Power Matters 2019: Speakers

Isela Bahena is a Managing Director in Nuveen’s Infrastructure team with twenty years of experience in the financial services sector. Ms. Bahena has spent her career underwriting investments across the capital structure, debt and equity. She currently leads a team which originates, structures, and invests in private equity and below investment-grade debt across the infrastructure sectors overseeing a $1.5+B portfolio. She has led underwriting and portfolio management in transactions across various sub-sectors including transportation, power (renewable and thermal), telecommunications, transmission, and energy. Ms. Bahena has in-depth knowledge of various corporate governance matters and serves on several boards for investments in Europe and North America. Ms. Bahena is an advisory board and steering committee member for strategic midstream and transportation partnerships. Ms. Bahena leads the Managing Member for the team’s largest third party investment vehicle overseeing a real estate and infrastructure platform on behalf of TIAA and several international institutional investors.
Ms. Bahena’s previous experience includes investment and portfolio management in the private equity fund, co-investment, mezzanine and timber assets. She has also invested in domestic and international private placement debt. Before joining Nuveen, a TIAA company, in 2004, Ms. Bahena was responsible for public finance and general middle-market lending and underwriting at Bank of America.

Elaina L. Ball, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, oversees functional areas of the Company including Customer Care, Information Technology & Information Security, Sustainability including Safety & Environmental and Public & Local Government Affairs.
Ms. Ball joined El Paso Electric in 2018.  Prior to joining El Paso Electric, Ball worked at Austin Energy, the publicly owned electric utility serving 450,000 customers in the Austin, Texas area. At Austin Energy, she most recently held the position of Chief Operating Officer and was responsible for power generation, transmission and distribution, information technology and onsite energy resources. She also served on the board of the South Texas Nuclear Project electric generating station.
Prior to Austin Energy, Elaina was Vice President, Technical Services at CPS Energy, the municipally owned electric and gas utility serving the greater San Antonio area. At CPS, she was responsible for electric transmission, substation and distribution engineering, and operational technology, among other functions.
Ball has a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and attended the University of Idaho Utility Executive course.

Hala N. Ballouz became CEO & President of Electric Power Engineers, Inc. in 2007. She has been a lead consultant in the electric power industry since 1991 with 20 years’ experience in renewable energy development and integration both on Transmission and Distribution levels, 30 years’ experience power systems engineer in energy and T&D as well as managing utility demand/resource plans. Additionally, she has 10 years’ experience working with utilities and stakeholders in developing countries including coordinating workshops and training. She is the author of GridNEXT (initiative furthering development of renewables through grid modernization). Hala is also the first woman to serve as president of the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association, Board member of the Association of Women in Energy, and mentor in gender diversification in the energy sector.
Ms. Ballouz is the chair of GridNext, board member of the Texas Renewables Energy Association (TREIA), the Wind Coalition, and Association of Women in Energy. She has particularly contributed to the development of the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) in the state of Texas, and the identification of the first major transmission re-enforcement needed to integrate the first 3,500 MW of Renewables into the grid.
An accomplished industry author and presenter, Ms. Ballouz backs her work with certifications in substation engineering and design as well as wind energy resources. Additionally, Ms. Ballouz served as expert witness on resource adequacy and transmission grid reliability in California and provides the same expertise in Texas. She is a registered Professional Engineer in several states as well as other countries.

Ms. Cioffi runs Duke Renewables’ Structured Finance Group, which includes debt and tax equity origination for Duke’s commercial renewables portfolio. She has been in the renewable energy business since 2001 in project development, mergers and acquisitions and project finance. Since joining Duke, she has arranged over $3B in proceeds for Duke’s renewable business including placed private debt, managed private debt, tax equity and bank loans. Prior to joining the Duke team, Ms. Cioffi was Vice President of Finance for Catamount Energy which was purchased by Duke Energy in 2008.
Ms. Cioffi has a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Saint Michaels College and holds a strategic leadership MBA certificate from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC Chapel Hill.

Phyllis Currie has more than 45 years of public service, over half of which has focused on electric and water utilities. She is on the board of directors of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, and an executive consultant for Hometown Connections, Inc., doing strategic planning and training for utilities in California. She is a frequent presenter at conferences and workshops on utility finances and customer service and active in several non-profit and community organizations.
From 2001 to July 2015, Ms. Currie was General Manager of Pasadena Water and Power (PWP), which serves the city and portions of Los Angeles County. Under her leadership, the utility added new electric generation units to its power plant, built a water treatment plant funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to clean up ground water contamination; and embarked on multi-year infrastructure improvement programs to upgrade the city’s water and electrical distribution systems. She led the development of water and energy resource plans which include aggressive goals for renewable energy, water conservation, and launched a water reclamation project which has completed its environmental review and is now pursuing funding options. She successfully engaged and educated the community to develop broad support for these initiatives.
She spent 30 years with the city of Los Angeles in several positions, including Chief Financial Officer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Assistant City Administrative Officer and Rent Stabilization Director.
Current non-profit and community service includes the boards of the Association of Women in Water, Energy and the Environment, a California organization which encourages women to pursue careers in these fields; Grid Alternatives which provides solar systems for low income residents and hands-on job training for people in the communities served; the Water and Power Associates, which provides education on local and state water and energy issues and Pasadena Rotary.
Her education includes a BA in political science and an MBA from UCLA., and the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Ann Delenela was named vice president, information security, in April 2019.
Delenela, whose professional expertise spans 20-plus years in the areas of information technology, information security and cyber/physical security management, leads IT’s efforts to protect Entergy’s systems and information in a world of constantly changing cybersecurity risks.
Delenela came to Entergy from Ameren Services—a Fortune 500 corporation that ranks as the largest electric power provider in Missouri and third largest natural gas distributor in Illinois. There, she was vice president and chief information security officer with responsibility for enterprise cybersecurity covering Ameren’s corporate, electric, nuclear and gas operations. Before that, she served as the chief security officer for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
Delenela’s prior experience includes multiple technical, managerial and strategic roles within energy, telecommunication, software development and consulting. She is also active in the industry, serving as an appointed or elected leader in multiple electricity sector committees.
In 2017, she was named one of the top 10 women chief information security officers to watch by Chief Security Officer magazine.
Delenela holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of North Texas.

As the COO and Principal of Energy Renewal Partners, Ms. Elizondo has over fifteen years of experience in managing and permitting complex environmental compliance projects for the energy sector.  Ms. Elizondo has led teams on the evaluation and development of over 5 GW of renewable energy.  Her experience has extended across the United States and includes work with various federal, state, and local agencies. Project scopes have included biological assessments, site investigation and remediation, environmental due diligence, NEPA and SEPA assessments, avian surveys, take-permits, wetland delineations and permitting, and regulatory negotiations.  Ms. Elizondo has developed a keen ability to anticipate project constraints early in the planning process and produce effective solutions to keep projects moving forward and meet critical deadlines.  Notable projects that Ms. Elizondo has participated include the Los Vientos portfolio in south Texas totaling 910MW of wind energy, evaluation of over 2 GW of solar developments in the southeast, permitting of the Panoche Valley Solar Project in the central valley of California, energy storage evaluation in California and Texas, repowering of natural gas plants in Corpus Christi and Laredo, permitting and oversight of development and construction of over 750MW of wind energy in northern Oklahoma, and due diligence support of numerous portfolios of renewable assets equaling over 3 GWs of projects.
Energy Renewal Partners’ experienced team provides the entire spectrum of environmental and consulting services to energy sector clients. At ERP, we pledge to provide distinctive, quality and unparalleled customer service as we strive to gain the respect and trust of our clients, suppliers, and partners.  Our team understands the needs of each of our clients and continuously delivers results and value on every project. The market demands cost-effective business solutions, and ERP delivers technical excellence in a responsive, reliable, reasonable, and transparent partnership with our clients.

Emily Felt is Director of Federal Energy Policy at Duke Energy, where she leads a team of experts who develop and advocate for sound federal policies that promote safe, reliable, and affordable electricity and natural gas infrastructure. Emily has held a variety of policy roles at the company, as environmental policy director, renewable strategy director, and as business development manager. She is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard University. Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S. Its combined gas and electric utilities serve approximately 9 million retail energy customers – representing nearly 25 million Americans – in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Florida. Duke Energy’s commercial business operates nearly $5 billion in wind, solar, energy storage, and transmission assets across in more than a dozen states.

Sheri Givens is President of Givens Energy, an Austin, Texas-based consulting, education, and advocacy firm advising on utility issues nationwide. Her professional experience includes nearly twenty years in legal, regulatory, legislative, and external affairs.
In 2017, Sheri was appointed as the Executive Director of Utilities United Against Scams, a consortium of 100-plus North American electric, gas, and water companies with a mission to combat scams by providing a forum for companies and associations to share data and best practices working together to implement initiatives to inform and protect customers. She also authored its utility consumer scam awareness and education guide supported by five utility trade associations. In 2018, she was appointed to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee and serves on the Smart Grid Subcommittee.
From 2009 to 2013, Sheri was twice appointed by the Texas Governor, and confirmed by the Texas Senate, to lead the Texas Office of Public Utility Counsel, the state’s consumer advocacy agency for residential and small business utility customers representing the state’s 20 million-plus consumers. Sheri was known for directing her state agency in active consumer education initiatives statewide through in-person outreach, publications, and social media during her tenure. In 2014, she received the Citation for Exceptional Service in Support of National Defense from the Association of the United States Army for founding her prior agency’s military outreach program. She served on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and the Texas Reliability Entity Inc. Boards of Directors and the Executive Committee of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates. She currently serves on the Association of Women in Energy Board of Directors.
Sheri received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Houston Law Center. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas.

Mr. Houle is a Director of Fremantle Energy and Managing Director of Macquarie Capital. He is an experienced energy industry executive with a solid track record of achievement in business and project development and start-up operations during his 25-year career. During the eleven years since Fremantle Energy was formed and became part of Macquarie Capital, Mr. Houle has led the development team in the successful development of projects as well as performance of due diligence leading to investment in and sale/project financing of several solar, wind and water infrastructure projects domestically and internationally, including over 900 MW of wind projects in Oklahoma, Texas and Mexico; 240 MW of solar projects in California and Texas; and is currently driving portfolio level investments in solar and wind energy in the United States and select Latin American countries.
Prior to forming Fremantle Energy he was Vice President of a Texas based independent wind power development company responsible for development activities. Mr. Houle played a key leadership role in the successful development and sale of the 161 MW Wildorado wind farm in Texas. Prior to that position, Mr. Houle was Vice President of Hunt Power, L.P.; a Dallas based privately held independent power company, leading teams in the development and implementation of Hunt’s wholesale power generation and wires businesses domestically and in Canada including development of a gas-fired power plant site near Calgary, Alberta and creation of an operating partnership with Genova Power Company resulting in the successful permitting of two power plant sites. As one of Hunt Power’s founding employees he worked as part of a small team that created Sharyland Utilities, L.P., the first new electric utility in Texas in more than 30 years and he managed the start up phase of operations. Mr. Houle also represented Hunt Power as a limited partner in the private equity venture capital fund EnerTech Capital Partners II, reviewing investment opportunities involving new technologies, applications and services related to the electric, telecommunications and energy industries.
Mr. Houle also built and led a profitable power supply optimization function as Director of Power Supply and Planning for Texas-New Mexico Power Company capturing over $3 million in profit during the first year of operation. Having traded electricity and oil in the U.S. and U.K., he has a strong understanding of regulatory, contractual, and market factors impacting the value of energy assets. He attended Fordham University in New York earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics (magna cum laude) in 1990.

Debbie Kimberly joined Austin Energy in January 2013. Customer Energy Solutions is responsible for the utility’s energy efficiency and demand response programs, customer solar and renewable subscription offerings, green building program, advanced transportation, market analytics and key accounts, which serves Austin Energy’s largest customers.
Kimberly also manages Corporate Communications for Austin Energy, including Public Information and Marketing Communications. These areas promote the utility’s promise of being customer driven and community focused while bringing visibility to all the services and programs offered to customers.
Kimberly has worked in the utility industry for more than 30 years and spent more than 22 years at the Salt River Project in Central Arizona. She served as SRP’s director of customer programs and marketing, where she was responsible for energy efficiency product design and implementation; marketing of all products, price plans, and services; measurement and evaluation; and market research. Previous roles included managing SRP’s financial services and involvement in public policy and strategic planning initiatives.
Kimberly serves as Chairman of the Board for SPEER (South-Central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource, and is on the boards of the Pecan Street Inc. the Association of Women in Energy, the Austin Science Education Foundation and is a member of the EPRI Power Delivery Sector Council.
Kimberly earned a Bachelor of Arts in international relations from Stanford University and a Master’s degree in international management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona.

Gregory is senior vice president and chief customer officer for CenterPoint Energy. In this role he manages the company’s strategy and operations related to marketing, sales, customer service and home services functions. Since joining CenterPoint Energy in 2009, Gregory has been spearheading the company’s technology-driven customer relationship management strategy, and he is responsible for delivering a consistent and high-quality customer experience across various digital and people-supported interaction channels to nearly 6 million regulated and retail customers. He is also responsible for fostering alignment of CenterPoint Energy’s corporate business growth and operational strategies with the needs and expectations of business and residential customers. He has been recognized as a utility industry thought leader in customer interaction strategy, technology and continuous business process improvement.
Gregory has over 27 years of experience in both service industries and utilities. His career includes tenures at Ricoh USA, Reliant Energy, Verizon and Allen Knight Inc. where he has led a range of sales, marketing and customer service functions which span across technology, business growth, strategic planning, organization vitality, regulatory advocacy, business transformation, entrepreneurship and Six Sigma.
Gregory serves on the boards of Tendril and the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative.
Heearned a bachelor’s degree in American studies, with a minor in economics, from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has also completed the executive management program at Rice University’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business in Houston.

Cheryl Mele became ERCOT’s senior vice president and chief operating officer (COO) in January 2016. She oversees Grid Operations and Planning, Commercial Operations, and Governance, Risk and Compliance.
Prior to joining ERCOT, Cheryl served as deputy general manager and COO for Austin Energy, where she led its power operations, compliance and planning activities. Throughout her extensive career in the power industry, Ms. Mele’s management and executive roles have encompassed power generation and energy delivery.
A registered professional engineer in Texas, Ms. Mele has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Union College in Schenectady, NY and completed The Utility Executive Course at the University of Idaho. Cheryl has previously served on the boards of Texas Public Power Association, STP Nuclear Operating Company and the Rocky Mountain Electrical League and is a current member of the Austin Science Education Foundation Board.

Rebecca Motal is the President of Motal and Eby LLC.  Motal and Eby provides energy, water and environmental consulting services. Rebecca is also the President and Chairman of the Association of Women in Energy.  AWE provides opportunities for women to meet other energy industry professionals and to enhance their knowledge of energy issues.
Rebecca retired from the Lower Colorado River Authority as General Manager, after 27 years at the organization. She was General Manager during a challenging period for LCRA.  She led the organization through a severe drought and devastating wildfires.   She streamlined the organization, reduced costs by eliminating more than 20% of the work force (over 500 positions) to better position LCRA for the competitive electric market. She led the development of more than 100,000 acre-feet of new supplies of water for the lower Colorado River basin.   She also held positions that included the General Manager of LCRA, Chief Executive Officer of the LCRA Transmission Services Corporation and the GenTex Power Corporation. Previous professional experience at LCRA included executive responsibilities in finance, regulatory and external affairs.
Prior to LCRA, she held positions as a water and environmental attorney.  She holds three degrees from the University of Texas at Austin:  Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics; Doctor of Jurisprudence and a Masters of Business Administration from the University’s Executive MBA program.

Jessica Ogbonnaya is a Vice President in the Global Energy Group of Citigroup and focuses on strategic advisory engagements and capital markets financings for companies in the upstream sector. Ms. Ogbonnaya joined the group in 2010 and has worked on a number of debt, equity and M&A transactions globally and across the various energy subsectors. Ms. Ogbonnaya relocated to London in early 2015 to work for Citi’s EMEA energy group where she was focused on international offshore and LNG assignments before returning back to Houston in 2016. Prior to joining Citi, Ms. Ogbonnaya worked as an analyst at Lehman Brothers.
Ms. Ogbonnaya’s selected transaction experience includes the following: advisor to American Energy Partners – Marcellus on its acquisition of assets from East Resources ($1.75 bn); advisor to Petrobras on the divestment of its E&P assets in Peru to China National Petroleum Corporation (US$2.6 bn); advisor to Robbins & Myers on its corporate sale to National Oilwell Varco ($2.5 bn); advisor to Denver Parent Corporation in its management buyout of Venoco Inc. ($1.6 bn).
Ms. Ogbonnaya graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Spanish from Duke University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Delia oversees the American Public Power Association’s regulatory, government relations, and communications functions. She has been general counsel for the Association since 2014. She helps with energy policy formulation and advocates before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, federal courts, and other energy policy forums. Delia heads the Association’s Public Power Forward initiative to prepare member utilities for the evolving energy future. In 2016, Delia was recognized by Trending 40 as one of DC’s top 40 in-house lawyers for corporations and non-profits. Before joining the Association, Delia was a senior associate at a large law firm. She also served six years in the U.S. Navy.

Steve Reedy is the Deputy Director of the Independent Market Monitor for ERCOT at Potomac Economics. He has over ten years of experience in the power industry.
Prior to joining Potomac Economics, Steve was a consultant at Utilicast LLC, a boutique consulting firm operating in the utility space. During his two years at Utilicast he helped multiple clients enter MISO, including setting up and operating the FTR desk for a vertically integrated utility. Before joining Utilicast he held many roles in ERCOT, culminating as the Manager of the CRR group at ERCOT when the CRR market went live in 2010. He has been active in the stakeholder process at both ERCOT and MISO, including a short time as the Vice-Chair of the FTR Working Group of MISO. Steve earned a Master of Science in Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Arts in Physics from Wabash College.

 As Vice President, Strategic Initiatives for Tenaska Marketing Group (TMG), Gaye Lynn Schaffart is responsible for the development and implementation of long-term strategic plans, business development activities and other special projects for TMG. She has over thirty years of experience in the natural gas industry. Prior to joining Tenaska, Schaffart held various financial, marketing, and business development positions at ONEOK Partners and Northern Border Pipeline Company. 
Schaffart graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and a Masters Degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Finance. Schaffart also holds C.P.A. and C.M.A. certifications. 

Ms. Schmidt was the President, co-founder and co-owner of Swan Consulting Services (a consulting company that provides strategic, regulatory and advisory services to utilities and equipment and services related businesses in the electricity and natural gas utility industry) from 2015 to 2018. Before that, she was President of ITC Great Plains and Vice President at ITC Holdings (an independent electric high voltage transmission owner and operator.
Ms. Schmidt has more than 35 years of experience in the electricity industry. Over the last 25 years, Ms. Schmidt worked primarily in the regional wholesale market arena and high voltage transmission development and regulatory policies. Ms. Schmidt has served as a FERC Commissioner advisor, addressing national policies and reforms resulting from the California energy crisis and FERC’s expanded authority from the Energy Policy Act, among other key policy issues. Ms. Schmidt also has held various senior management responsibilities for public utilities, including Xcel Energy, and served on the board of Peak Utility Services Group.
Ms. Schmidt has been a director of PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company since April 2019. She is also a member of the Western Energy Imbalance Market Governing Board, which has the primary governance responsibility and decision-making authority for the interstate wholesale energy imbalance market in the western region.

Jason Stephenson serves as Vice President, General Counsel for Vectren Utility Infrastructure Corporation. In this role, he is responsible for developing and implementing the regulatory strategy that enables the utilities to successfully maintain compliance with applicable regulations and earn a return on investments. Examples include approval of the electric transmission and distribution investment program, electric energy efficiency programs and authorization to recover investments through approved tracking mechanisms. He also participates in legislative initiatives, including developing strategies to enact beneficial legislation and defeat detrimental initiatives. His group provides other legal guidance to the organization, including review of contracts, supervision of outside counsel and management of the corporate records. Mr. Stephenson also has acted as the corporate secretary for Vectren Infrastructure Services Corp. He develops strategies for and manages the Land Department, which is responsible for acquiring property interests necessary to facilitate infrastructure investments, managing existing leases, and researching existing property interests held by the companies.
Prior to his role at Vectren, Mr. Stephenson was a partner at Barnes & Thornburg LLP where he focused his practice on representing municipal and public utilities in state and federal regulatory matters.
He has over 20 years of experience in utility regulation.
Outside of the office, he serves as a board member of Habitat for Humanity of Evansville. He also volunteers to support the Castle High School Marching Band.
Mr. Stephenson received a bachelor’s degree in business from Taylor University and a doctorate of jurisprudence from the Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

Randa Stephenson is currently the Senior Vice President of Wholesale Markets and Supply for the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) focusing on power supply, business development, customer partnerships, analytics, and billing. She has over twenty years of energy utilities experience in the areas of asset management, finance, compliance, and governmental and regulatory affairs. Prior to LCRA, Randa Stephenson held numerous management roles at Energy Future Holdings (Luminant) and NextEra Energy Transmission.
She previously held the chair of the Technical Advisory Committee for three years, which reviews and endorses market design and rule changes and directly reports to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) Board and the Public Utility Commissioners of Texas. Randa Stephenson is a board member for the Central Texas Chapter of the March of Dimes. Stephenson earned her MBA with honors from Southern Methodist University and BS in Finance from Trinity University. Randa and her husband John reside in Austin with their two children, Audrey and Jack.

As president and chief executive officer, Joanie Teofilo is responsible for leading and developing the organization while driving the strategic focus of The Energy Authority to deliver enhanced value to its Members and Partners. Under her guidance, TEA helps public power systems operate more efficiently, manage energy risk diligently, and expand their market reach. As a member of TEA’s original launch team in 1997, Ms. Teofilo’s entrepreneurial vision and value-focused leadership have played a vital role in shaping the organization’s deal capture trade systems, deal pricing, and deal valuation practices. Prior to assuming her current position, Ms. Teofilo served as vice president of risk control and chief risk officer, responsible for leading TEA’s middle office in monitoring commercial risk while managing all compliance, as well as overseeing all risk control and analytics functions for the business.
Throughout her tenure, she led teams to design and implement customized risk management programs that specialized in hedging recommendations and risk metrics for TEA’s Members. Ms. Teofilo has also been responsible for the execution of financialpositions for natural gas, power, and crude oil. An industry expert, Ms. Teofilo is regularly sought out to speak at seminars on energy risk management and other related topics. Her speaking engagements have included the Committee of Chief Risk Officers’ joint roundtable between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Federal Energy and Regulatory Commission, and various events hosted by the American Public Power Association and Electric Utility Consultants, Inc.
Prior to joining TEA, Ms. Teofilo worked as a project engineer in construction management at Santee Cooper, one of TEA’s original equity owners, where she participated in combustion turbine studies, emissions studies, and the planning and implementation of equipment upgrades at generating stations. Ms. Teofilo began her professional career as a mechanical engineer at the American Samoa Power Authority, where she assisted with the development of a unit maintenance program, analysis of diesel generator performance, and capital improvement projects. Ms. Teofilo holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of South Carolina. She obtained bachelor’s degrees in both mechanical engineering and government and international relations from the University of Notre Dame. She is also a registered Professional Engineer.

Jill is head of the Public Sector and Infrastructure Banking Utilities Group, which she has managed for more than 15 years. She is also a member of the Public Sector and Infrastructure Operating Committee. Jill has more than 25 years of experience, focusing on the municipal utilities sector, with a specialization in complex credits and structuring and marketing of new utility credits to investors. She joined Goldman Sachs in 1988 and was named managing director in 2006.
Prior to joining the firm, Jill worked at Moody’s Investors Service.
Jill’s transactions have been awarded The Bond Buyer’s “Deal of the Year” for her work with the Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission and the Lehigh County Authority in 2008 and 2013, respectively. Her work on the MEAG Power Vogtle Plant financing was named the “All-Star Deal of the Year” by Smith’s Research & Gradings in 2010.
Jill earned a BA in Economics from the University of Rochester and an MBA in Finance from The University of Chicago.