Founded in 2009, the North Texas chapter encompasses the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and surrounding counties. Being one of the fastest growing economies in the country, the North Texas region is home to several oil and gas, power and renewable energy companies, utilities and consulting firms supporting this industry. At the North Texas Chapter, our mission is to build a community of women in energy that is focused on education, career development and advocacy.
WEN-NT signed the Affiliation Agreement with WEN in February 2009. The certificate of formation of our Chapter was dated effective April 28, 2009 and we our WEN launch event in 2009 at Thompson & Knight’s offices. WEN founder Karyl White spoke. We were the first chapter of WEN to launch outside Houston. The official Chapter vision was to provide networking and community outreach opportunities and foster career and leadership development with the initial number of members during the first year of formation between 60-70.
The signatories of the WEN affiliation agreement who also served as founders of the North Texas Chapter and initial Board members included:
- Lori Ward (President),
- Debra Villarreal (Secretary),
- Ann Vandenberg (Public Relations Director),
- Christina Kitchens (Vice President),
- Melinda Yee (Treasurer)
- Amber Shockey (Membership Director)
- Sue Rader (Special Events and Networking Director)
- Sarah Bennett (Assistant Special Events and Networking Director)
- Jill McMillian, although not part of the founding group, served as an initial Board Member as the Communications Director