The NEWIEE Awards
NEWIEE’s 2026 Annual Awards Gala will take place on May 7th at the Westin Copley Place in Boston. Learn about Sponsorships Opportunities here.
The NEWIEE Awards honor and celebrate the achievements of women+ leaders in the energy and environmental fields, as well as those uplifting underrepresented voices. In 2026 we will honor leaders in our community with awards in the categories listed below. This document provides criteria and nomination guidelines for our awards. Please reach out to us at NEWIEE@newiee.org with any questions about the nomination process.
Applications will be accepted through this form through February 13, 2026. Please review our Award Criteria and Nomination guidelines in advance of submission.
The Leadership Award
The Leadership Award recognizes a woman+ leader who demonstrates excellence and leadership in their career and showcases industry impact, while creating pathways for others to advance in energy and environmental fields. This leader demonstrates professional excellence while actively championing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging through mentorship, sponsorship, policy advocacy, or organizational change. Their leadership amplifies underrepresented voices and creates lasting impact beyond their individual achievements.
Ideal nominees demonstrate:
- Professional excellence with proven industry impact
- Active mentorship, sponsorship, or creation of advancement opportunities for women+ and underrepresented groups
- Leadership within their organization or sector
- Influence at local, regional, or national level
Prior to 2025, NEWIEE presented a Leadership Award and an Achievement Award. In 2025, we consolidated those awards into the Leadership Awards. Listed below you will find past recipients of both awards.
Professional titles correspond to the time the award was given.
Leadership Awardees
- 2025 – Reihaneh Irani-Famili (MSc MBA P. Eng), President & Founder, Viridi Edge
- 2024 – Rebecca Foster, CEO, VEIC
- 2023 – Tracy Babbidge, Acting Deputy Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
- 2022 – Rachel Kyte, Dean of The Fletcher School at Tufts University
- 2021 – Mindy S. Lubber, Chief Executive Officer and President, Ceres
- 2019 – Lisa Frantzis, Senior Managing Director, Advanced Energy Economy; Managing Director, Navigant Consulting
- 2019 – June E. Tierney, Commissioner, Vermont Department of Public Service
- 2019 – Karen Coyne, Former Vice President and Global Head of Environment, Novartis
- 2018 – Lisa Szewczul, Vice President, Environment, Health and Safety, Pratt and Whitney
- 2017 – Marcy Reed, President, National Grid Massachusetts
- 2015 – Judith Nitsch, PE, LEED AP BD+C, Founding Principal and Chairman, Nitsch Engineering
- 2014 – Patricia Stanton, Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, Conservation Services Group
- 2013 – Sue Tierney, Ph.D., Senior Advisor, The Analysis Group
- 2012 – Joan Bok, Former Chairman of the New England Electric System
- 2011 – Mildred Dresselhaus, MIT
Achievement Awardees
- 2024 – Lissette Andino, Director, Equity and Environmental Justice, Eversource
- 2024 – Joanna Troy, Deputy Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER)
- 2023 – Shalaya Morissette, Chief, Minority Business and Workforce Division, Office of Economic Impact and Diversity, U.S. Department of Energy
- 2023 – Jennifer Cullen, Director of Labor Relations & Workforce Development, Vineyard Wind
- 2022 – Marissa Paslick Gillett, Chairman, CT Public Utilities Regulatory Authority
- 2022 – Meg Lusardi, Executive Vice-President, PowerOptions Inc.
- 2021 – Jean Ann Ramey, Founder and Executive Director, Climable.org; Co-Founder and SVP, Synapse Energy Economics
- 2021 – Sheila Dormody, Rhode Island Director of Climate and Cities Programs, The Nature Conservancy
- 2018 – Janet Coit, Director, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
- 2018 – Emily Reichert, CEO, Greentown Labs
- 2017 – Anne George, Vice President, External Affairs and Corporate Communications, ISO New England
- 2017 – Meredith Hatfield, Program Officer, Clean Energy, Barr Foundation
- 2016 – Cynthia A. Arcate, CEO and President, PowerOptions, Inc.
- 2016 – Marion S. Gold, Ph.D., Commissioner, Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources
- 2016 – Penni McLean-Conner, Chief Customer Officer and Senior VP, Customer Group, Eversource Energy
- 2015 – Sara J. Burns, President and CEO, Central Maine Power
- 2015 – Heather Hunt, in honor of Allison Smith, Executive Director, New England States Committee on Electricity
- 2015 – Nancy L. Seidman, Assistant Commissioner, Bureau of Air and Waste, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
- 2014 – Alicia Barton, CEO, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
- 2014 – Janet Gail Besser, Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs, New England Clean Energy Council
- 2014 – Elin Swanson Katz, Consumer Counsel, State of Connecticut
- 2013 – Susan Coakley, Executive Director, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships
- 2013 – Mary Beth Gentleman, Partner, Foley Hoag
- 2013 – Rebecca Tepper, General Counsel, Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities
- 2012 – Sonia Hamel, Consultant to foundations, non-profits, and governments
- 2012 – Edna Karanian, Director, Yankee Gas System Operations
- 2012 – Barbara Kates-Garnick, Former Undersecretary for Energy in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
- 2011 – Nancy Hazard, Former Director of NESEA, Greening Greenfield Campaign
- 2011 – Denise Nappier, Connecticut State Treasurer
- 2011 – Karen Weber, Executive Director of Foundation for a Green Future, Coordinator of Boston Greenfest
The Rising Star Award
Created in 2016 to honor Allison Smith, the Rising Star Award celebrates a woman+ with less than ten years of energy and/or environment professional experience who demonstrates exceptional promise and commitment to building a more inclusive energy and environmental sector. This emerging leader shows professional growth while actively lifting others, challenging inequitable practices, or creating innovative solutions that benefit underrepresented communities.
Ideal nominees demonstrate:
- Less than 10 years of energy/environment industry experience
- Strong professional trajectory and growing influence
- Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging
- Innovation or fresh approaches to sector challenges
- Peer leadership or community building among emerging professionals
Professional titles correspond to the time the award was given.
- 2025 – Kelsey Perry, External Affairs Manager, Ocean Winds
- 2024 – Sonali Anderson, ACCEL Program Manager, Greentown Labs
- 2023 – Cristina Mendoza, Senior ESG Consultant, Sustainserv
- 2022 – Keirstan Field, Project Manager, Petersen Engineering
- 2021 – Eugenia T. Gibbons, Massachusetts Director of Climate Policy, Health Care Without Harm
- 2019 – Emily Luksha, Director, Rates and Revenue Requirements Division, Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities
- 2018 – Kate Bashford Epsen, Executive Director, New Hampshire Sustainable Energy Association
- 2017 – Tamika Jacques, Ed.D., Director of Workforce Development, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
- 2016 – Abigail Krich, President, Boreas Renewables, LLC
DEI Founders’ Award
DEI Founders’ Award honors the founders of our organization, a group of women who came together in 2008 to exchange ideas and experiences with others in energy and environmental professions. This award, created in 2023, recognizes the spirit of the NEWIEE founders – uplifting underrepresented voices and creating a space for like-minded individuals to come together. We honor both an individual and an organization here.
Professional titles correspond to the time the award was given.
Individual Awardees
- 2025 – Ruth Georges, Founder and CEO, We Rise Consulting, LLC
- 2023 – Donna Daniels, Chief People & Diversity Officer, Ceres
Organizational Awardees
- 2025 – BT2 Energy, Better Together Brain Trust
- 2023 – All In Energy
Special NEWIEE Board Recognition Award
The Board Recognition Award is given only on special occasions to a true trailblazer and leader in the energy and environmental fields who has made a lasting impact on the industry and is someone the NEWIEE Board takes great pride in recognizing.
At the 2022 NEWIEE Gala, NEWIEE Board Member, Shalaya Morissette, presented Shalanda Baker with a Special NEWIEE Board Recognition Award. As of 2022, Shalanda H. Baker serves as the Secretarial Advisor on Equity and as Deputy Director for Energy Justice in the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity at the U.S. Department of Energy. Prior to her appointment, she was a Professor of Law, Public Policy and Urban Affairs, at Northeastern University.
At the 2021 NEWIEE Virtual Gala, NEWIEE Board Member, Mary Usovicz, presented Marcy Reed with a Special NEWIEE Board Recognition Award. Marcy Reed is the former President of National Grid’s Massachusetts business and Executive Vice President of US Energy Policy & Social Impact. Marcy was joined by her daughter, Hailey Reed, who reinforced her mother’s message to do what you love professionally.
At the 2019 NEWIEE Gala, NEWIEE Board Member, Mary Usovicz, presented Commissioner Cheryl A. LaFleur with a Special NEWIEE Board Recognition Award. Commissioner LaFleur was first nominated by President Barack Obama to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2010 and was confirmed for a second term by the Senate in 2014. She served as Acting Chairman of the Commission from November 2013 to July 2014 and January to August 2017 and as Chairman from July 2014 until April 2015.
At the 2017 NEWIEE Gala, NEWIEE Board President, Beth Barton, presented The Honorable Gina McCarthy with a Special NEWIEE Board Recognition Award. Gina McCarthy, Former Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, and Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, stirred Gala attendees with an inspiring message about the importance of our continued work in the energy and environment fields.
Gala Keynote Speakers
Professional titles correspond to the time the speech was given.
- 2024 – Maura Healey, Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
- 2023 – Maria Robinson, Director, Grid Deployment Office, U.S. Department of Energy
- 2022 – Elin Swanson Katz, Director, Office of Public Participation, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
- 2021 – Gina M. Raimondo, United States Secretary of Commerce
- 2019 – Maria Tikoff Vargas, Senior Program Adviser and Director, Better Buildings Initiative, U.S. Department of Energy
- 2018 – Stephanie Pollack, Secretary and CEO, Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Board Member, Massachusetts Port Authority
- 2017 – Maryrose Sylvester, President and CEO, Current Powered by GE
- 2016 – Mary Powell, President and CEO Green Mountain Power
- 2015 – Cheryl Martin, Ph.D., Former Acting Director Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy
- 2014 – Karen Gordon Mills, Former Administrator, Small Business Administration
- 2013 – Cheryl A. LaFleur, Commissioner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
- 2012 – Janet Gail Besser, Vice President, Policy and Government Affairs, New England Clean Energy Council
- 2011 – Marcy L. Reed, President, National Grid of Massachusetts
© 2025 New England Women in Energy and the Environment (NEWIEE). NEWIEE is a non-profit, tax exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
