May 2021 – Meet Shannon Tocchini, Senior Operational Compliance Analyst, Corporate Compliance at Portland General Electric. in Portland, OR
What drew you to working in the environmental sector? I am energized by roles that make a positive, lasting impact and use systems thinking to manage risk and drive continuous improvement for my organization, planet and communities.
Camp Leakey, Borneo, Indonesia – pictured with Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas, my husband, Jeff and my son, Yu-Siang.
What has been your career path? Almost 30 years ago, I had the opportunity to help design and operationalize a corporate-wide Environmental Management System for a large, international manufacturing organization. This experience led to expanding responsibilities and roles in compliance, training, triple-bottom-line sustainability, performance tracking and reporting, ISO 14001 certification, environmental audit and involvement in regulatory innovation programs in public and private-sector organizations. More recently, I worked on implementation of DEI initiatives in addition to core work in environmental operations, management systems and compliance. I recently joined PGE’s Corporate Compliance team.
In one word, describe yourself. Purposeful.
What’s one interesting thing about you not many people know? It took a decade, but my whippets have trained me to cook them dinner.
How do you balance your career and family? It can be a juggle, but carving out time to relax, adventure and gain new experiences together is a must. We seek out places that connect us with our world, near and far, off the beaten path – and that disconnect us from cell service. It’s also fun to create opportunities for sharing great food with family and friends wherever we are, something we’ve really missed in 2020.
What drew you to Portland General Electric? PGE’s culture of innovation, performance and operational excellence; it’s focus on a clean energy future, incorporating equity and community; and the opportunity to work with a fantastic team of brilliant and friendly people.
What are three words to describe PGE? Purpose-driven, community-minded, results-oriented.
What has your involvement been with NEBC? I have participated in conferences, presenting at a few, over the last 20 or so years.
What is the best professional advice you’ve received? Don’t take a fence down until you understand why it was put there in the first place. This knowledge will inform your approach.
What advice do you have for prospective candidates who want to work at your company or in the industry? Think about your strengths, skills and knowledge and how they will meet needs and opportunities. Be curious and embrace opportunities to learn and gain experience. Reach out to those you admire for advice and guidance and regularly exercise your listening skills. Seek out what energizes you and remember to have fun along the way.
As a part of the industry, what sort of trends do you see? Increasing transformation to clean energy; evolving technology and regulations; increasing expectations from regulators; leveraging data to assess and manage compliance, performance and outcomes; integrating equitable engagement and outcomes into operational and environmental planning and actions.