Geisha Williams keynote speaker

Geisha Jimenez Williams is an accomplished energy industry leader who served as the first Latina Chief Executive Officer of a Fortune 200 company at PG&E Corporation. As the first female CEO in the company’s 112-year history, Williams led one of the largest combined natural gas and electric energy companies in the United States, with $17 billion in revenues and 23,000 employees serving customers across 70,000 square miles in California.

During her tenure at PG&E, the company became a leader in renewables integration, grid modernization and smart grid technologies. Under her leadership, PG&E delivered nearly 80% greenhouse gas free electricity to 16 million people in northern and central California, and the best electric reliability in the company’s history. Her focus on safety culture and engaged employees led to the company’s best-ever industrial safety performance. She also championed energy efficiency, digitization and an all company focus on customer experience. As a result, PG&E achieved its highest levels of customer satisfaction and was rated the best overall electric provider by national customers.

Geisha immigrated with her family to the U.S. from Cuba at 5 years old. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Miami, and began her25-year career at Florida Power & Light (FP&L). At FP&L, Williams held a variety of senior-level roles across operations, marketing, customer service and strategic planning. Ultimately, she became Vice President of Power Systems, and led the historic electric restoration and recovery from seven hurricanes over a 15-month period in 2004-2005.

Recognized as a leading utility operating executive for over three decades, Williams is currently member of the Supervisory Board of Siemens Energy, Chair of the Board of Directors of Osmose Utility Services, and member of the Artera Services Board of Directors.

Previously, Williams was a director on the PG&E Corporation Board of Directors, the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO). At EEI, she also served on the Executive Committee and was the CEO co-Chair of the Customer Energy Solutions Policy Committee. In addition, she was the former Chair of the Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD), on the Advisory Board for the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, a member of the Salesforce Global Advisory Board, and a trustee of the Bipartisan Policy Center and the University of Miami.

In addition to her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, Williams holds a master’s degree in business administration from Nova Southeastern University.