El Paso Electric's Vice President aims to be a role model in her community
It’s Wednesday which means CBS4 gets to showcase another woman in the Borderland who is Breaking the Bias.
CBS4 On Your Side introduces you to Jessica Christianson, a female powerhouse for El Paso Electric.
“I’ve been in El Paso for nine years,” Christianson said.
Christianson is the Vice President of El Paso Electric’s sustainability and energy solutions.
Her job is to help further advance clean energy initiatives for customers across the borderland.
“In entering the electric utility space, I had to learn a whole lot of things once I got here about really what the business is and what actually goes into keeping the lights on,” Christianson said.
Over the course of nine years, Christianson has held numerous positions with El Paso Electric, paving the way for other women to step foot in a male dominated field.
“El Paso Electric, yes, the majority of our workforce is men, utility space is men, the board room is dominated by men,” Christianson said.
But her success didn’t come without challenges.
“At first I was a little bit overwhelmed by a workforce of over 11 hundred people who had very, very specialized crafts, not always a lot of women in the room but always a lot of unique and diverse voices in the room,” Christianson said.
Her advice to other women, in any career, is to find your voice and let it be heard.
“When you have the confidence, take a step back, trust that you know as much as anyone else in that room and you bring a different set of background and different set of experiences that your voice is equally valid,” Christianson said.
In addition to her career, Christianson currently serves on the Board of Directors for the YWCA El Paso del Norte Region, the Texas A&M Research Advisory Board, EPE’s Community Partners Committee helping oversee $1.2 Million in grants to nonprofits, and is an avid volunteer through EPE’s Volunteers on Location to Serve (VOLTS) program.
Missed last week's Breaking the Bias segment? Watch it and others in this section.
We want to hear about some of the incredible women you know in the borderland that are Breaking the Bias.
Share them with us by sending submissions to smmadrid@cbs4local.com.
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