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Paula Gold-Williams serves as the Co-Chair of the Keystone Policy Center and she has been a member of both the Policy Center and its Energy Board since 2016. Paula also serves on the Board of Emera Inc., a publicly traded Canadian multinational energy holding company.
Paula previously served as the President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CPS Energy, San Antonio’s (S.A.) 162-year old fully integrated electric and natural gas municipal utility. During her CEO tenure that extended from November 2015 to January 2022, Paula was the only African American Female CEO in Energy. Paula took the helm of the company by leading more than 3,000 team members with a focus on her vision of keeping “People First.” Under her leadership, CPS Energy delivered value to its customers and community, as it developed a “Flexible Path” to a new age of energy solutions.
Earlier in her 17-year career at CPS Energy, she was Controller & Assistant Treasurer. Next she became the VP & Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)—Organizational Excellence & Shared Services. This was followed by becoming Executive Vice President (EVP), Chief Financial Officer (CFO) & Treasurer. Then Paula was promoted to Group EVP – Financial & Administrative Services, CFO & Treasurer. In that prior role, she oversaw all enterprise financial functions, while also handled the strategic oversight for People & Culture; Enterprise Safety & Health; Supply Chain; Facilities; Enterprise Information Technology; plus Physical & Cybersecurity.
Paula’s over 35 years of leadership experience includes being a Controller for Time Warner’s regional cable and telephony office in S.A., TX. Then she became the Vice President (VP) of Finance for Luby’s, Inc. before being recruited by CPS Energy in late 2004.
Relative to governance, Paula was CPS Energy’s sponsor of its Energy Portfolio Strategic Committee (EPSC), as well as a representative on two committees that oversaw the company’s direct and nuclear decommissioning investments. Concurrently, she was a member of the Oversight Committee (OC) that oversaw CPS Energy’s four Employee Benefits Trusts. (Membership for the OC also included the Board’s Audit Committee.)
Paula is a Board Member & Treasurer of EPIcenter, an innovation think tank; incubator and accelerator; and strategic advisory organization. She serves as an Energy Pillar Co-Chair of Dentons’ Smart Cities & Communities Initiatives & Think Tank. Paula is an Advisory Board Member of iEmpower, an all-inclusive organization that optimizes the concept of community to engage and inspire women. Paula also serves on the U.S. Secretary of Energy’s (Jennifer Granholm’s) Advisory Board (SEAB).
Recently, Paula held other board positions including: 1st Vice Chair of the Electric Power Resource Institute (EPRI); Board Treasurer of Greater SATX, S.A,’s regional economic development engine; a member and designated Chair Pro Tem of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ San Antonio Branch; and a past Chair of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.
In 2022, Diversity Woman named Paula to their Elite 100 Black Women Leaders List. In 2021, Bloomberg designated her a Climate Leader. That year, Smart Energy International listed her as a member of Global & Power Energy Elite. Additionally, the Energy Diversity & Inclusion Council designated her as a Top CEO in Energy. In 2020, Paula was named Woman of the Year by the S.A. Business Journal and she was a finalist for S&P Global Platts’ Chief Executive of the Year. In 2019, Paula was named S&P Global Platts’ Chief Trailerblazer and the Women’s Council on Energy & the Environment (WCEE) voted her as Women’s Champion. In 2018, Paula was recognized as the Energy Thought Leader of the Year by Zpyrme and was a Leadership Award Honoree of the Keystone Policy Center.
Paula has an Associate Degree in Fine Arts from San Antonio College. She has a BBA in Accounting from St. Mary’s University, in S.A., Texas. She earned a Finance & Accounting MBA from Regis University in Denver, Colorado. Paula became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) while working for her first professional employer, the then Big 8 accounting firm of Ernst & Whinney. She is a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA).
Paula mentors numerous people, from college students to top executives. She is married and has two daughters.
Effective March 1, 2025, Thomas J. Vilsack, former United States Secretary of Agriculture and Governor of Iowa, became the first Chief Executive Officer for the World Food Prize Foundation. In this new role, Governor Vilsack is focusing on expanding the Foundation’s global network, and will further position the Foundation as a leader in addressing global food and nutrition insecurity, continuing his lifetime of public service.
Shelby Coffey III is a distinguished journalist, media executive, and thought leader whose career has helped shape the landscape of American news and public discourse. Over several decades, Coffey has held some of the most influential roles in journalism, including serving as editor of the Los Angeles Times, executive vice president of ABC News, and deputy managing editor of The Washington Post. His editorial leadership extended to key roles as president of CNN Financial News, editor of the Dallas Times Herald, and U.S. News & World Report.
Jerry Steiner has spent 40 years involved in agriculture following growing up on a Wisconsin dairy farm. He began his career with Monsanto, in multiple business leadership roles. From 2003-2013 he served as a member of the Executive team, as the company’s Executive Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs. He led the company’s global Government, Public and Industry Affairs teams across the 70 countries where Monsanto conducts business. This experience got Jerry connected to the Keystones centers work in agriculture. Key among his responsibilities were shaping the company’s public policy and building partnerships aimed at helping farmers around the world produce more food, while conserving valuable resources like water and energy. Two unique partnership that developed under his leadership were drought tolerant corn with 5 African countries, CIMMYT and the Gates foundation, and a building a sustainable business model in Brazil with the value chain leading to significant multi-company investment and soybean varieties that can protected themselves.
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Llewellyn King was born in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. He went into journalism as soon as he turned 16, stringing for Time magazine and United Press in Africa.
Steven Williams is the Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo North America, overseeing a more than $48 billion business that spans PepsiCo’s Foods and Beverage operating units. His leadership encompasses more than 125,000 associates and over 900 locations across the U.S. and Canada. Steven joined PepsiCo in 2001 as part of PepsiCo’s acquisition of the Quaker Oats Company, which he joined in 1997, and has held leadership positions of increased responsibility since.