Calgary Herald:
Honouring Women In Oil & Gas

On Wednesday, Oct. 13, three women will be honoured by their peers as leaders in the oil and gas industry. The nomination process will engage both industry and the general public. Nominations will be judged by representatives from Calgary Women in Energy, a dynamic collection of professional women in the oil and gas and service industries. The organizing committees will select nominees, contact them and get their acceptance to participate, along with additional information pertaining to their experience and skill-set. At no point will our committee members reveal who nominated them.

We are please to announce the finalists in each category. To vote please visit: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/womeninenergy_onlinevoting

Please note the voting period is September 1st - 30th, 2010

Category 1: Outstanding Ladder Climbers
The winner in this category contributes to a positive work environment, interacts positively with co-workers and suggests creative and positive ways to resolve conflict. She will also have a consistent high-level work ethic, goes above and beyond job duties, has the respect and trust of co-workers and has good organization and leadership skills.

Candidate 1:
Name: Christy Delaney
Position: Regional sales at Xtreme Oil Tools
Reason for being nominated: Christy has been an amazing asset to our team, always willing to go above and beyond to make the company successful. She recently almost single-handedly ran the company during a transitional period, where we were in between senior managers. Outside of work, she is always trying to round up people in the office to volunteer at the drop-in centre, she’s a part of a group that does significant fundraising for a women’s shelter and she is planning a big event to help support sexually abused children.
Career background: Christy began her career in the oil and gas sector in 2006 with Northstar Drillstem Testers. Since then, she has worked in three sector areas: drilling, production/reservoir and completions.
On maintaining a positive work environment: “I do my best to build relationships with the people I work with, I care about them and show it. I also am a firm believer that no matter what my position in a company is there is nothing that ‘is not my job.’ I am a part of a team and if it means going from office to office, emptying trash bins to help that team achieve success, I’ll do it. I also look for ways that I can help the company operate more efficiently.”

Candidate 2:
Name: Jane Bruce
Position: Executive assistant, Talisman Energy
Reason for being nominated: Jane is always creating a positive work environment that encourages others to interact creatively and positively with each other while enabling them to grow and function on their own. She embodies the spirit of Talisman with her open communication, willingness to achieve a higher standard at all times and always ready to lend someone a hand. Jane’s personal and business ethics are of the highest level and she instills this quality in everyone she meets, you just want to embrace the same values that she does.
On maintaining a positive work environment:
“My work environment is always positive because I allow nothing less. “Work is not about what went on at home the night before or what is going on around the water cooler at the office. I find that those who are less positive allow themselves to be that way. I know that by being positive, or finding a different spin on the soothsayers’ tale, enlightens others and this is fundamental in my position. Positivity in the work environment flows significantly from those you work directly with."


Category 2: Admirable Community Supporters
The winner in this category shows commitment in local philanthropy and community development, promotes the oil and gas industry by developing and managing projects that lead to greater awareness of the oil and gas industry in the community and has previous acknowledgment (awards, etc.) from community sources.

Candidate 1:
Name: Christy Delaney
Position: Regional sales at Xtreme Oil Tools
Reason for being nominated: Her involvement in the community, including hosting a fundraiser for the Little Warriors, a national charitable organization focused on the prevention of child sexual abuse. She is also the former president of Calgary Women in Energy and has demonstrated a great work ethic.
On her commitment in local philanthropy and community involvement: “About a year ago, I realized that not only am I incredibly lucky to have all I have, I have a responsibility to help to improve the community that has provided me with so many opportunities. I was already doing the typical volunteer work... (but) I felt I needed to do something big, something where I would have more of an impact, and hopefully something that I could repeat in future years. I came across Little Warriors, and made the decision it was the charity I really wanted to support, I came up with the idea for Unmasked, a masquerade ball in October. I’m very hopeful it will raise $20,000 in its first year.”

Candidate 2:
Name: Maureen Crozier
Position: Engineering technologist, Encana Corp., Wheatland Business Unit
Reason for being nominated: Volunteering for several years at her community hockey association, where her son played, as well as helped to develop an association that other communities strive to achieve.
On her commitment in local philanthropy and community involvement: “Through my interest in community hockey I became involved with the Cassie Campbell Street Hockey Tournament, an annual two-day charity event for the Alberta Children’s Hospital. I spent four years volunteering, primarily with recruitment. I have worked in the oil and gas industry for 30 years, and over that time I’ve relied on colleagues
and business associates to gain knowledge about the industry. I was introduced to a wonderful group, Calgary Women in Energy, and my experience with organizing charity tournaments for Apache Canada Ltd. was a natural fit with Calgary Women in Energy’s golf tournaments. CWIE has hosted eight very successful charity golf tournaments, the last four of which I have been committee chairman."


Category 3: Driven Trailblazers
The winner in this category achieved a high level of success within the oil and gas sector, demonstrates commitment to women’s success in the oil and gas sector and has made significant contributions to the progress of women in oil and gas.

Candidate 1:
Name: Heather Christie-Burns
Position: President and COO, Angle Energy Inc.
Reason for being nominated: Heather is a very dedicated professional who has been instrumental in the growth of her company. She is a well-respected petroleum engineer who is the president and COO of Angle Energy Inc.
Career background: “Prior to starting Angle Energy, I worked at Crossfield Gas as the senior reservoir engineer. I held prior positions at Encal Energy, as a senior reservoir engineer; Fekete Associates, as a project engineer; and my first position after graduating with my chemical engineering degree from the U of C was at Norcen Energy, as a field operations engineer/engineer-in-training.”
Approach to career goals: “I have approached my career with the view that learning and constant challenge are necessary and desirable in order for improvement. I also enjoy doing things I may not be expected to do. I believe an internal drive, confidence, a healthy dose of humility and respect for those who help us solve the problems we’re tackling (co-workers, partners, family) can take any of us where we’re not expected, to achieve our goals. There is no such thing as a ‘woman engineer,’ ‘woman entrepreneur’ or “woman executive”. We really don’t need the adjective to explain it.”

Candidate 2:
Name: Sherri Brillon
Position: Executive vice-president and CFO, Encana Corp.
Reason for being nominated: Born, raised and educated in Calgary, Sherri has experience across disciplines in the energy business. She has led teams in planning, portfolio management, reserves, accounting and finance. She is well regarded by operations and finance teams. She has been a mentor for men and women inside and outside her organization. Her values are grounded; she has a very strong work ethic and is respected for her leadership and integrity.
Career background: “I have been the executive vice president and chief financial officer at Encana since December 2009. Prior to that, I was executive vice-president, strategic planning and portfolio management at Encana. My current responsibilities have combined the two roles — planning, portfolio management, treasury, risk management, audit, tax, legal and corporate secretarial.”
Approach to career goals: “Goals are important especially when matters in your career aren’t going as well as you would like — how you will handle situations, setting your boundaries, understanding how long you are willing to be in a situation and understanding your options. Setting these goals focuses the solution on what you can do to improve your career.”

Candidate 3:
Name: Lee Onslow
Position: Senior account representative, Q’Max Solutions.
Reason for being nominated: Lee began her career in the field as a mud man in northeast B.C. Lee was the second woman in Canada to hold the position of mud man. After working in the field for four years, Lee switched to the downtown office life selling drilling fluids. Lee is one of the top performers on the Q’Max Solutions sales team. She has held her position as senior account representative at Q’Max since Nov. 15, 2003.
Career background: “Prior to Q’Max Solutions, I worked with Concord Drilling Fluids where I got my field experience (as a mud man) and Q’Max is where I fine-tuned my sales career. While working in the field, I was responsible for chemically testing and making recommendations on how to maintain the circulating systems (the mud) on the drilling rigs. Typically the rigs were in northeast B.C. and northern Alberta.”
Approach to career goals: “When I started working in the field, I decided I would move into sales within five years. I studied as much as I possibly could about different fluid systems. I read every possible mud manual I could get my hands on and asked as many questions as possible. I also learned every aspect of what went into making a sale by following experienced sales people on their calls. I attend seminars, in-house sales training and other continuing education centres, and through reading.”
 
Copyright 2009 Calgary Women In Energy
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