ALLETE recognized for its Women In Leadership Positions

By Andrea Busche

Whenyou turn on a light or plug in your phone, you probably aren’t thinking about the people working behind the scenes to provide the energy. In this region, it’s a company that recently earned an honor roll ranking for the percentages of women in leadership positions.

The 2017 Minnesota Census of Women in Corporate Leadership, conducted by St. Catherine University in St. Paul, credited Allete as 19th among 72 public companies in Minnesota with women representing at least 20 percent of corporate directors and 20 percent of executive officers, according to a news release from the company.

Four of Allete’s 12 board members are women, and three of nine executive officers are women.

Although you might be more familiar with the name Minnesota Power, Duluth-headquartered Allete, along with the various companies that fall under its umbrella — which also includes Superior Water, Light & Power, Allete Clean Energy, U.S. Water and others — provides energy to customers in the upper Midwest. Minnesota Power electric utility serves 145,000 residents, 16 municipalities and some of the nation’s largest industrial customers.

Allete isn’t following a trend, according to Laura Schauer, Allete Clean Energy chief financial officer. She was hired in 1987.

“I’m so proud of the representation of women on our board of directors,” she said. “But this is not new to Allete. During my 20-plus year career, women have been a part of the board. Additionally, the senior leadership at Allete has meaningful female representation.”

Schauer credited the company’s CEO Al Hodnik, along with the executive leadership, with asking the right questions to ensure that all employees are given opportunities without compromising standards.

“This comes from the top down — an important part of why it is a good place to work,” she said.

Nicole Johnson, who has been with the company since 1996, started at Allete through an internship program when she was a student at the University of Minnesota Duluth. She is now the vice president of Allete human resources.

She said the company is a learning environment and that there are opportunities to broaden strengths and take on new roles and responsibilities. There is a tuition program, support for certifications and licenses, and business-sponsored memberships and subscriptions.

There is also a concerted effort to make sure women are represented, she said.

“Through community engagement and industry networks, our employees are active in a variety of ways of supporting women, including mentoring women and girls traditionally in male dominated fields, such as science, technology, engineering and math careers,” Johnson said. “Collectively, we are making a difference.”

Allete’s board of directors includes four women — including Heidi Jimmerson and Madeleine Ludlow, who joined the board in 2004 and are its longest-serving members.

“Having women in key leadership roles to challenge thinking and offer varying points of view is imperative for our continued success,” Jimmerson said. “I’m proud of Allete’s strong track record of diversity and inclusion and know that talented, capable women at all levels of the company will help drive our growth and attract the next generation of leaders.”

Allete was also recognized for championing gender diversity on its board of directors by 2020 Women on Boards, a national campaign to increase the number of women on corporate boards to at least 20 percent by 2020. Allete is one of 1,151 companies in the campaign’s database of 3,192 companies to achieve this recognition. It is the seventh consecutive year Allete has been recognized as a “Winning Company” by the campaign. D

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