What's Going On With AABE‪?‬ AABE Team

On this final episode of season 1 for Always Bet on Black, Paula Glover sits down with Ralph Cleveland (incoming AABE CEO and President) to talk all things leadership, his upbringing and so much more
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About Ralph Cleveland:
Over three decades of experience in varied aspects of project, asset, enterprise, corporate, and community development. Seasoned corporate executive with strong business leadership and business transformation skills. Key experience in strategy formation and execution, including associated strategic transactions and the needed due diligence. Highly experienced in production, operations, and operations risk management across multiple industries including having managed all aspects of engineering, design, construction, and project delivery. Key market exposure and business analysis across every region of world. Key industry experience in energy, risk management, technology development and commercialization along with having chief executive experience in various aspects of the natural gas processing, storage, transportation, and distribution. Have led industry groups in many aspects of the energy and power industry value chain.Experienced in community engagement, development, and sustainability including strategy formation, economic development, innovation and entrepreneurship, environmental sustainability, economic inclusion, capital formation, workforce development, diversity management, human and civil rights advocacy, and emergency preparedness and disaster recovery.

Paula had the pleasure of sitting down with Rick Thigpen (SVP of Corporate Citizenship at PSEG) to chat all things black leadership, Rick's background on Wall St which led him into politics, and his current position at PSEG
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About Rick Thigpen:
Richard T. Thigpen was named senior vice president – Corporate Citizenship in July 2018. Mr. Thigpen is also chairman of the PSEG Foundation. He is responsible for areas of the business that drive public policy through advocacy, including federal, state and local government affairs, sustainability, charitable activities and corporate social responsibility. Mr. Thigpen is a member of PSEG’s Executive Officer Group. Mr. Thigpen joined PSEG in March 2007 as vice president –State Governmental Affairs of PSEG Services Corp. He has been a public affairs consultant since 1999 and was a co-founding partner of 1868 Public Affairs, which provides lobbying, strategic planning, public relations and government relations services to clients in New Jersey, New York and Washington, D.C. Previously, Mr. Thigpen served as an associate at the New York law firm of Thacher Proffitt and Wood in the mortgage-backed securities practice group (1988 to 1990), was district director for U.S. Rep. Don Payne (NJ-10) (1990 to 1996) and executive director of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee (1996 to 1999). He also has served as a political analyst for New Jersey Network and as an academic associate for PublicMind, Fairleigh Dickinson University Polling and Survey Research Institute. Mr. Thigpen also was a former assistant to the president of the NAACP State Conference for Public Affairs. He is currently a member of the boards of the Regional Plan Association, the New Jersey Climate Change Alliance, the New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus Foundation, New Jersey Television, the Brown University Alumni Association and the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund. He also is a member of the American Association of Blacks in Energy’s national board and chair of the Legislative Issues and Public Policy Committee.

Mr. Thigpen holds a Doctor of Law degree from Columbia University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Brown University.

Understanding your past is one of the toughest things leaders can do. How can my experiences, failures or misguided beliefs help shape me as a leader?
AABE CEO Paula Glover explores these questions in her latest conversation with Timothy Alan Simon (Principal at TAS Strategies) and much more. They cover his background, how to changed beliefs later in life, and everything leaders.
For all things AABE, subscribe to this podcast and follow us on social media @AABE www.aabe.org
About Timothy Alan Simon
Timothy A. Simon is a former California Public Utilities Commissioner and Appointments Secretary for the State of California. TAS Strategies, his consulting and legal advisory firm, serves clients on utility infrastructure, energy, broadband and financial services. TAS Strategies offers innovative solutions across the entire spectrum of power generation, delivery, and utilization. Timothy is an esteemed attorney, consultant, law professor, expert witness and public speaker combining over 40 years of experience in government regulations, utilities, financial services and diversity.

AABE CEO Paula Glover is back with another episode of Always Bet on Black, this time sitting down with Robert Wilkinson, Professor in Leadership at Harvard.
In this episode, Robert and Paula dicuss all things leadership: what makes good leaders, how we ALL are really leaders, and how you can grow and become a leader. This fascinating conversation leaves you with 3 credit hours at Harvard (double check us on that) for listening all the way through!
For all things AABE, subscribe to this podcast and follow us on social media @AABE www.aabe.org
About Robert Wilkinson
Robert Wilkinson teaches courses on negotiation and leadership, specializing in team and group dynamics.  He is on the faculty at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and was previously a faculty member of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Rob successfully supports numerous Fortune 500 companies, major government agencies, international organizations, and charities, helping them to build their negotiation, leadership and team management skills, and to increase their overall effectiveness. He has more than 25 years of experience, in over 50 countries, across the public, private and not-profit sectors.
Non-profit and public sector clients include the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Wildlife Fund, National Urban League, US Postal Service, CARE International, the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the White House, where he trained Presidential Appointees in negotiation, management and leadership.
Corporate clients include companies such as Deloitte, Chevron, IBM, Merck, Fidelity Investments, ExxonMobil, Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thermo Fisher Scientific and many others.
Previously, Rob worked overseas for 15 years, on a variety of international projects. This included spending three years in Rwanda working with Hutu and Tutsi communities, two years working with the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Angola, and 18 months in Laos, consulting on a variety of community development programs. He began his overseas work in Nicaragua, in both Sandinista and Contra areas.
Rob earned his Masters of Science (MS) from Stanford University, and Bachelors of Science (BS) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Welcome to the AABE Podcast with your hosted, Paula Glover: CEO and President of the American Association of Blacks in Energy!
On todays episode, Paula turns over the reins to Anuj A. Shah, Managing Director at KKS Advisors where he helps leads the firm operations, specifically ESG and impacting investing.  Mr. Shah moderates this panel which includes AABE's very own Gwen Mizell (who also doubles as the Vice President of Sustainability at Ameren)  Rose McKinney-James (Managing Principal at Energy Works LLC) and Jonathan Firestein (MD at Purpose Capital Advisors).
They discuss all things ESG and sustainability investing. Its a wonderful conversation, thanks all for joining us
Follow AABE on social via @AABE on all platforms. For all things AABE, visit us at www.aabe.org
Originally aired 7/22/2020

AABE CEO Paula Glover is back with another episode of Always Bet on Black, this time sitting down with Shannon Pierce (Vice President Growth and Chief External Affairs Officer for SouthStar Energy Services.
This conversation starts by learning more about Shannon, why she studied law, how the energy business found her (not the other way around) and how to be the change we want to see in our companies.
For all things AABE, subscribe to this podcast and follow us on social media @AABE www.aabe.org
About Shannon Pierce:
Shannon Pierce is Vice President and Chief External Affairs Officer for SouthStar Energy Services, part of the Southern Company family of componines
Since joining Southern Company Gas in 2004 as regulatory counsel for the company's legal activities with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Pierce has held additional leadership roles with increasing responsibility.
Prior to her current position, she served as vice president of external affairs for the southern operations division of Southern Company Gas, where she was responsible for regulatory and governmental affairs for three natural gas utilities: Atlanta Gas Light, Chattanooga Gas and Florida City Gas. In addition, she led engagement efforts with retail natural gas marketers in Georgia.
In previous roles, Pierce also served as Southern Company Gas senior counsel for gas operations and interstate transactions; as well as southern operations managing director of regulatory affairs and marketer services and vice president of state and federal regulatory affairs. Prior to joining Southern Company Gas, Pierce was an associate in the energy and utilities group at McGuire Woods LLP, based in Richmond, Va.