative. She is the co-founder of Paradox Strategies, a leadership research and advisory firm, and co-creator of the Innovation Quotient, a tool for leading innovation in a transforming world. Hill completed her post-doctoral research fellowship at Harvard Business School, and earned a PhD in behavioural sciences at the University of Chicago, where she also received her MA in educational psychology.

Hill is regarded as one of the top experts  on leadership and innovation. Hill is the co-author of Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of  Leading Innovation (Harvard Business Review Press 2014), co-founder of Paradox Strategies,  and co-creator of the Innovation Quotient and re:Route. She was named by Thinkers50 as one  of the top ten management thinkers in the world in 2013 and 2021, and received the Thinkers50 Innovation Award in 2015. Collective Genius was named to the inaugural Thinkers50 Booklist: 10 Management Classics for 2022.

Keyra Pulliam, Innovation Engineer at PECO, an Exelon Company

Earning her degree in chemical engineer at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Keyra began her career at FM Global as a Fire Protection Engineer. During her time at FM Global her efforts were focused on construction evaluations, natural hazard analysis, and fire protection systems. Recently, she transitioned into the energy sector as an innovation engineer with the company PECO. Her new role consists of establishing a robust innovation ecosystem in which all PECO employees can repetitively innovate. Although a novice in the energy industry she endeavors to maintain knowledgeable of all new technologies and processes that will help advance the success of energy system within the United States.

Stacy Shrieves, Innovation Manager at PECO, an Exelon Company

Stacy joined PECO in 2018 and is currently the Manager of Innovation and Research & Development at PECO Energy.  In her current role, she focuses on driving a culture of innovation and onboarding new and emerging technologies within PECO.  Prior to this role, Stacy oversaw the PECO website and mobile app.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and an MBA in Business Management, both from Temple University.  Outside of work, Stacy participates as a board member for the Temple University Black Alumni Alliance.  She enjoys reading, writing, going to brunch, and traveling.
 

Kim Getgen, Founder and CEO, InnovationForce  (moderator)

Kim Getgen is reinventing the innovation process to help utilities make the transition to clean, reliable power faster. As Founder and CEO of InnovationForce, her mission is to simplify the often-complicated innovation process with a revolutionary, patent-pending SaaS platform that automates innovation through proven, repeatable processes. 

In her previous executive leadership roles, Getgen successfully launched multiple technology platforms from the cloud to the grid edge, and everywhere in between. Among her most notable accomplishments was being recognized as “Maverick of the Year” by the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, “CEO Trailblazer of the Year” finalist at the Platts Global Energy Awards and her leadership of a Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) project to build a “predictive grid,” which was publicly recognized by President Bill Clinton. She is an Alumni of Harvard Business School and received the M.Phil in International Development Studies from Oxford University. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.