The fourth annual SETX Women in Industry (WII) Week was March 24-28, as female leaders from the Southeast Texas industrial community united with the goal of mentoring young women in schools across the region who have shown an interest in STEM-related careers.
The mission of SETX Women in Industry Week is to showcase the many career opportunities that exist within the industry.
The events throughout the week connected students with female executives from a broad range of careers and specialties.
The opening event was the Women in Industry Art Museum Mixer on March 24 at the Art Museum of SETX in Beaumont. The social mixer was to introduce subject matter experts, event hosts and other attendees to one another.
At the mixer, there were displays of 29 women in the industry.
According to Katie Celli, executive director for Southeast Texas WII, every year, the group features new women as “subject matter experts.”
“Our whole mission of Southeast Texas Women in Industry is to introduce the various careers that are available within the oil and gas industry to young ladies in high schools across our region,” she said.
Celli recognized the posters of “subject matter experts” in their particular career role, whether it be a plant manager, a maintenance manager, human resources or an engineer.
The posted experts included:
• Kathy Thibodeaux, senior project manager for TotalEnergies
• Gloria Blanco, manufacturing director of Chemical Operations for Goodyear
• Natasha Garrett, CEO of G&G Enterprises
• Mary Wycoff, Port of Port Arthur commissioner
• Sarah Skillern, Environmental, Health, Safety and Security superintendent at Chevron Phillips Chemical Plant in Orange
• Ester Esquivel, community outreach manager for Associated Builders and Contractors SETX training center
• Carrie Phillips, plant manager for Chevron Phillips Chemical Plant in Orange
• Veronica Chavez, Chevron operations manager for Port Arthur Lubricants Plant and Galena Park Fuels Terminal
• Brittany Shifflett, asset management engineer for Entergy
• Rebecca Kelley, human resource manager for the Signature Group
• Jessica Self, assistant superintendent at Valero Port Arthur Refinery
• Nakia Langley, co-founder/vice president of Tower Security Co. LLC
• Amanda Van Doornik, Port Arthur LNG EOC contract manager for Sempra
• Selby Bush Lilley, regional vice president, External Affairs and Communications for Sempra
• Penny Campbell, site human resource manager for OCI Global
• Jaci Bundick, mechanical and process engineering leader for Hargrove Engineers and Constructors
• Victoria Baker, COO of Beaumont Industrial Safety Training Council
• Annie Howell, executive vice president and senior project manager for H.B. Neild Construction
• Preetam Rane, senior PSM engineer for Motiva
• Samantha Robinson, safety advisor for ExxonMobil
• Tina Vo-Flener, operations leader at Dow-Sabine River Operations
• Sara Al-Madadi, operations readiness coordinator for Golden Pass LNG
• Maria Kiechler, static equipment engineer at Golden Pass LNG
• Jennifer Job, senior counsel of ExxonMobil
• Kristan Meredith, senior business development manager for the Brock Group
• Rachel Babcock, production director for Dow-Sabine River Operations
• Allison Ruffing, senior operations manager for C4 Unit at BASF TotalEnergies Petrochemicals in Port Arthur
• Shannon Woolridge, senior process engineer at Arkema
• Skylar Deranieri, director of maintenance support for Cheniere
“This is the fourth WII event and it has grown tremendously every single year,” Celli said.
According to Celli, the Networking Luncheon at Bob Bowers Civic Center in Port Arthur was March 25 and each high school in Hardin, Jefferson and Orange counties was invited to send six girls interested in going into the oil and gas industry.
“Some schools are only able to send two girls. It depends on the size, but others are able to send more and we connect them with those subject matter experts,” she explained. “Those women from the posters were sitting at a table and they were surround by students for a mentoring session – a Q&A.”
Celli said girls asked questions such as: “Whow much money do you make? What was your career path? What did you guys graduate college with? Is this what you wanted to be when you were young? What’s your biggest challenge that you faced in your career?”
Before the luncheon, WII conducted a series of “expos.”
“We conducted mock interviews, we had resume critiques and all the students got a professional headshot by a professional photographer,” Celli said. “Also, we had hair and makeup tips for how to look professional for an interview. Just various stations that are helping to prepare them for an interview or for going into the workforce.”
March 26, WII visited all of the universities, colleges and higher education institutions in Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange.
“We networked with the engineering students at LIT. We networked with the construction management programs. We we networked with anybody in the universities and and colleges that are interested in going into industry,” detailed Celli.
She added, this year, WII was able to visit every high school in Hardin, Jefferson and Orange counties in a series of events. A group of 6 to 10 woman were divided and assigned to 18 schools in the three-county area.
“There was a professional sitting at each of the six tables and a group of high school girls, maybe 3 or 4, will sit for a table and have 10 minutes to talk to that one professional and ask them all kinds of questions, and to figure out what they do and what a day in the life of this professional looks like?” Celli explained.
Then a bell rings and the girls have to get up and go to the next table.
“So in that room, there might be a plant manager, a maintenance manager, a human resources director, marketing, and public relations,” she added. “There’s all different various careers and they’re able to see what all of the what what that entails for each one of them.”
“We have so much support from industry,” Celli said. “And they’ve really taken out a day all around our region to allow the women within their workforce to leave for just an hour to go out to these high schools and make a huge impact on what’s happening in these young ladies’ lives. And your eyes are just lighting up and you’ll see a ‘light bulb moment’ and they’ll say this sounds exactly like what I want to do.”
At Celli’s session at Kelly High School, 35 girls participated in the speeed mentoring event.
There were Coffee Chats on March 26, with college students across the region invited to have one-on-one conversations with leaders in industry. The meetings were held at LIT Workforce and Allied Health Training Center in Beaumont, Carl Parker Center Banquet Room in Port Arthur, Cherry Engineering Building in Beaumont, and J.B. Welch Student Center in Orange.
Last year, WII was able to deliver scholarships to young women throughout the region that were interested in going into industry. WII gave out $33,000 of scholarships last year.
“This year, we are set to give much more than that. It just continues to grow,” added Celli.
Southeast Texas Women in Industry is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to empowering the next generation of female STEM leaders. Their mission is to connect students aspiring to careers in STEM fields with industry professionals along the Sabine-Neches Waterway, fostering mentorship, guidance and inspiration to help emerging female STEM students achieve their goals and succeed in the industry.
— Dannie Oliveaux
