WORKFORCE Solutions

One year “beyond” the COVID pandemic and where did all of the workers go? Join us for a solution-oriented round table discussion related to returning to the office and workforce availability, recruitment, and retention. 

Who should attend: Managers, Human Resources, Team Leads, Operations, Communications

Why you should attend: The great resignation, the gig economy, and Federal relief packages are playing a big role in an already potentially crushing workforce challenge hydropower faces. It's time to talk about solutions. 

Brianne Wilson, moderator
Chief of Program Integration and Delivery Branch, United states army corps of engineers, Hydro electric Design Center
About Bree: Bree Sheron is the Chief of the PID branch in HDC.   She previously served as a HDC Design Manager for 6 years, 2008-2014 with primary responsibilities in the South Atlantic Division hydropower fleet.   Bree also served as a Project Manager in Portland District’s Program & Project Management Division for 2 years, 2014-2016.    Prior to her service in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bree served with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as a Civil Engineer performing structural inspections and analyses in both California and Oregon.  In recent years 2017-2019, Bree was a Project Manager for the Port of Vancouver, WA, where she led high profile projects that were part of the Vancouver Waterfront Redevelopment Plan and from 2020-2022 she worked for HDR Engineering where she was the NW Hydropower Program Manager.   In that position, Bree led the company’s Federal Hydropower program which included USACE and USBR as clients.  She led a diverse and highly technical team of design and CADD professionals.  She is a Civil Engineer alumni from Gonzaga University, licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Washington and maintains her Project Management Professional certification. 

Speakers

Bill Brown
Design & Planning Engineering Group Supervisor, Grand Coulee Power Office, US Bureau of Reclamation
About Bill: Mr. Brown is the Design & Planning Engineering Group Supervisor at the Grand Coulee Power Office for the Bureau of Reclamation. He has been employed by the US government for 27 years. He served as a nuclear trained submarine officer and is retired from the Navy Reserve. In addition to his other duties as an engineering supervisor, he has helped develop an intensive Engineer-in-Training Program for newly hired engineers to teach them hydropower engineering basics and mentor them as they progress to senior engineer status. Bill also helps coordinate Science & Technology research needs for Reclamation’s Pacific Norwest Region. He graduated from the University of Utah with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and MS in Nuclear Engineering and is a registered professional engineer in Utah.

Suzanne Estes
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Engagement, Portland state university
About Suzanne: Suzanne is a Portland State University Biology Professor and Associate Dean, and enrolled member of the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes of Oklahoma. She spent 5 years as the Program Coordinator of PSU's LSAMP Program, which supports Black, Brown and Indigenous STEM majors, and is now working with colleagues to launch a career focused student resource center at PSU that will include climate/community resilience programming and partnerships, and work to uplift Indigenous knowledges and create more pathways for Native students.

Kate Furlong-Borth
Chief, Field Division (CEHR-F), Directorate of Human Resources, United States Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters
About Kate: As the Supervisory Human Resources Specialist for the Field Division, Ms. Furlong-Borth provides strategic advice and technical expertise to the leaders of an organization of approximately 37,000 dedicated Civilians and Soldiers, delivering Human Resources services to customers throughout USACE. She supervises all Human Resources Strategic Advisors (HRSAs) within the command and directly oversees the USACE Talent Acquisition Center of Excellence (TACE), which provides strategic advice and direction on all enterprise-level talent acquisition initiatives. A native of Leavenworth, Washington, Ms. Furlong-Borth graduated from California State University, San Marcos in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, Service Sector Management.

Bree Mendlin
Program director, hydropower foundation
About Bree: Bree Mendlin has served the Hydropower Foundation since 2014, where she started as the fundraising events coordinator. As the Program Director, she manages innovative workforce programs—including Hiring for Hydro™ Career Fairs and Hydro Think Tank Student Competitions—designed to encourage young people to pursue careers within the hydropower industry. Bree works with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on a Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Workforce Development Project, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO). Through the STEM project, Bree has had the opportunity to lead the STEM Workforce Project Advisory Committee and a Hydropower Collegiate Competition Steering Committee comprised of industry stakeholders. With NREL, Bree facilitates ongoing forums to engage hydro industry professionals and academia and oversees long-term communication efforts to ensure a better understanding of tomorrow’s workforce needs and the industry that hires them.  

Northwest Hydroelectric Association
providing a regional forum for the hydropower industry

P.O. Box 441 Lake Oswego, OR 97034
Phone: 503-502-7262    Fax: 503-253-9172  Email: info@nwhydro.org