MEET THE INNOVATIVE WOMEN OF EDISON.
MEET ADAORA OKORO – ENERGY PROCUREMENT AND MANAGEMENT ADVISOR
Adaora Okoro is an Advisor in the Energy Procurement and Management (EPM) organization at Southern California Edison. EPM is responsible for SCE’s $4 billion fuel and purchased power expenses which it manages through the planning, forecasting, analysis and valuation of energy resources; negotiation and execution of energy related transactions and contracts; management and settlement of energy contracts; and participation in wholesale energy markets. EPM does all of this while ensuring compliance with all regulatory requirements and corporate policies and while striving for continuous improvement in all of its operations. Adaora is currently on a development assignment as a strategist in the Trading & Market Operations (TMO) department within EPM. In this role she is responsible for developing a vision and strategies for the department that ensures alignment with EPM’s key objectives and those of the broader SCE organization, helping each individual in the organization develop goals that are aligned to the vision and strategic direction, developing a compliance program that facilitates understanding of the rules and intentions behind core compliance obligations, and fostering an organizational culture of improved transparency, communication, flexibility and adaptability. Adaora began her career at SCE in 2013 as a Power Systems Planner/Energy Market Specialist where she was responsible for optimizing SCE’s generation portfolio of utility owned and contracted resources in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) market.
Her work served to maximize the market value of SCE’s generation portfolio through the development and implementation of generation bidding strategies, effective CAISO market policy advocacy and continuous improvement of internal systems and processes, among other things. Adaora is proud of the work she and her organization does to keep purchased power costs low for SCE’s bundled service customers.
In addition to her day job, Adaora serves on EPM’s Continuous Improvement Board– an employee led group whose mission is to encourage a continuous improvement culture through grassroots efforts—and she serves as President of the Networkers Business Resource Group—a resource group at the company whose mission is to contribute to SCE’s diverse talent pool through the recruitment, retention and advancement of African-American employees. Adaora has a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Operations Research & Financial Engineering (ORFE) from Princeton University, a PhD in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an Intermediate Level Certificate from Georgia Tech’s Center for Enhanced Teaching and Learning. She also serves on the board of directors for the cultural organization Umu Igbo Unite.
How has SCE helped support you through your career?
SCE has supported me through my career by providing various avenues for me to learn new things and develop my leadership skills. Whether it’s learning about the work done in different parts of the business through brown-bag sessions, learning about different cultures and how to be an ally for the LGBTQ community and those with disabilities from employee resource groups, learning how to create advancement opportunities for others through the creation of professional development programs, or learning things like how to give and receive feedback more effectively from the plethora of resources on our company’s Skillsoft site, there are no shortages of opportunities to learn at SCE. And because SCE is committed to diversity and inclusion, there are many opportunities to develop leadership skills through participation in any of the company’s 12 business and employee resource groups
What is the most meaningful part about working at SCE?
The things I find most meaningful about working at SCE include: 1) working with a group of smart, kind, fun and supportive individuals that allow me to be myself and make it so that I look forward to going to work each day; 2) working in an industry that is going through significant change—thus offering exciting challenges to solve—and for a company that is leading the way through this transformation; and 3) knowing that the work I do has a real impact on the lives of everyone in my community. I love what I do and the people I get to do it with.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR INITIATIVES AND PARTNERS
AN ONLINE COMMUNITY FOR WOMEN
Fairygodboss is the largest career community for women. Our mission is to help the women in our community by providing free resources and a safe, inclusive environment for highly motivated women to connect with other career-minded individuals and help one another to succeed.
WOMEN’S ROUNDTABLE
As Women matter around here. With a workforce and leadership team that’s over 30% female, women make a big impact at SCE. Every day they help advance our mission to create a clean energy future and a better tomorrow. Our commitment to hiring women and advancing their opportunities in our workforce has never been stronger. It’s simple, really – our teams are stronger whenever and wherever women are present.
