Her Story
About Lisa
I went to Colorado College for my undergrad degree and studied economics, which was very interesting, and I also became very interested in preserving natural resources, which I continued to study and work in as I went to law school in Boulder. I learned to love the West and wanted to work out here. I continued expanding my education mostly through practicing law in different positions, and then became part of a firm locally in Colorado and became a partner, but wanted to branch out again and learn new fields. What I've done is sort of continue to learn new areas of the law throughout my career. I've been working in the energy regulation field for about 18 years, transitioning from a more traditional legal background in transactional law, commercial and business and real estate transactions, because I wanted to meld the business role I played in my professional work with my personal interest in environmental work. I started as a partner at a law firm where I was able to choose my client base, then eventually transitioned into my own firm about 10 years ago in 2016. I primarily worked for one trade association of large renewable energy developers as their Senior Regulatory Attorney, and left that position about a little over a year ago to branch out to represent other clients. Currently, I'm working with a small group to build a new organization, helping to develop energy market organizations through research, background drafting of documents, and regulation about governance of large organizations. My work involves a lot of calls and meetings conducted remotely around the West.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Lisa
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to a lot of hard work and always being over-prepared.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would advise that they have somewhat of a broad background and be flexible about where they're going to work, in terms of location as well as for whom and with whom, because it's a rapidly changing field. But I would encourage them to join the field because there is a lot of opportunity, and I know that younger people like to make an impact, and there's that ability to do so. And to get a good mentor, which I didn't do as well as I could have, and so that's one thing I like to do, is mentor young people.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
There's certainly a lot of economic and political headwinds in the energy field since the U.S. doesn't have a very well-shaped national energy policy. It is subject to the economic and political changes that result from our changing administrations, and that flows down to the state level, so changes at the state level also impact the economics of energy production, especially renewable energy. It is highly regulated, all types of energy are highly regulated, and therefore very much influenced by public policy, and those have driven in different directions, even at the state level, through the last 15 years. That's a challenge to get in front of that, to make predictions, so that you can smooth out the business environments for your clients as well as possible. Because increased volatility in the market increases business risk and cost, and so you want to make solid predictions and help your clients.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
In my work, I'm very interested in thinking about best practices and what are sustainable processes which are going to provide a solid underpinning for any organizational operation. When we're creating a new entity, we're trying to make it transparent and well-organized and supported by stakeholders broadly. In my personal life, I try to pass on to the younger generation in my family and otherwise with whom I might associate so that they have the benefits that I had of a good education and support as they grow and change. I also try to pass on what I've learned, which is that we have long careers, and it's good to be prepared for multiple types of career through one lifetime, because we don't stick with one job anymore. It takes some support, though, to feel like you can take the risk of making changes, and yet that's the best way to grow and be successful, so I try to support people through those changes.
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