Intro 0:06 
Thank you for meeting us at the intersection where the worlds of energy and technology come together.

Sheryl Riggs 0:13 
Presented by Anterix. For those of you listening for the first time, welcome. And for those returning listeners, welcome back. This is our first Premier podcast kick off of 2023. And we have a very, very special and esteemed guest, and I'm sure you're all gonna enjoy it. I've been looking forward to it. 

I'm UTCs President and CEO, Sheryl Riggs, and today I am joined by Paula Glover. She is the president of the Alliance to Save Energy. She has more than 25 years of experience in the energy industry. She's a leader, a pioneer, Paula has also has been with the Alliance since 2021. And she's only the seventh president in its 45-year history, very impressive. As President Paula is responsible for working with the Alliance's diverse stakeholders to build lasting consensus based solutions. And it will come naturally because Paula also served as the President and CEO of the American Association of Blacks in Energy, which is a nonprofit group focusing on ensuring that African Americans and other minorities have a seat at the table regarding discussions and development of policy regulations and environmental issues. And I'm proud to say I am still a member of AABE. And it's a wonderful organization that's worked with UTC for many decades. 

So Paula, thank you so much, again, for joining us. Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself? Because I know you have done so much we probably that could be the whole podcast is just talking about some of the things that you have done in this industry. 

Paula Glover 1:46 
Thank you so much. No, I'm so thrilled to be here with my friend, Sheryl Riggs, and just Hello to all the folks who are listening. Thank you for having me. 

Sheryl Riggs 1:57 
I'm just so honored. I really I'm a I'm a baby in this industry, it's probably the only thing I can say I'm a baby in. Paula Glover was one of the first people so kudos, a shout out to Rob Thormeyer, who introduced us. He knew that she was a leader, a CEO, just a champion that I needed to be in touch with. And what he didn't know like he said, the friendship that would evolve. And I'm so grateful to him. I'm so grateful for you taking that call. Because I know the schedule, your schedule is super busy. I just want to let everybody know, too because I can't wait. I believe our schedules have been crossed. But I just want to everybody know, Paula also has a fantastic podcast himself, called "Always Bet on Black." And it highlights African American leaders in the energy and industry industries. Paula, I'm sorry, I wasn't able to make it last year, but I will make it as soon as you have time for people to you want to tell us about it about that? 

Paula Glover 2:53 
Yes, sure. So "Always Bet on Black" actually happened, kind of very organically out of the out of the pandemic. And you know, I've always been really very, very blessed and lucky to get to know and work with some incredible African American leaders in this business, like just amazing people. And so I thought about all the questions that I get about, "Do you know someone who can do x?" Or "Do you know, someone who can do Y?", or just the conversations that I would have with them, and thought, you know, it'd be really neat for people to hear our journeys, because they're so different, and says something to my team about it. And they ran with it when I was at aid. And then all of a sudden, they handed me a schedule and was like, let's get started. And it's been incredibly fun to get to know people and to hear their stories. And even I always walk away with something that I've learned and that I apply, you know, in my work life and I'll think about I'm like, Man when was that was I said this? Yeah, they were absolutely right. So that that's the blessing and all of it. 

Sheryl Riggs 3:59 
And it is amazing. So I mean, maybe I'm not supposed to do this, but I'm plugging for please, please listen to her podcast because I think they jumped on it. Just like I was super excited when I heard about it and even more honored when you even considered me to even be a guest. That short. Yeah, they jumped on it because the journey is the stories they need to be told. In our industry. We always talk about the underrepresented, the underserved whether we're talking about an issue a technical issue like broadband or cybersecurity, whatever the area is, um, but your podcasts and our journeys speaks to that and how we can serve and change that around from underrepresented and underserved we want to take that "under" away and just make "served" and "represented" it so that is fantastic. So after more than 25 years in the industry, even though she she for those-- look her up-- she's She looks like she now she looks like she's 25 But what after more than 25 years in the industry? What's the biggest change that you've seen?

Paula Glover 5:05 
You know, what the biggest change is this conversation that we are having these we've been having around justice and energy. And you mentioned, you know, when you introduce me that I spent this time at the American Association of Black in Energy as a CEO, I like you have been a member of this organization for now, almost 30 years, probably a little bit more than 30 years, super impactful for me. But this is a topic while the term was not called energy justice is a topic that that association has been talking about for its entire 45, 46-year history. And so to see, after 40 years, that language, you know, we've had a name for it, and to see all the different kinds of people who are now focused on justice, for whatever reason, that is the biggest change. I've ever seen. 

Sheryl Riggs 6:00 
And that is huge. I mean, I even from my lens, because I know when I first I had an opportunity to participate in a group on environmental justice, and as we were preparing, you know, we're like, Okay, well, what is it? We're researching? Like you said, it has a term. And I remember telling my colleague, "oh, I know exactly what this is," but I didn't call it environmental justice. So you're right to see us have a term to bring more and more awareness that people are this is not just a conversation, it's a call to action, with real change and support. So that is a huge change. Huge change. Yes, it's so many areas, so many ways. very impactful. And I keep going back to the underrepresented, underserved, because actually, even through conversations with you, I even learned about really what that term meant. And what we're talking about, we're talking about so many groups of people, just people kind of get caught up in their silo. Okay. Well, this is the group we're talking about. No, we're talking about everybody pretty much.

Paula Glover 7:09 
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. 

Sheryl Riggs 7:11 
Let's see. So that is a huge change. I have to agree with you that was spot on. Well, like you said, You've been with ASE, serving as president and CEO, since 2021. But you had you have been on his board before that you were involved with

Paula Glover 7:28 
as I was, I sat I joined the board of the Alliance, I think in maybe the spring or summer of 2016. So had the opportunity to be on that board with, again, a bunch of tremendous leaders and people that I what I did not know, which is always really mean when you're exposed to a sector of the industry that you don't typically work with all the time, which was, you know, the case for me. And I think additionally, certainly, in that moment, being a woman of color and getting to serve on the Alliance board is prestigious, you know, it's not an organization that had been known for its diversity. And we had at when I joined the board, two of my mentors, one was rolling off rose McKinney, James, and Carolyn Green, who, of all the people that I've met and known in this industry, she is truly known me the longest, like from day one like, and so to get to serve on the board with them. And now to lead an organization where Carolyn still serves as our treasurer is such a pleasure. There is pressure because, you know, I think all of us who are mentors, we want them to be proud of us. And I certainly want Carolyn to be proud of me, I want all of the people who have supported and mentored me, the people who hired me, to be proud of me. And to feel like she was a great decision like hiring Paula was a great decision. And even when things don't go awesome, or don't go exactly how I planned them. You know, that level of support is so important. And so I'm super lucky that I get it. But with the Alliance, my relationship with the Alliance, I think we started so long ago, and that may be why I'm so comfortable now. Like how much I enjoy it. And why I'm so passionate about is because I was so familiar with the organization before when I got there.

Sheryl Riggs 9:26 
That is that you said a mouthful 

Paula Glover 9:30 
Whole bunch. 

Sheryl Riggs 9:31 
You said and you you gave voice to a lot of people, including myself. I mean, I remember when I first met you as a first time CEO, just really not even believing in awe that I was in your presence. The respect for not just the knowledge but like you said, being one of a minority woman in the room. Where a room that is not necessarily the was comfortable room. And there's so much to learn from your experiences. So yes, there is that you want anyone who's poured into you to be proud of you. So like I said, make a decision that that is well done. And even if it's on a relationship level like ours, I feel the same way that your time is so precious. And I just feel like the story needs to be heard. So as you know, I just I'm plugging away because going back to why we're here at The Intersection is we're here because we I want people who know nothing about energy, wonder what's going on? I want them to find a place. Where can you fit in? Because people like yourself, have shown me finance background, accounting background, so called "Numbers girl", there's room for you to here in this important work, like you said, energy justice. And I know at ASE, you talk, you talked about energy efficiency, like affordability, you know, all that's tied in economic growth, decarbonization, and so much more. So there's room for everybody. And we actually need everybody, as we see these attacks, and there's so many things going on. So what do you what do you say about that? Like, if you wanted to, you know, help me help us reach the individuals, or they just pop in there? Like, what is this all about this energy sector? And what can I do here? 

Paula Glover 11:22 
Yeah, I think, you know, I've reflected a lot on this, because I think, as I think about in the broader context of your question, which is really like, how do we diversify this workforce and bring people in?

You know, I think this is an industry that's this really exciting. And, you know, long time ago, and I'll share the story, what really got me kind of laser focused on energy. And this is probably not quite 20 years ago.

And in fact, I'm working with the woman I mentioned, Carolyn Green on an event. And we were doing something about energy and international, whatever, I can't even remember what it was the I know, it was the millennial challenge had energy in 2000, as one of its focus areas for the world, as I'm doing some research to better understand why would energy rise to the top like that. And as I was researching, and understanding and learning, like all the things that this industry effectuates for the quality of life for people. And that in areas where people don't have access to electricity and energy. You know, it's not just heating and cooling, it's also lack of access to medical treatment, a lack of access to medicines, a lack of access to education, to clean water, like there's so many things. And so that was really the turning point for me that when I saw how this little industry that I thought I was working in right, just taking people's bills and trying to explain, save on your gas bill. And no, you don't need to do this. But but really understood that like, there's so many people around the world, there's all this other stuff that they also don't have access to because they don't have access to what I was assuming was a basic that everybody had, right couldn't imagine that somebody wouldn't have electricity. So that really drove me and really had me like, this is the industry I want to be in. This is the business I want to be in. And I am a marketing major. So I'm big on niche markets, I understand the power of a niche market. And so I was okay with like, I want to focus on the relationship that black communities have with the energy system, right. And when I worked in utilities, I could still talk about that even if that wasn't the number one priority, it was still important. I had actually to give it voice. Because people don't normally think about it, right? We assume that every community's relationship with our energy system is exactly the same. 

Sheryl Riggs 13:48 
Exactly. 

Paula Glover 13:50 
And it's not. Right. And now right. Now we note like now we're we're not only honoring that we're actually recognizing that to the investments that we're making right through this administration, when we talk about energy justice, and we're talking about infrastructure, and equity and all this other stuff. It really is an acknowledgment that all of our communities relate to this system very differently. And if you live in a rural community, there are things that you have, and there are things that you do not have, that you should have that you do not have in terms of your energy infrastructure. If you live in a poor urban center, you may have a lot of things, but you may have the inability to adopt new technology because you don't have broadband or the load and the greatest. Like there's all kinds of things that connect us with this system and our communities experience it differently, for whatever reason, but that actually had me say You know what? Energy is a super interesting thing. And I think if we can talk about it that way, you begin to attract more people. But the other side of that I would say is this and I experiencing this at my hiring at the alliance is we've tried to diversify our staff, and I think my team has done an exceptional job at diversifying our staff. But we've also had to ask ourselves some really tough questions about what are we looking for? 

Sheryl Riggs 15:10 
Yes. 

Paula Glover 15:10 
and challenge ourselves about our requirements, an example would be, I want to diverse hire, or I want a diverse slate of people candidates that I can consider. But I also want you to have 10 years experience. And so but if we know that our sector is got 8% minority representation, we've already really made that pool super, super small, but the people who can apply position because we want them to have all this experience. So we started thinking about what are the skills that you need somebody to have? Right? And how do they demonstrate those skills? Because we could teach them a lot. 

Sheryl Riggs 15:52 
Exactly. 

Paula Glover 15:53 
And in changing our own thinking, our workforce changed considerably, right considerably. And and it's been an amazing thing. And we've gotten comments and pretty people, I've got comments with people who will say, you know, when I looked at the staff, pre 2018, and I looked at the staff now it looks so different, right? Better Balance of men and women, right? Better Balance of people of color, and not just African Americans. No, it's not what I'm saying, right? Right, that's an amazing thing. And so I would say to are those in the audience who have the opportunity to hire, you got to think differently about who you're hiring and what you really need. Right? And that there is power, there's such power in and having a diverse team and a diverse, diverse workforce, that as employers, maybe we need to work a little harder to teach people about our business. But we also need to give folks a chance, they don't have to have every single thing on the list to be successful. They don't, I'm learning that, right, that if you're willing to teach and someone is willing to learn, there's very little that people cannot accomplish.

Sheryl Riggs 17:21 
I agree.

Paula Glover 17:21 
like that they can take that on. And so I think as we're thinking about this ecosystem that we're building here, and in terms of our, our industry, there is a lot that we can do right now. Right? That's not we need more kids to study STEM, we need to recruit at HBCUs and minority serving institutions, which are two things that we absolutely need to happen, like, full stop. But this even in spite of that stuff, there are things that we could still do in terms of how do we hire? How do we assess candidates? What are we really looking for? What's the level of commitment that we have? How flexible are we willing to be? What are we willing to teach? Right? Do we really need all 15 things on the job description? Or do we really need three? And like are the other 12 nice things that we could have. But, you know, if I didn't have and then nothing burgers. And so I think you know, for us in the industry, if we if this is a focus of ours, and if this is what we are committed to as leaders, then we got to check ourselves and our own biases in terms of what are we expecting people to come in with?

Sheryl Riggs 18:30 
I definitely agree. I mean, when I first started UTC, it was similar to what you're saying. It looked very different. And that was one of the things that several board members commended me on and they said, Well, what about our board it needs to be diversified too. that's a little more challenging, but not be in the role that I'm in now. It's like you said, the first step is not just to handpick people, but is to change the mindset and the culture of the board. To to explain for one, what does diversity really mean? How can we you, you know, you really can't say diversity without saying equity or thinking of equity and inclusion. Because even if we put people in place, and they don't feel included, they're at the table, but they don't really have a voice, we still have not really achieved diversity. So you're right, we have to change our thinking. And I'm for industry that has been doing things a certain way, and it has worked for them. It's hard. It's very difficult. That's fine. I think the energy sector is having one of the most difficult times when we talk about workforce crisis. And it's unfortunate because we need people in this area, like you said, STEM, which one of the things not just changing, changing even how we, but you know what, as I think about it, it's not even changing. It's just like, trying to figure out how to connect the dots to you. Like in the energy sector. A lot of times people refer family members, which is common, so do the same thing now, refer your family members, take them out,

Paula Glover 20:03 
I will tell you I have a son who works in energy efficiency. Never in a million years would have thought that would have happened, none of my children seem remotely interested in what I did for a living as long as like, I could pay for your stuff. You got new sneakers, you got what you need. But watching him be interested

Sheryl Riggs 20:26 
exactly 

Paula Glover 20:27 
in his own work has and that and finding and finding some interest in this work has been really neat. And so I, I agree with you, right, we need to spread the word. I have another young man that I just hired who was referred to me through my son, right, young man that he knew. And so it can work that way. Right? It can work that way. You put them in the lineup, you introduce them to people. And so I've been lucky, probably because I have kids who have just gotten out of college in last four or five years, when they're looking for work, I'll say, Hey, I know some people you need to talk to, you know, sometimes that works out. Sometimes it doesn't work out. But what I also see them do is tell other people. Right? So I've seen my son's friends tell their friends to call me because they might be interested in energy. And I might know somebody or I have cousins, who will call me and say, Hey, there's a guy I work with whose son is an engineer, and he wants to learn more about environments. Can he call you to learn more about that? And I'm always like, yeah, absolutely. You know, and let me connect this kid to somebody else. Because I think while that's why we need a lot of people. So that's not a good way to build scale, it's still a way to get our messaging out. And to get people to think about us as a career.

Sheryl Riggs 21:49 
Exactly. And, to your point. The same thing for me, because, I mean, as a finance or accounting background, I've had the pleasure of working in different industries. And I say pleasure, because I get to learn the back end of how things are operating. And wow, this industry is generating that. And I'll be quite frank with you, the energy sector wasn't a attraction, I wasn't attracted to it. And I also didn't know much or hear much about it. I remember in my 20s, I wanted to work for, I wanted to be a celebrity accountant. And I did have the opposite, because I want to be around celebrities. You know, and I had the opportunity to work in a space where I did get to meet several people. But I also saw too, this is not all it's cracked up to be. But when I did get into the energy sector like you and started connecting the dots, because I hadn't been exposed to all these other industries and just life, I realized, wait a minute, this is this is sexy, this is this is serious. This is life or death. This you talk about serving your community, you talk about making an impact, right here. And there are so many ways you can do it. Yes, you can. You can be an engineer, but you can be a nurse, you can be a lawyer, you can there's tons tons of you can be a salesperson at a you know, with a technology partner, like we have technology partners, we just have to get that information out. Not only that is the job, But how meaningful and impactful we're talking about. We need environmental justice, well, we need people at the table to bring up the points of view that hey, have you considered that? Well, we're talking about putting solar roofs on people's homes, that their homes are not going to be able to handle it, because a lot of them are older homes or just not really maintained very well, structurally. So that's something like that, you'd have different opinions that will help us make better conscious decisions for our communities that we serve, and it will slowly take that under represented underserved off, we need people at the table who can actually speak from a place of Yes, I have my practical my theoretical degrees and knowledge. But I also have practical life to know that my grandparents home is very old, um, they may not be able to, we're gonna have to do some structural changes to their roof and I don't know if they're gonna be able to afford that. So all of that to say, but I try to stay focused because I'm just so you know, how we do when we get together. It's like we talked. 

Paula Glover 24:31 
I want to pick up on something that one I think shout up or amplify something that you just said, because I think it's important. Working this business is about being of service. And it may not seem that way to folks on the outside. But the folks who work in this business across sectors are about serving their community. And so, you know, just a reminder for I think all of us and I think it's always a healthy reminder when we're coming in and out of storm season, like shout out to these guys. The line men, the welders, the plumbers, the gas distribution techs, the platform, guys who are out there in the Gulf, like all of these individuals really put themselves at great risk, it is why safety is so important to us as an industry, they are putting themselves at risk, so that we can have the basic comforts that we require day to day. And so, you know, irrespective of how frustrated we may be with our utility company, or how high the bill is, or the service has been, you know, the service is out and the restoration is taking longer than you know any of us really want is the audience, right? Nobody wants a service to go down. Nobody nobody wants that. Even with all of that those men and women prioritize this work, they prioritize the customers, right? Their families are out. Yeah, they leave home to try to get service back on, right. And I can remember when I was that age and and through the years, right, meeting people who work during Hurricane Katrina, who worked during Superstorm Sandy, who had to leave their state, the direction in Washington, DC, right, they left home so that they could provide that's what the that's what this system is designed to do. And so for all of its frustrations, it's a good system. 

Sheryl Riggs 26:33 
It's a good system

Paula Glover 26:33 
it's a good system. I just, you know, shout out to all the people who do that hard work, because it is not without sacrifice, and it largely goes unrecognized.

Sheryl Riggs 26:44 
Yes. And And with that, you're right. I tell people every time and thank you. Just thank you and you too, these are the leaders, real decision makers. Shout out to you too, and many others that have come before that are coming up behind us. Because it is not for the faint. Number one. And it's not for the faint. Because once you really connect the dots and realize this is life or death. You know, I used to say occasionally, oh, well, we're not doing brain surgery, you know, so, but I have to retract that statement and change it a little bit. We may not be doing brain surgery, but I tell you what, attacks on the power grid, or you'll see how long we can last. Without power without water and attack on our water system. You want to hope that they have something in place to detect that and fix it very quickly before we realize, oh, wow, the water system has been attacked and 1000s are dead. So you start to realize that your work is that critical. So you know, shout out to you too.

Paula Glover 27:52 
Well, and it's fun. Oh, it is.

Sheryl Riggs 27:56 
It is fun. And you know, nothing I say is, is diversity, we're gonna we're gonna try to wrap it up. Because like I said, I want to say something to what you said about me, this is good work and a service. I try to remind people don't get so nervous when we talk about diversity because sometimes people get a little nervous because it feels like we're trying to maybe put one group above another group. But the reality is, because this is life changing for all of us, it impacts all of us. So if we all do something to lift it up, if everybody's getting broadband service, we win. Because now we have a society that can be educated, whether it's remotely online, or even if they don't have a school, the best school system they have access to learning. We have they have access elderly people, people who live in different remote areas, or may not have funding to get back and forth to several doctor's visits, they can do telemedicine and check in even for our mental health we learned during COVID You know how it can be very challenging to deal with some of the everyday situations and you might need emergency mental health, emotional health. Now we can be connected family members who you couldn't see you need that bond, we are human. So there's so many things that the technology of it is transcends, you know, way beyond like you said, it's so big. So with all of that, I mean, I just want I just this is awesome. I hope people chime in, listen to you. Reach out, look up, look you up on ASE how they can get involved. I hope this motivates if nothing else, get involved. Reach out to me UTC it would get involved. We want you to get involved, but it has been great. So before we wrap this episode up, and I hope we'll follow it up with an in person visit because it's been a minute please leave us with a Any thing you would like to close out this episode?

Paula Glover 30:11 
You know, I think what I would want to say to people and thinking about your your remarks about diversity and even, you know, as I think about the work we have to do around energy justice. Yeah, it's hard work. It's work though. Like work is designed, you know, I put to my kids when they're like, and I'm just so tired from work and I'm like, right because it's work. Like work. Yeah. If that's what it is, you're going to be tired. It's labor. It's also meaningful, right? It could also be really fun. It's also impactful. And so what I would say is we don't need to shy away from the hard work. We need to lean into the hard work, because shying away from the hard work is literally why we why we're in this situation that we're in now.

We can't run away from it. Right? We cannot and so this is the time for us to be our most creative. It is a time for us to be our most innovative. It is also the tech west to be our most empathetic kind and caring. And we're in a unique position. I think it may be that as a blessing that comes out of COVID that we are literally all in the same place. Right? Right. And so we got this opportunity and what we choose to do with it, right is and the result of that will quickly be our choice, but we can't say they never took care of it. We have to take care of it. We don't take care of it because we decided we didn't want to do that. But I know for sure my family will not look back at me and say that their mother, grandmother, great grandmother, did not think it was important enough to handle. They will know that I gave it my best effort and I would invite everybody, whatever that thing is that you're passionate about give that mess the hard work your best effort,

Sheryl Riggs 32:10 
well said and thank you, Paula Glover and these people chime in the title of this podcast appropriately is industry trailblazers. So please if you want to hear from an industry Trailblazer Paula Glover, chime in this was a new set it all. Good work important work. I even you gave me a word for today because I was late last night and my daughter got sick and I probably got back to sleep around four and and you know popping up. I was like oh, tired but I'm energized. I'm good now. Because like I said, this is an important meaningful work. We need to do it and I'm glad to be a part of it. I'm glad to be a part of it. So thank you, you and I got something out there. 

Paula Glover 32:54 
Thank you for being my friend.

Sheryl Riggs 32:58 
Thank you. Thank you and I hope to see you soon. Take care and I'll see you soon. Thank you so much.