2025 Women’s History Month Celebrations

2025 Women’s History Month Celebrations

In 2025, Women’s History Month celebrates the theme “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations.” To celebrate, the Atomic Allies (American Nuclear Society, Nuclear Energy Institute, North American Young Generation in Nuclear, and U.S. Women in Nuclear) offered this programming during March, including two webinars, an in-person reception at the Regulatory Information Conference, and a “Women in Nuclear History” social media campaign.

 

To kick off Women’s History Month, the Atomic Allies (American Nuclear Society, Nuclear Energy Institute, North American Young Generation in Nuclear, and U.S. Women in Nuclear) presented a joint webinar on March 5 titled “Stories of Nuclear Mentorship: Educating & Inspiring Generations.” This webinar highlighted inspiring stories of mentorship within our industry and organizations. Some mentoring relationships originate from mentoring programs offered by our organizations, and some mentoring relationships originate more organically through networking and connections made within the organizations, but in all cases the impact of a true mentor can be life changing.

The speakers included Gilda Bocock, retired Nuclear Fuel Marketing Manager from Westinghouse and Summer Sims, Project Controls Analyst at the Y-12 DOE Complex representing U.S. Women in Nuclear; Monica Beistline Block, Senior Engineering Manager for Strategic Projects at PSEG and Kaitlin Milde, Mechanical Engineer at Westinghouse representing NAYGN; Lisa Marshall, Director of Outreach, Retention and Engagement / Assistant Extension Professor at North Carolina State University Department of Nuclear Engineering and Ishita Trivedi, Computational Scientist at Idaho National Lab representing the American Nuclear Society, and Sarah Davis, Lead Licensing Engineer at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy as the moderator. These panelists shared their testaments of what can happen when mentors and mentees invest in building a supportive relationship. A recording of the webinar is available on the U.S. Women In Nuclear YouTube channel.

Throughout the month of March, U.S. Women in Nuclear shared the inspiring stories of the women who helped build the nuclear industry in their “Women in Nuclear History” series on social media. Many of us are familiar with Marie Curie and Lise Meitner, but there are so many other incredible women deserving of recognition for their contributions. If you missed any of these social media posts, visit The WINning Edge newsletter on the U.S. WIN website and search for “women in nuclear history” to pull up the full list of articles featuring these women. While you’re there, check out the article on the “American Roots of International Women’s Day, March 8.”

On March 12, NEI & the D.C. chapter of U.S. Women in Nuclear co-hosted an in person evening reception at Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in conjunction with the 2025 Regulatory Information Conference (RIC). Food and drinks were provided while attendees networked with industry peers. The guest speaker was Amy Roma, Partner and Global Energy Practice Leader at Hogan Lovells. This event was open to the public and free to attend, not just for attendees of the RIC.

 

To conclude our Women’s History Month celebration, U.S. WIN presented a webinar on March 26th titled “Women Inspiring Generations: Stories of Multi-Generational Nuclear Families.” For many families, the nuclear industry is a family business, with parents directly inspiring the next generation of the nuclear workforce. To celebrate the 2025 Women’s History Month theme of “Moving Forward Together! Women Educating & Inspiring Generations,” this webinar highlighted the stories of women whose work in the nuclear industry inspired their children to pursue a career in nuclear as well. The speakers included Meigan Brown, a Reactor Operator at Vistra’s Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant, Heather Davis, the Corporate Training Senior Manager at Constellation Energy, Kelly Gatslick, a Senior Reactor Operator at Constellation Energy’s Nine Mile Point, Kimberly Hobbs, the ISFSI Implementation & Support Manager at Constellation Energy Corporation, and Jo-el Horn, a Radiation Protection Supervisor, at Constellation Energy’s FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant, and was moderated by Lily Stuck, a Core Performance Engineer and Fuel Performance Engineer at Vistra’s Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant. The career history of these panelists and their families demonstrate the wide variety of career opportunities in the nuclear utility workforce, from Cyber Security, Operations, Radiation Protection, Training, Scheduling, Engineering, and Maintenance! It was an inspiring hour hearing speakers share their family’s personal story of generations in nuclear. A recording of the webinar is available on the U.S. Women in Nuclear YouTube channel.