Learning How to Avoid the Brain Drain - Attracting/Retaining/Training in Today’s Contentious Power Environment

Amanda Hoefling was named Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer in October 2019. She is responsible for the strategic leadership of Dairyland’s External & Member Relations, Communications & Marketing, Administrative Services, Safety & Security, and Human Resources Departments. Amanda joined Dairyland Power in January 2019 as Vice President - Human Resources. Prior to joining Dairyland, she was the Director, Leadership & Organizational Development for Pedernales Electric Cooperative (Johnson City, Texas). She joined Pedernales in 2004 and held Human Resources leadership positions in employee relations, compensation and benefits. Before joining Pedernales, Amanda was the Senior Human Resources Administrator at Space Center Houston (Houston, Texas).

Amanda is a graduate of the University of Houston, Clear Lake, earning a bachelor's degree in Behavioral Science. She is also a graduate of the University of Texas Human Resources Management Certificate Program. She is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) from the HR Certification Institute and a Senior Certified Professional from the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM-SCP). Amanda holds additional certifications in change management, succession planning, personality and behavioral assessment. In August of 2021, Amanda was appointed by Governor Evers to the Council on Workforce Investment.

Amanda and her husband Bryan live in Holmen, Wis., where they are members of the Riverland Energy Cooperative. Their twin daughters attend college in Texas.

With over 10 years of experience in progressive roles within the energy industry, Anna Munie is a utility leader with a wide variety of successful projects and programs to her name. As the current Manager of Carbon Neutrality Programs, Anna was brought into Lansing Board of Water and Light in 2022 to lead a completely new department which was created to help Michigan's largest municipal utility reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2040. With direct oversight of programs such as energy efficiency, distributed generation, electric vehicles, renewable energy purchasing, greenhouse gas reporting, and others, Anna works closely with a variety of departments in her organization as well as local and state stakeholder groups within the state of Michigan. Prior to Lansing Board of Water and Light, Anna spent time at Consumers Energy where she held both technical and leadership roles associated with that company's integrated resource planning (IRP) and environmental management system (EMS) processes. A double graduate and dedicated fan of Michigan State University, Anna enjoys spending her time golfing with her husband and tailgating for college football games with her electric Rivian R1T pickup truck.

A national award–winning multimedia journalist, Sonal Patel has covered a wide range of technology, business, and policy issues affecting the power industry worldwide for POWER and its sister publications since 2008. Along with keeping her eye on national and international matters for POWER magazine’s monthly department Global Monitor, she contributes in-depth analysis and spot news pieces for POWER and POWERnews. She also surveys, crunches, and visualizes power generation data and trends from around the world for POWER’s web and print infographics and other multimedia. She is a graduate of the University of Houston.

Jake Plegge is a senior recruiting manager at Actalent, a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. Jake oversees a team of recruiters supporting Actalent’s utilities and construction business across the United States. He has 17 years of experience in talent acquisition ranging from power generation to power delivery, and construction management. Jake earned his B.S. in Economics from Emporia State University. In his free time, Jake coaches youth sports for his four kids.