Jennifer Daw
National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Bree Mendlin
Hydropower Foundation

Ozan Ferrin
Tacoma Power

Jenna Borovansky
HDR

Jennifer King

Kleinschmidt Associates

DESCRIPTION

Join us for an engaging fireside chat with esteemed hydropower community members to explore and share insights & best practices for building a resilient and forward-looking workforce. Key topics include preparing for retirement, strategies to attract and retain the next generation, the potential impact on institutional knowledge, and practical approaches for fostering a diverse and equitable culture.  

Co-Facilitators:

• Jennifer Daw, Senior Researcher and Manager, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• Bree Mendlin, Program Director, Hydropower Foundation

Panelists:

• Ozan Ferrin, Engineering Manager, Tacoma Power
• Melanie Peck, Seattle City Light
• Jenna Borovansky, Regional Relicensing Business Class Lead, HDR
• Jennifer King, Talent Management Business Partner, Kleinschmidt Associates

Speaker Bios:

• Jennifer Daw has led hydropower workforce analysis activities and program development for over 5 years with funding from the DOE Water Power Technologies Office. She has a background in civil and environmental engineering and has worked on water systems for the entirety of her 23-year career thus far. For the past 13 years she has worked at NREL where her work has focused on the intersection of energy and water systems.
• Bree Mendlin serves as the Program Director at the Hydropower Foundation. With a passion for promoting hydropower careers among post-secondary students pursuing STEM degrees, Bree brings a decade of invaluable experience to her role. In her multifaceted position, Bree is deeply involved in various aspects of the Hydropower Foundation's mission. Bree's portfolio extends to program management, where she has taken the lead on groundbreaking initiatives, including the recent Waterpower Club = Waterpower Community = WC2 partnerships program and the STEM workforce development project in collaboration with NREL and the U.S. Department of Energy's Water Power Technologies Office. Bree coordinates innovative activities that resonate with the next generation of hydropower professionals. This includes managing the ever-expanding Hydro Think Tank student competitions, organizing career fairs, and overseeing educational scholarships. Her commitment and passion for engaging and supporting the next generation in the hydropower sector is evident in every aspect of her work. Bree Mendlin holds a bachelor's degree in communication from the University of Colorado at Denver and feels blessed to be married to her best friend and the mother of two teenage boys.
• Ozan Ferrin grew up in Turkey, and since coming to the Unites States has been a resident of the Tacoma area. He is married to Lauren Ferrin, and together they have four young children (Gideon, Arthur, Naomi, Titus). He attained a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington in Seattle. He started his career designing, programming, and commissioning saw lines and paper mills with Globe Machine Manufacturing in Tacoma before coming to Tacoma Power. He has been with Tacoma Power for 15 years and currently manages the Engineering group in the Tacoma Power Generation section.
• Jenna Borvansky: As an Associate Vice President at HDR, Jenna leads a regional based team focused on FERC relicensing and coordinates throughout her firm to build interdisciplinary and diverse project teams. Jenna is a project manager with nearly 25 years of experience with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) licensing, multi-stakeholder process facilitation and negotiation support, endangered species management planning, and water quality permitting efforts, primarily in the western United States and Alaska. She has supported FERC licensees in all aspects of license development, including agency consultation and regulatory document development and strategic planning. In addition to her FERC licensing experience, Jenna has extensive public communication experience in the development of water quality and resource management plans. She has facilitated community involvement workshops for international wildlife management planning and led workshops focusing on topics related to the FERC licensing process.
• Jennifer King is a professional engineer turned HR professional. She's served as a project manager, HR director, and now is Talent Management Business Partner at Kleinschmidt Associates, a firm specializing in hydropower throughout US and Canada. At Kleinschmidt, she is focused on development and retention of our employees which ultimately ensures we can serve our clients over the long-term.