The U.S. WIN Champion award recognizes an individual who serves as a strong advocate, mentor, collaborator, and sponsor of women in the nuclear industry.
This award was established in 2021 to celebrate the executive advocates who openly support and empower women to achieve their professional goals. This award recognizes an individual who serves as a strong advocate, mentor, collaborator, and sponsor of women in the nuclear industry.
Awardees have demonstrated results in the following areas:
- Actively contributes to the advancement and development of women either inside or outside his/her own organization and publicly celebrates the work and accomplishments of females
- Supports the development of women and empowers them to engage and leverage their influence
- Promotes education, career development, and mentorship for women in his/her organization
- Supports initiatives or programs that enable development and advancement of women in the industry.
2025 U.S. WIN Champion Awardee – Grover Hettel
We also would like to congratulate Grover Hettel, Chief Nuclear Officer at Energy Northwest (EN) Columbia Generating Station.
Grover is known across our organization as a champion for diversity and inclusion chapter activities. As CNO, Grover supports our Region IV activities and serves on the Executive Board of U.S. WIN.
He mentors women at many levels of the organization and advocates for their growth and development within the company, including encouraging his direct reports to mentor women and diverse employees. His advocacy includes U.S. WIN’s NEXT program.
Grover is intentional about professional development, and seeks out literature and resources about mentoring, particularly for women and people of color. His intentionality in mentorship and advocacy set him apart from other senior leaders at our agency and in the industry. As an example of the type of care that Grover puts into his employees, every month he signs, and hand delivers birthday cards to the employees in his organization. It is a small gesture but exemplifies the type of person that Grover is.
Early on in my career at EN, I observed Grover walk the walk of a challenging yet inclusive leader who is focused on driving decisions down to the lowest levels of the organization by lifting the organization up and developing leaders. Grover has established a much greater focus on leadership development for all employees at EN, bringing forward new programs, speakers, articles, and time spent formally and informally mentoring employees.
Current U.S. WIN senior sponsor Cristina Reyff, vice president for Corporate Finance and chief financial officer, noted the benefits she saw from being one of Grover’s mentees, as well as his welcoming and inclusive attitude toward her colleague. “His style is refreshing, and he encouraged me to reach for my full potential, even beyond what I saw in myself. Grover provides candid and clear coaching that is based on observation and interaction. He had a positive, permanent impact on me from a professional and personal perspective.”
He challenges us all to be better colleagues and supports our professional development. He is a genuine person who wants the best, not just for the company, but for everyone. He wants women to succeed in their current roles and be empowered to elevate their career. Grover recognizes the specific challenges that women face in doing this. He is someone who steps away from his office and interacts with people from all levels of the organization regularly. He is an ideal example of what a U.S. WIN Champion should look like.