Abby Childress
Project manager, Distribution reliability

Abby Childress didn’t always envision herself in engineering.

It wasn’t until two weeks into college at Louisiana State University that she switched her major from nutrition to mechanical engineering and realized she was exactly where she was meant to be.

“I was always really strong at math and physics, and engineering was catered toward what I was good at academically,” she said.

Now six years into her career, Abby is managing reliability projects that directly impact customers across Southeast Texas.

Her journey reflects both the resilience and confidence she brings to her work.

“Engineering is hard, but that’s what makes it so rewarding,” she said. “The challenges are a function of the confidence you have in yourself.”

Her advice to the next generation of women interested in STEM?

“Your voice is of such great value. Push yourself to be confident in who you are and what you know. The reward is something you’ll be proud of for the rest of your life.”

Ana Garcia
Supervisor, Distribution design and engineering

For Ana Garcia, she knew early on that her professional journey would lead to a career in the STEM field. She pursued an engineering degree at the University of Texas at El Paso and has never looked back.

“It was always doing something different that kept me motivated and happy in my position,” she said.

While studying, she quickly noticed the gender gap in her classes and was inspired to be an agent of change.

“There were not many of us. I’d say it was an 85-to-15-percent or even 90-to-10-percent ratio of men to women.”

Garcia now leads a team supporting major infrastructure projects and finds fulfillment in the direct connection between her work and the lasting impact it has on people’s everyday lives.

“What we do is incredible. It’s technical to the core. We really do change lives out there.”

Oluwatobiloba Johnson
Engineer, Distribution Operations Center��

With encouragement from family, Oluwatobiloba Johnson stepped into engineering and found a passion for problem-solving and continuous learning.

“My brother and cousins said, ‘You can do it—you’re good at math and science.’ Everyone supported me.”

Now five years into her career, she’s helping ensure electric reliability across the Southeast Texas power grid—while still learning from those around her.

“Learn from anybody you can. Once you’re open to learning from people around you, even people in your shoes—you can do engineering.”

Her message to women wondering if they belong in this space is one of strength and persistence.

“Stretch yourself when needed. Engineering isn’t about physical strength — it’s about mental strength.”

Building the future, together

From classrooms to control centers, women like Abby, Ana and Oluwatobiloba are shaping a more inclusive and innovative energy future. Their work reflects Entergy Texas’ commitment to empowering the next generation of leaders in engineering and beyond.

Adams has shaped her career in project management, inspired by a family legacy of first responders. Growing up surrounded by retired rangers, mail carriers, railroad nurses, police officers and military personnel, she learned the value of service and resilience early on. For Adams, the noble cause of making power was a calling, and she found her niche in the technical and team-oriented environment of the nuclear industry.����
��
Starting her career in operations, Adams quickly knew she wanted to learn every aspect of��operating��a plant. After years as a plant operator, her passion for cross-functional teamwork led her to move into project management within the engineering sector. She recognized that building connections and strong relationships was key to success in project management, enabling effective communication and progress in complex projects.����

Trust is essential in project management, and Adams has fostered this trust with her colleagues throughout her career at Entergy. This trust is��evident��in the successful outcome of her projects. Her efforts created a supportive environment where every team member thrived and effectively addressed the challenges that arose.����

As Adams reflects on her development over the years, she credits her mother with instilling the importance of paving the way for future generations of women, teaching her that every action she takes impacts those who will follow. “The women who come today set the stage for those who come tomorrow,” Adams said.����

Committed to recognizing the��hard work��of her team, Adams strives to ensure that strong contributions do not go unnoticed. She��demonstrates��that leadership is not just about authority but also about empowering others.����
Adam’s ability to build trust and support within her team has been a crucial factor in her success. By creating an environment where everyone feels valued and empowered, she has not only contributed to multiple project achievements but has also strengthened the foundation for future collaboration within the organization.��

After earning her civil engineering degree from Mississippi State University, she embraced the unique opportunity to contribute to sustainable energy production at River Bend, a facility closest to the community she loves.��

“I have been fortunate enough to participate in numerous plant walk-downs, including a walkdown of the upper fuel pool and reactor itself. I am grateful for my experienced coworkers, especially the civil engineers, for generously involving me in their projects,” Noble said. “I have enjoyed performing the calculations and behind-the-scenes actions and then witnessing the execution of the work in the field.”����

Haley credits her mother-in-law, Shanna Noble, who is also a civil engineer, as a significant mentor.����

“She has taught me that in this field, the most important measure of success is not about how well you complete your own challenging work,��but the impact you can have on those around you. She often emphasizes that people never forget how you make them feel when you contribute to their success,” Noble said. “The philosophy of putting others first resonates with me and changes my everyday point of view.”��

Additionally, Noble acknowledges her mother, Cristy Walker, as a crucial influence in her life.����

“My mother has always encouraged me to pursue a challenging career path. She supported me throughout my undergraduate journey, celebrating my successes and guiding me through the difficult times. She continually pushes me to strive for excellence and to never settle for less than my best. I truly would not have made it to where I am today without her support,” Noble said. “Having such remarkable and inspiring women in my life has been an incredible blessing.”��

As an advocate for future engineers, Noble actively participates in organizations like the North American Young Generation in Nuclear and Women in Nuclear. She aims to inspire the next generation of female engineers by sharing her journey and highlighting the fulfilling opportunities within the field.��

“To young women considering a career in engineering, I encourage you to go for it! It takes a lot of perseverance, self-confidence and willpower, but if you have a drive for problem-solving and enjoy developing innovative solutions, engineering can be an incredibly rewarding path where you can make a difference in the world.”��

This Women’s History Month let’s celebrate Haley Noble and all the women supporting the River Bend team and paving the way for future generations.��

In 2016, Parks started her Entergy career as a decontamination technician at New York’s Indian Point ���ϳԹ��� Center, which closed in 2021. But quickly she realized she wanted more. ������

“I knew I didn’t want to stop there,” Parks recalls. “I looked into radiation protection, took the test, earned my quals, and became an RP technician. It’s something I love doing and I’m very passionate about it.”������

Parks’s journey led her to Waterford 3 Steam Electric Station in Kilona, La., where she has spent the past three years expanding her expertise in a fast-paced environment, monitoring contamination and radiation levels while ensuring the safety of the public and plant personnel. “It’s fun to me,” she said. “I feel like you never work a day in your life if you enjoy what you are doing.” ����

Mentorship played a critical role in Park’s development. She credits retired RP Tech��Duane��Miller��as a key figure in her career, as well as��Brittany Scott, a former Arkansas Nuclear One technician who inspired her. “I remember my second planned maintenance and refueling outage, seeing Scott at the desk, confidently explaining nuclear concepts like it was her first language. I told myself, ‘I want that to be me one day.’” ����

Years later Parks found herself in that very position, knowledgeable, respected and helping guide work crews through RP procedures. “I looked back and realized that I had achieved my goal.”��������

Leadership and the power of representation������

Parks isn’t the only woman making strides at Waterford 3. She highlights the impact of��Melody (Mel) Gibson,��RP��manager, as a trailblazer. “Mel started in housekeeping and is now the radiation protection manager. That is major. She came in dominating, bringing new ideas and pushing our program forward.” ����

Beyond her leadership role, Gibson serves as a mentor and advocate. “She pushes you to be the best version of yourself,” Parks said. “She’s paving the way for future women in the industry.” ����

Advice for women and the next generation of female nuclear professionals������

For young women considering careers in STEM and nuclear, Park’s message is clear: never stop learning.������

“Use your resources and learn as much as you can. If you want to get a degree in nuclear, go for it. Find a mentor, that’s one of the biggest things. There are people willing to teach,��and that’s a good thing.”��������

Lisa also encourages women to push past limitations. “When they tell you what you can’t do, show them what you can do.”������

Her final advice to the future generation of female nuclear professionals? “Never limit yourself.”��

I am an Engineering Instructor/Program Lead at Arkansas Nuclear One. I manage the accredited engineering training program at ANO. This involves not only overseeing the curriculum and delivery of the training at ANO, but also collaborating closely with engineering leadership across our fleet to identify and address any training needs at the fleet level.

Tell me about how your job impacts plant reliability? 

The engineering training program at ANO is designed to ensure our engineers are fully equipped with the essential knowledge and skills needed to effectively support the plant’s operations. Training is provided for initial orientation to introduce engineers to the intricate details and systems of the plant, recurring refresher training to keep skills and knowledge up-to-date, targeted trainings to address any performance gaps or areas requiring improvement and additional specialized trainings as needed. These trainings reinforce the importance of advocacy and technical conscience to improve plant reliability and protect the health and safety of the public.

Tell me about the importance your department has in keeping the plant online? �į

The training department is critical to keeping the plant online. We train operations, technicians, engineers and craft to safely run ANO.

Why do you love ANO?

I love the strong sense of community we have here, it’s easy to make friendships with those we work with. I also love the positive influence ANO has on the local River Valley area – ANO truly helps make this a great place to live.

What is a fun fact about you?

My husband is a pilot, and I love to go fly in our plane with him! I’ve started flight training – with him as my instructor.

What is your why?

My family – I want ANO to continue producing clean carbon-free energy to support the needs of our lifestyles and local communities. I am proud to contribute to that.

Piglia, who has a Bachelor of Science in finance from Louisiana State University and a Master of Accounting degree from the University of Missouri—St. Louis, grew up in Harvey, Louisiana. She joined Entergy in 2019 as a financial analyst lead for the utility finance and strategy group. She later changed roles to be the financial analyst lead for Entergy Louisiana prior to joining the incident response group.��

“Our team is responsible for ensuring employees assigned to incident response roles are trained and prepared to respond when the company experiences a disruption in normal operations,” said Piglia. “We recognize that responding to incidents is not part of most employees’ everyday jobs, and that it can be intimidating to be activated for storm duty not knowing what to do or what is expected of them.”��

The goal of the training and exercise programs is to better prepare Entergy’s workforce to efficiently and effectively respond to incidents. “We do this by determining what each role needs to know to be successful in its area of incident response, assisting with setting up and tracking incident role training and testing our preparedness with a variety of exercises throughout the year,” said Piglia.��

The direct impact we have on our customers during incident response activities is one of Piglia’s favorite things about her job.����

She noted, “Preparing our employees to feel more knowledgeable and comfortable when they temporarily step away from their day jobs to respond to a storm or some other kind of incident is so rewarding.”����

The company and our customers benefit from the efficiency of our company’s incident response training program with potential shorter restoration times and lower costs. Like many Entergy employees, Piglia notes how impactful it is to see the connection our company has to the communities we serve during storm restoration–an opportunity she didn’t always have in her day job which is why she values each incident response role.����

��“My current storm role is serving as the deputy administration section chief, and I enjoy it. The administration section roles are responsible for the administrative tasks that are involved in storm restoration,” said Piglia.��

The administration team does a great deal of work while response crews are actively restoring customers’ power. In fact, many of the workers who support this team stay activated after restoration is complete in order to process invoices, reconcile credit cards, refine cost estimates and assist in regulatory filings and financial disclosures.��������

Just recently Piglia had the opportunity to support the company’s preparation efforts for the Taylor Swift concert and the Super Bowl-two events that were big economic boosts to the city.��

“My first involvement with the Taylor Swift concerts and Super Bowl planning started in January 2024 when the��incident response team was asked to co-present very early plans for Super Bowl LIX and what changes have taken place since the last time New Orleans hosted the Super Bowl in 2013. Over the next few weeks, that morphed into me leading the planning team for both events.”��

The planning team consisted of several business functions – power delivery, security, power generation, facilities, event planning, customer service and many more – all with their own objectives for Super Bowl planning. Piglia was charged with ensuring those plans were moving forward, understanding each function’s plans, and forming it all into one cohesive plan. She, along with several others, also represented Entergy in two Super Bowl sub-committees led by city agencies and had the opportunity to engage with external stakeholders.����

“This Super Bowl was important for our company following the power outage that occurred during the 2013 Super Bowl,” said Marcelle. “We went into the event confident we would not see a repeat of the outage that occurred in 2013.”��

Several upgrades were made within the Superdome and to Entergy’s infrastructure serving the Superdome since 2013, including the equipment that was determined to cause the outage. As part of the massive renovation, Caesar’s Superdome upgraded its lights from metal halide to LED, which take a much shorter amount of time to power up. Entergy has served the Superdome through several large events since 2013 without any power interruptions, but used the Taylor Swift concerts in October as a dry run to ensure the team would successfully execute all business functions.����

“It has been quite an experience seeing it all come together, and I am very proud of what this team accomplished over the last several months – not to mention a hurricane and a once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm impacting us in that time frame, too!”����

Piglia noted that similar to her feelings on incident response, she finds joy in seeing Entergy and many other organizations come together with the common goal of making New Orleans shine throughout events like Super Bowl week.

When she sees the company’s involvement in, and impact on, the communities we serve, Piglia is proud to work for Entergy,��especially when the company’s involvement positively��impacts��her hometown of��the New Orleans Metro-area.��

Outside of work, Piglia enjoys spending time with her husband, two sons and two dogs. She enjoys reading, traveling, being with family and friends, spending time outside and practicing yoga.����

And yet, the season also gives us time to pause, to reflect on 12 months of achievements and challenges, and to plan for fresh beginnings in the spanking-new year.

As we reminisce about the highlights of��’24, it’s only fitting that we spotlight some of the best and brightest moments for Entergy’s nuclear fleet.

Let’s flip some calendar pages and name a few….

In��March, Entergy Nuclear engineered��some exciting changes��in Port Gibson, Miss.! An all-woman group of managers led Grand Gulf Nuclear Station’s engineering team—an important first! Valerie Myers is plant support manager, Tori Robinson led the design projects team and Grace Settoon managed strategic and systems engineering. Since then, in recognition of their excellent work, Robinson accepted a position as design projects manager at the corporate office in Jackson, and Settoon was selected by site leadership to serve as a consultant at the��, headquartered in Atlanta.

In��April, two-thirds of Arkansas fell inside the path of totality during the historic total eclipse, causing a very brief reduction in output at the solar energy stations. Yet, due to Entergy’s diverse energy portfolio—roughly����comes from nuclear—Entergy still kept the lights shining bright��for its customers!

In��June,����with����to����that promises some powerful benefits! The project could increase efficiencies, lower operational costs, prevent generation losses due to equipment failures and improve the predictability of plant operations. If proved successful, Entergy will employ the model at one of its stations and potentially expand to others.

In��September, while the winds of Hurricane Francine howled, thanks to the diligent preparation, strong teamwork and safety-first mindset of Entergy’s nuclear professionals,��their plants stayed on the grid, producing round-the-clock power for its customers. Entergy’s communities are grateful for the strength and resilience not only of nuclear power—but also of the entire team at Arkansas Nuclear One in Russellville, Ark.; Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Port Gibson, Miss.; River Bend Station in St. Francisville, La., and Waterford 3 Steam Electric Station in Killona, La.

Later in��September,��, a consortium of leading North American utilities that advise on the development and commercialization of����fluoride salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor��. Entergy’s Chief Nuclear Officer Kimberly Cook-Nelson said of the alliance, “We believe advanced nuclear technologies will play an important role in decarbonizing the U.S. energy system, and we’re pleased to be in a position to help nurture the development of new resources like KP-FHR.”

In��October, Cook-Nelson was named among the 2024����in the Profiles in Diversity Journal® magazine, which recognizes influential women who are using their talents to improve their workplace and our world. In its third-quarter issue, the journal featured Cook-Nelson’s reflections of her 28 years in the nuclear industry and her advice to never shy away from a challenge, shun the phrase “you can’t” and always remember: It’s about the people.

Also in��October, The��Entergy Charitable Foundation��awarded a����to help the HBCU establish a Critical Power Grid Network Security Lab. As an expansion of the university’s cybersecurity education curriculum, the lab will serve a twofold purpose: to offer students the necessary skills and resources to learn about the industry and to help grow a workforce to meet the needs of nuclear, electric and natural gas companies. Entergy and JSU have partnered before to create the��, another program in the��.

Later that month, Entergy’s nuclear fleet celebrated international��! The company is proud that its five reactors in four locations in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi can cleanly power small towns, big cities and everywhere in between.�� By harnessing��100% clean nuclear power, Entergy is helping to meet the growing demands of the nation’s carbon-free energy needs.

In��December, Entergy Nuclear topped off the year with the����of��, Unit 1! Now, the two nuclear units at ANO generate not only a steady stream of clean, carbon-free energy but also significant positive impact in the River Valley. The station employs more than 1,000 full-time nuclear professionals who care deeply about their community. And just for good measure, let’s celebrate the contributions made by Entergy’s��entire��nuclear fleet! In 2024, all four nuclear stations—Arkansas Nuclear One, Grand Gulf, River Bend Station in St. Francisville, La. and Waterford 3 Steam Electric Station in Killona, La. — together with Entergy Nuclear headquarters in Jackson, Miss.,��awarded $155,805 in grants to benefit their surrounding communities.

Lowther and Pierson have formed close professional ties over the past 25 years. Originally, Lowther worked for Pierson at Pilgrim Nuclear Station in Plymouth, Massachusetts, which was formerly owned by Entergy, and now Pierson works for Lowther as the employee concerns specialist at Grand Gulf Nuclear Station in Vicksburg, Miss.��

“Moving halfway across the country, from Massachusetts to Jackson, and not having much family, you end up getting closer to your family at work than you do normally,” Lowther explained. �į��

On Nov. 15, that longstanding relationship was put to a test. Lowther, senior manager for employee concerns and nuclear safety culture, vividly recalls the events of that day. ��

“Around 11 o’clock, I got a text message from Rich, who is my direct report. I remember that the text was kind of a weird question. And also, in his text there was an upside-down question mark which, honestly, I’ve never even seen in a text message.” ��

Lowther answered his question and added, “Do you need help with anything? Call me if so.” ��

“I was outside the grocery store at that point,” she recalled. “I didn’t get a call from him, so I went into the store. That’s when I got another text a few minutes later, and it was all jumbled up. There were a few words that caught my eyes: experience, stoke and rhythm. And he said he needed his wife home now.” ��

That’s when Lowther’s questioning attitude came into play. “I realized something didn’t sound right there,” she said. “Especially that one word—it said��stoke.” �į��

Lowther called her team member on the spot, and when he answered the phone, he was clearly in distress. ��

“I told him I would call an ambulance, but he argued with me, saying his dogs were at home and his wife was out of town. I said, ‘I will come there and take care of your dogs. I’m hanging up now and calling an ambulance.’” ��

From prior visits, Lowther was able to recall his address and so she summoned an ambulance. “If he didn’t need it, he could turn him away,” she reasoned, “but I wasn’t going to take a chance.” ��

Lowther then informed Pierson’s wife of the event, went to his home to check on his dogs and then headed straight to the hospital to ensure Pierson had everything he needed.��

At the hospital, the doctors confirmed that Pierson had experienced not one but��two��strokes within a five-minute span, and that the cause of the strokes was an undetected underlying condition. ��

Fortunately, after the second stroke, Pierson still had that first text open, and that’s how he was able to text the second time—by swiping his thumb around the keypad and hoping his boss could understand the garbled text. And she did as soon as she read that one word:��stoke. ��

Reflecting on Lowther’s presence of mind, Nuclear Independent Oversight Director��Greg Hudnall��said, “I am convinced that her keen awareness and quick actions changed the outcome for one of our co-workers. This situation serves as a reminder for why it is so important to connect with each other and pay attention to off-normal behaviors.” ��

Lowther later recalled how she was able to act so quickly. “I already had all of my employees’ and spouses’ phone numbers in my phone,” she said. Additionally, she pointed out that it’s important to generally know the whereabouts of her team members. “For example, Rich works a different schedule than I work,” she explained, “so I knew when he texted that he was at home and that was where I needed to send the ambulance.” ��

Hudnall agreed, saying, “Leaders should know emergency contacts and addresses for their team members without having to log in to locate the information. I think that’s something a lot of us might not be prepared for if something similar happened to one of our own. Kristie’s quick actions probably saved this person’s life. I am very proud of Kristie.” ��

Scott was elected to the GGNS chapter’s board this year as president and has taken her role seriously. At the 2024 U.S. WIN conference, Scott was interviewed for an “I am a nuclear professional” social media campaign and represented Entergy with��passion. This year, Entergy was presented with the Chapter Excellence Overall Large Chapter award and was also named Most Reactive Chapter for Entergy’s advocacy for Nuclear Science Week.

Scott is continuing to drive the excellence of the GGNS WIN chapter by inspiring advocacy and public support for the advancement of nuclear energy and technology in the community and schools. In October, the GGNS WIN chapter hosted approximately 300 students over the course of Nuclear Science Week. Scott also spearheaded a professional development session in which the GGNS chapter hosted a panel discussion with Grand Gulf female managers.

Scott does all this for the site’s WIN chapter while supporting the CDO and site engineering with high quality. Co-workers say she is a joy to work with and fosters creative ideas in the engineering department. She is a valued member of the engineering team.

That team is the nuclear medical staff and in particular, the site nurse, the one who keeps us healthy and in compliance so we are able to continue our work. Meet Ashley Melder, site nurse at Arkansas Nuclear One.

Give us an idea of your typical day. What does your job entail?��

I do all the respiratory physicals for the fire brigade, operators and so on, and I make sure that everybody’s medical qualifications are up to date. If someone has a medical change, they report it, and we follow up with the physicians to see what needs to be done next. If someone needs a little bit of first aid, I am able to do that as well. I’m the only nurse onsite until we do in-processing of our contract workers brought in for refueling outages, and then I bring in a supplemental nurse to help.

Tell us how you came to Entergy.��

I was a school nurse in Russellville prior to coming here, and my supervisor reached out one day asking if I knew of any other nurses who would be interested in a job. And let’s just say I didn’t tell any other nurses, and I applied. So it just kind of happened. I’ve been here five years, and it’s been fun ever since.

Why are you proud to work for Entergy?��

We’re all here to keep the public safe, so we stay on top of everyone’s needs onsite. We make sure our operators and security personnel and everyone involved are up to date and healthy to keep us operating. During Covid I wondered, “Am I in the right place at the right time? Should I be in the hospitals helping those nurses?” But then again, I’m in a place where we’re keeping the lights on at those hospitals. That’s important too.

What’s the importance of teamwork in your work here?����

Teamwork goes a long way here. And with medical, it involves me, and it involves the doctors. It involves each employee and their supervisor. We have to plan ahead and work together to keep everyone qualified, to make sure physicals are getting done prior to their expirations. It takes a lot of people to play the role of keeping them qualified.��

Tell us about life for you outside of work.

My husband Casey and I have two young children, a nine-year-old and a five-year-old. We do basketball and soccer, and we have two bulldogs. They all keep me pretty busy.��

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

We live in a small town, in Dardanelle, and you can probably tell that when you meet me! We live in the country, so we love being in nature and just being outside. We love going to the lake and being on the water or at the beach. My kids are water babies, so they love to go swimming and playing in the creek.