Nancy K Mitchell
Nancy is a seasoned government affairs executive with more than 17 years of professional experience, including over 15 years in the utility industry. She currently serves as Vice President of Government Affairs at USIC, where she leads strategic public policy initiatives and regulatory engagement efforts across the United States. Throughout her career, she has held leadership roles spanning customer service, media and community relations, and government affairs, building a reputation for fostering collaboration among industry stakeholders and advancing infrastructure safety and policy development.
Prior to her current role, Mitchell held several leadership positions at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), where she managed customer service operations, government relations, and regional stakeholder engagement for more than a decade. Her work included representing local power companies to executive leadership, overseeing programs related to energy delivery and pricing, and negotiating with municipal and cooperative utilities. Earlier in her career, she gained federal legislative experience serving in the U.S. Senate, further strengthening her expertise in public policy and regulatory processes.
Mitchell holds a Master of Business Administration from Western Kentucky University and a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Communications and Marketing from Murray State University. She is recognized for her ability to build effective coalitions among utilities, regulators, and policymakers, particularly in advancing legislation related to damage prevention and safe excavation practices. In her current role, she continues to drive initiatives that support infrastructure protection, industry innovation, and the modernization of utility regulations nationwide.
• Western Kentucky University
• Murray State University
• Common Ground Alliance
• Damage Prevention Action Center
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to other women in the workforce who have mentored me and made sure to reach back and encourage me to continue to move forward and find new opportunities and manage people. Having strong female mentors who saw potential in me and thought it was important to promote women leaders within their companies has been absolutely key to my career journey. Specifically, I would give credit to Carol Stewart and Laura Campbell (phonetic: 'buff'), who are executives and leaders that saw my potential and actively worked to promote women leaders within their organizations. Their guidance and support have been instrumental in helping me navigate my 22-year career.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received was to always have a plan B and C, and work hard at plan A, and make sure to do the best job possible. This advice has really stuck with me throughout my career because it reminds me to be prepared for different scenarios while still giving my absolute best effort to my primary goals. It's about being strategic and having backup options while never losing focus on excelling at what's right in front of you.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering this industry is to focus on the people and the value that you bring every day by truly caring about people and the industry and why it matters. It's not just about the technical work or the policies - it's about the human element and understanding the real impact of what we do. When you genuinely care about the people you're serving and understand why this industry matters, that authenticity and dedication will set you apart and drive your success. The relationships and the people are what make this work meaningful.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges facing young women in my field right now are being able to balance professional and personal life, and dealing with technology disruptors such as AI that are coming into the workforce. These technology disruptors are starting to replace personal interactions, meetings, and relationships, which are so fundamental to the work we do in government affairs and public policy. AI is going to change everything in our industry, and I think everybody's got to figure out how to use it to be successful. Even in underground infrastructure and public policy work, which you might think would be hands-on and relationship-based, technology is fundamentally transforming how we operate. It's a challenge we all need to navigate while maintaining the human connections that are so critical to this work.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are most important to me, both professionally and personally, are integrity, leadership, and truly caring about other people. Integrity guides everything I do - it's about being honest and ethical in all my interactions and decisions. Leadership is important not just in terms of my own career growth, but in how I can help lift up and mentor other women coming up behind me. And truly caring about other people is at the heart of everything - it's what makes the work meaningful and what drives me to make a real difference in people's lives through the work I do in public policy and infrastructure.