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Life at Deloitte

Championing Women in Energy

Get to know the ladies of Deloitte’s Women's Energy Network

Deloitte is proud to introduce a new series profiling women in the energy industry in conjunction with the Women’s Energy Network (WEN). By highlighting the stories of women in energy, we hope to help facilitate meaningful conversations, create connections, and showcase the myriad of opportunities for women to enter and thrive in the energy industry.

Powerful women. Powerful stories.

Research shows that one of the leading predictors of the stability of a country is not its GDP or its resources; it’s the access women have to education and career opportunities, as well as the diverse perspectives they bring to their respective tables. That perspective is especially vital in the Energy sector, as its facing one of the greatest talent gaps of any sector. Not only must the sector adapt to the changing skills required for massive digital transformation, it must also bridge the divide between today’s fossil fuels and the cleaner, renewable fuels of the future. Despite gender diversity being vital for driving innovative and inclusive solutions for the sector, the number of roles held by women is markedly below that of the broader economy.

In an effort to bring greater attention to the abundant opportunities for women in the energy sector, Deloitte has joined with the Women’s Energy Network (WEN) to profile some of the women leading the way.

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Sharon Chand
Sharon Chand is a principal at Deloitte & Touche LLP and leads Ecosystems & Alliances for the Cyber practice within Deloitte’s Risk & Financial Advisory business. She is also a leader in Deloitte’s Secure Supply Chain practice. With more than 25 years of experience in designing and implementing cyber risk programs, Sharon provides cyber solutions to her Energy, Resources, and Industrials clients. She has assisted clients across the energy industry from power and utilities to industrial products and construction sectors over the past 15 years. Sharon is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University.
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Patti Wilkie
Patti Wilkie is a principal at Deloitte Tax LLP ("Deloitte") and focuses on global workforce solutions, where she leads the Data as a Service practice within Deloitte’s Global Employer Services practice. She has 23 years of experience helping companies optimize their global talent and mobility function. Although she has worked with clients across a number of industries, she has focused much of her career at Deloitte in the energy industry. Learn about her advice for women navigating the energy industry.
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Eileen Little
Eileen Little, partner in Deloitte & Touche LLP’s Audit & Assurance business, has more than 25 years of experience serving regulated electric and gas utilities, energy trading companies, and other merchant generation entities. In addition to her current role as lead client service partner on one of Deloitte’s largest power and utilities attest clients, she also is the professional practice director for the power, utilities, and renewables sector. Beyond her client service roles, Eileen is passionate about the recruitment and development of people, and she leads many of Deloitte’s talent initiatives and programs.
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Teresa Thomas
Teresa Thomas is a Risk & Financial Advisory partner in the Energy, Resources, and Industrials practice at Deloitte & Touche LLP. She’s very passionate about the work that she does and has an interesting take on what success really is and encouraging women to be confident to define it. She shares her encouragement for future generations of women who are passionate about making an impact that matters, suggesting the energy industry to be a great place to do that.
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Susan Shons
Susan Shons is a senior manager at Deloitte Services LP and Client Account Management for the Energy & Chemicals sector. With 27 years at Deloitte, she has built her career around empowering energy clients and fostering talent development. Based in Oklahoma, Susan actively contributes to the Women’s Energy Network and is dedicated to helping advance diversity, equity, and inclusion within the energy industry. Her commitment extends beyond professional, achievements, emphasizing mentorship and community engagement to inspire the next generation of leaders.
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Elaine White
Elaine White is a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP, in the US Strategy practice, more specifically Technology Strategy & Business Transformation. Elaine joined Deloitte with a 20-year professional career, previously working as a management consultant and then a senior IT leader/deputy CIO within the energy industry.
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Kate Hardin
Kate Hardin is the executive director of the Deloitte Research Center for Energy and Industrials at Deloitte Services LP. She has worked in the energy industry for more than 25 years, beginning her career as an energy consultant in Russia and Central Asia in the 1990s. Most recently Kate served as a vice president in a leading market research and insights organization’s integrated coverage on transportation decarbonization and its impact on the global energy sector.
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Patty Tuite
Patty Tuite is a managing director in the Risk & Financial Advisory practice at Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics (DTBA), specializing in valuation modeling and financial advisory. She is an industry veteran with 40 years of overall experience in energy and has been interested in energy for as long as she can remember.
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Eji Okorafor
Based out of New York, Eji Okorafor is an Audit & Assurance partner with Deloitte & Touche LLP, serving a vast portfolio of clients, including several within the complex energy sector. In addition, she oversees the Emerging Climate and Energy Tech practice in New York, a role that covers a wide array of areas, from renewables to carbon solutions and beyond.
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Noemie Tilghman
Noemie Tilghman is a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP specializing in multi-functional, global service strategy and operating model design programs, which drive large-scale cost reduction, process efficiency, and effectiveness improvements. She currently serves as Deloitte’s Workforce Transformation Leader as well as the Office Consulting Leader in Chicago.
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Christine Carmazzi
Christine Carmazzi is a partner in the Audit & Assurance business at Deloitte & Touche LLP, focused on clients in the Power, Utilities & Renewables and Energy sectors. She has 31 years of experience serving large, diversified energy companies as well as emerging growth entities including retail power and gas operations, renewables, regulated and unregulated power and gas operations, oil and gas exploration and production, royalty interest entities, and gas transportation and storage operations.
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Andrea Colianni
Andrea Colianni is a principal in Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Human Capital practice for Organization Transformation. She has more than 15 years of consulting experience and serves clients across the energy, resources, and industrials (ER&I) industry. Andrea’s client service is focused on helping with global organizational transformations—strategy, organizational design, workforce transformation, and organizational change management. Andrea currently serves as the lead consulting partner in the power, utilities, and renewables sector.
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Jennifer Miller
Jennifer (Jen) Miller began her Deloitte journey in the audit and assurance practice. Though Jen didn’t begin with the intention of specializing in the Energy, Resources & Industrials (ER&I) industry, she quickly found herself enjoying her engagements in energy, and she has focused her career predominantly on power and utility clients ever since. Respected for her technical skills, Jen has been called on to provide her views regarding various technical matters through our consultation network. Jen also serves as a quality risk manager (QRM) for Deloitte’s Audit & Assurance Sustainability and ESG practice.
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Katie Pavlovsky
Katie Pavlovsky is a Principal and leads the Energy, Resources & Industrials practice for Deloitte Advisory where she focuses on the areas of strategic, financial, technological, regulatory and operational risk. She has more than 25 years of experience serving public and private enterprises ranging from emerging businesses to Fortune 500 leaders in the oil and gas, chemicals, mining, power & utilities, renewables, industrial products, aerospace and defense, and engineering and construction sectors. She was recognized by the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce as a 2020 Breakthrough Woman and as one of Hart Energy’s 25 Most Influential Women in Energy in 2021.
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Amy Chronis
For this Women at Deloitte profile, we were delighted to meet and speak with Amy Chronis, leader of the US Oil, Gas & Chemicals sector and Houston managing partner. An industry veteran with more than 30 years of professional experience in the energy sector, Chronis credits the early ’80s Texas oil boom for attracting her to the energy sector and the six economic downturns she’s experienced since for her resilience, optimism, and ability to lead effectively in uncertain times.
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Nichelle McLemore
Everyone in Houston is a little bit oily, Nichelle McLemore likes to say, which is why it’s not a big surprise that the Houston native ended up in the industry. We chatted with the Managing Director of Deloitte’s Oil, Gas and Chemicals practice about her journey in a powerful, changing industry, why women need to be more a part of the conversation, and how she gets a big rush from a good meeting.
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Marlene Motyka
Marlene Motyka is Deloitte’s US Renewable Energy leader and a principal in the Financial Advisory practice, but she didn’t get there on her own. Learn how her career has continued to change and how mentors have helped her along the way.
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Sandy Jones
Sandy Jones grew up on a farm in upstate New York, and when she retires, she plans to own one of her own in Virginia. But for now, she’s leading Deloitte's Asset Ecosystem strategic growth initiative, innovating work, resource, and asset performance management for industries including oil and gas, industrial products, construction, utilities, and renewables.
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Karen Bowling
A St. Louis native and avid college football fan who has moved around the country, Karen Bowling first gained interest in the energy sector when she was asked to participate in the audit of a utility client during the first months of her career. For the East Tennessee–based audit and assurance partner, the fascination of the energy sector hasn’t wavered much over the past 26 years—the last 19 of which have been spent at Deloitte.
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Christine LaCroix
Christine LaCroix is a partner in the Audit and Assurance practice at Deloitte & Touche LLP and serves as the US Energy, Resources & Industrials Audit and Assurance Leader. She brings significant energy and passion to serving clients across regulated electric and gas utilities, wholesale power producers, oil and gas, renewables, and the alternative energy markets.
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Karen Cunningham
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Karen Cunningham has lived in four different countries including France, where she finished her high school education. She first envisioned herself working as a consultant many years ago while writing a letter to her future self. Fast forward to now, Karen is actualizing her dream as a Deloitte Consulting LLP Managing Director in Deloitte’s US Energy, Resources and Industrials practice.
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Jian Wei
Jian Wei is a principal leading digital transformation in the Power and Utilities sector of Deloitte Consulting LLP (Consulting). For more than 20 years, Jian has led engagements from strategy through execution for more than 50 companies with operations across the United States, Asia and Europe. Jian moves easily from the factory floor to the corner office, building relationships across all levels of the enterprise, and is focused on the intersection of innovation, digital technologies, operations, and organizational maturity. She has envisioned and led multi-year transformation programs to achieve sustainable and measurable improvements in safety, reliability, efficiency, and customer satisfaction at some of the largest and most progressive energy companies.
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About WEN

Women’s Energy Network (WEN)

WEN’s mission is to be an organization of local chapters and global members, providing unique programming, international networking, and exclusive mentorship to foster the professional growth and success of women across the energy value chain.*

In 2024, WEN has over 7,000 professionals across 24 Chapters (Deloitte has over 410 WEN members and supports 12 of the 24 WEN local Chapters with a dedicated PPMD serving as the Chapter Champion).

*Source: Women’s Energy Network