She’s In Power Team

Supporting the education and empowerment of girls and women is baked into her DNA. Lucinda graduated from an all-girls school in Columbus, Ohio and an all-women’s college, Bryn Mawr College, where she played varsity sports. Through her career, she has contributed to the operations of numerous womens’ networking groups, causes and events.

Over the past six years, Lucinda worked with two nonprofits based in Florida. As the Executive Director of a shared space for Miami-based nonprofits, she grew membership, programs and shared services to build the capacity of the nonprofit community. As a senior director for an education-based nonprofit, which includes a mentoring program, she has contributed to its strategic and organizational development. .

Lucinda is a graduate of Colorado State University’s Impact MBA (formerly Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise). This experience inspired her to start Uhambo USA, a nonprofit that supports children with disabilities in South Africa. Prior to developing and growing nonprofits, Lucinda was one of the first professional coaches in the region and worked with hundreds of individuals to help them create meaningful changes in their lives.It still makes her day to hear from former clients!

Lucinda is an active member and sits on the Board and several committees with the Rotary Club of Fort Collins. As a resident of Old Town Fort Collins, Lucinda and her husband, David, enjoy knowing their neighbors and living in a walkable community (and playing the Lightning Golf holes!). In her free time, you can find Lucinda up in the mountains running and hiking, planning travel or outings, or riding horses.

You can reach Lucinda at [email protected].

Since 2007, the Colorado Energy Research Collaboratory has been a successful energy research partnership between Colo School of Mines, Univ of Colo-Boulder, Colo State University, and National Renewable Energy Laboratory. As Executive Director of the Collaboratory she also splits her time as the External Relations Director for the Energy Institute at Colorado State University. Maury was the former Assist. Dir. at the Center for the New Energy Economy founded by former Colo Governor Bill Ritter. Maury began her entrepreneurial career at age 19 founding and operating six diverse companies, holding CEO or principal positions. Before joining CNEE, she was president/CEO of a regional not-for-profit economic development corporation in N. Colorado. Maury has been a part of Colorado’s new energy economy initiative since 2006 working with industry partners to create CSU’s Systems Engineering Program and the Clean Tech Certification Program at Front Range Community College. Maury has previously served as chair of the board for the Colorado Community College System, which oversees 13 community colleges in 38 locations around Colo. Honored for her leadership, Maury has received numerous business awards including “Entrepreneur of the Year” award by the Northern Colorado Business Report, “Woman Leader of Excellence” in Colo, “Top 10 Women Making a Difference”, “Creative Vision for Women”, the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) “Women in Business Champion of the Year”, “Top Women in Energy” by Denver Business Journal, and prestigious national award by Office Depot as “Businesswoman of the Year”.

Why She’s in Power: Paying it forward has always been a motto of mine and making sure women’s voices and influence are valued is important to the organization. It’s important that those of us who have been the only woman in the room early on in our careers to devote time to helping others navigate their career journey. Being a part of SiP is one way I can give back.

Dr. Hughes is a leading expert in the synthesis and characterization of next gen materials for energy conversion and energy storage. She received her PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Following the completion of her Ph.D, Dr. Hughes joined the Materials Science Program at NREL investigating technologies beyond lithium-ion batteries. With over 10 years of experience in both nanomaterials chemistry and novel battery applications, Barbara joined Forge Nano in 2016 and is now their Vice President of Energy Storage. Here she leads a capable team of scientists and engineers in the fabrication and performance testing of next generation lithium-ion batteries.

Why She’s in Power: The mission, vision, and values of She’s in Power as an organization gets to the very core of my own personal efforts to mentor and uplift underrepresented and deserving individuals in the field where I have made my own career. Aside from my own PhD, I am most proud of the young women in renewable energy fields whose careers I’ve impacted as a mentor. We lead by example, and She’s in Power is an excellent example of empowerment by walking beside those we seek to empower.

Dr. Hailey Summers focuses on quantifying environmental impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions, of agricultural processes and products using life cycle assessment. She has a broad interest in sustainability and strives to holistically understand the world’s current challenges. Her work has contributed to research on indoor cannabis, industrial crops, and water scarcity accounting. She earned her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University in 2021.

Why She’s in Power: I have personally experienced the gender gap in STEM through my education and professional opportunities. Through these experiences, I have gained a passion for improving the female presence in technical fields because solving the world’s challenges will require diversity. I believe that the mission of She’s in Power can help close the gender gap through its unique programs and offerings such as “She’s in Power.”

Emily Wilson is Communication Director for Innosphere Ventures, the region’s leading incubation program that accelerates success of science and technology startups with a commercialization program and venture capital fund. Ms. Wilson is responsible for overall marketing strategies, manages public and investor relations, and is responsible for entrepreneurial education sessions such as the successful Innovation After Hours networking forum, and virtual events such as Meet the Investors and the Funded in Colorado event series.

As a former employee of the City of Fort Collins Economic Health office and marketing consultant for the Larimer Small Business Development Center (SBDC), she is passionate about economic development. She grew up on a ranch in eastern Colorado and moved to Fort Collins to get her B.A. (2006) and M.A. (2008) in Communication Studies.

Why She’s in Power: Because to meet the energy needs of Colorado and the world, we need initiatives and projects that will positively impact efficiencies in all energy production. I enjoy being a part of a project-driven, 501(c)(3) nonprofit economic development organization that’s focused on innovative and entrepreneurial ways to grow and transform the energy sector through actionable projects and initiatives — such as “She’s in Power” which is our project that’s designed to grow and inspire women to be leaders in water, energy, advanced materials, and transportation industries.

Dr. Tami Bond is the Walter Scott, Jr. Presidential Chair in Energy, Environment and Health at Colorado State University. Her research has followed a thread from combustion, to atmospheric chemistry and climate, to technology change and future scenarios, to the intimate relationship between technology and human choice. Her research group has spanned considerations as small as a particle’s skin and as large as a national transportation system in the quest to characterize the dance between humans, their energy use, and the atmosphere and climate. Dr. Bond first earned two degrees in mechanical engineering before succumbing to an interdisciplinary Ph.D. and a NOAA Climate and Global Change post-doc. After 16 years as a faculty member in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and sabbatical stints at Tsinghua University and the University of Leeds, she found a home at Colorado State University where experts in atmosphere, combustion, and environmental health and justice are collocated. She is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and a 2014 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow.

Dr. Ellen Morris is a world-recognized expert on energy and international development, with a particular focus on policy analysis, research, strategy development, and writing on energy access, gender equality, and business models for the base of the pyramid. She leads a new program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to build and strengthen partnerships with leading universities and research institutions that leverage NREL’s scientific knowledge and state-of-the-art facilities to solve complex, multidisciplinary challenges in energy efficiency, sustainable transportation, renewable energy, and grid integration. Morris holds a joint appointment at the Colorado School of Mines in the Engineering, Design and Society program, and previously was on the faculty for 14 years at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She received her bachelor’s degree in Geophysical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and her doctorate in Geological Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography.

Why She’s in Power?: As an ambassador for C3E at the national level, it is great to be working closer to home, here in Colorado. I am proud to be involved with SiP because it is squarely focused on addressing the gender gap in the clean energy workforce, with an eye toward equity and inclusion. By working with rising stars and seasoned veterans interested in changing the world, I believe we can realize a clean energy future for Colorado and beyond.

John has led or collaborated on energy, environmental and education projects for over 30 years. He currently consults in clean energy, serves as a Research Associate at the CSU Energy Institute, and teaches / coaches in STEM education in Fort Collins. John directed customer service and planning functions at Platte River Power Authority for 25 years and worked in energy and environmental areas with other firms prior to joining PRPA. He was team lead for developing PRPA’s Strategic Plans, Integrated Resource Plans, Renewable Energy Supply Policy and Climate Action Plans. John also served on many collaborative teams in the region (utilities, customers, education, climate action and planning).

Why She’s in Power: The She’s in Power mentorship program is part of a broader SiP initiative which has a great group of women leaders to support our local student projects. Enhancing gender and other diversity in the future workforce is critical – and the SiP program allows hands-on learning with real world projects for girls and young women to support their pursuit of STEM degrees and careers. Local companies are highly committed to workforce diversity and provide female leaders as guides and examples for the students. This approach helps our students to better “see what they can be” in the future.

As the founding president and principal engineer of Brendle Group, Judy is a pioneering engineer, entrepreneur, and sustainability business leader with 26 years of executive expertise in innovation, strategy, and risk management. A natural team-builder, Judy has led the completion of more than 300 sustainability projects for over 150 clients across 30 states. Many of these projects pioneered new frontiers in sustainability, prior to national standards and certifications, in areas such as green building, greenhouse gas management and accounting, net zero energy, and climate resilience. Judy has also advised business leaders and policy makers on managing risks and opportunities posed by climate change, energy system transitions, and other socioeconomic challenges. She serves as a U.S. C3E Ambassador, Colorado State University Energy Institute Industry Advisory Board member, and Peaks to People Water Fund Board member.

Why She’s in Power:   We haven’t moved the needle on women in engineering since I entered field more than 30 years ago. SiP provides meaningful professional experiences and a warm network of supporters for young women entering the engineering workforce. Applying engineering talents towards clean energy is a fulfilling career choice that improves lives and directly combats climate change.