The Future Energy Landscape: Innovation, Investment - Joan's Tulane Energy Forum 2026 Panel
Release Date: 10/13/2026
The Future Energy Landscape: Innovation, Investment - Joan's Tulane Energy Forum 2026 Panel
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
"Successful energy innovations can have outsize economic and social outcomes, impacting industrial competitiveness, trade, environmental health, infrastructure investment and security," according to the International Energy Agency's State of Energy Innovation 2026 report. They added that "spending on energy represent(s) as much as 10% of global GDP" and that "one in ten patents is related to energy – more than for chemicals, pharmaceuticals or transport." Joan Michelson at her Tulane Energy Forum Panel Our entire economy depends on energy. Yet, we find ourselves in both an energy...
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Uncertainty As Your Friend - with Jessica Li, Align Experience, Coach and Investor
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“Uncertainty doesn't mean you know zero. Uncertainty just means you may know 80%, you may know 90%. So I think we're too quick to freak out and say, "Well, if I'm not certain, therefore I know nothing….So I would say get curious about uncertainty. Stop freaking out about it because everything given to you is really here for your growth. It's just how are you going to make the most out of it? …You probably know a lot more than you think you do, or you can get the answer…." Jessica Li on Electric Ladies Podcast We are surrounded by uncertainty today, from AI to climate change to...
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The Power of Celebrity for Good – Maggie Baird, Founder & President of Support+Feed, Mother of Grammy-winning Artists Billie Eilish and Finneas
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“The venues chosen had to agree….Many of those venues went fully plant-based for Billie shows, which was amazing. So, they had to agree to have at least three plant-based mains. So that doesn't count pretzels…or popcorn…. On that last US leg (of Billie's tour), we went a step further. We worked with every venue and we presented these culinary trainings to the culinary staff. They focus on the why you should add more plant-based food, which of course is planetary. It's to address the needs of your customers. It can be even to save money. And then we address the how's, how's to do it...
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Women's History On Wall Street– Paulina Bren, Author of "She Wolves: The Untold History of Women on Wall Street," Professor at Vassar College
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“Obviously that question of women, money, and wealth changed over time….We don't talk about women wanting money all that much…Women were excited to become gradually big earners, but they treated money very differently. They treated money as a way to create protection for themselves and their family, as a way to create a legacy that would continue. They were not into big spending as much…. What I hadn't realized was to what extent these early women…were saying, "I was the only woman in the room," and they had tremendous ramifications for how they had to function on Wall Street because...
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Study Shows Green Manufacturing Supports Economic Growth– Bethia Burke, President, The Fund For Our Economic Future
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“It's really that investment to transition from a legacy industry into a future industry…that is aiming to drive more sustainability and manufacturing processes and products overall…One of the things that we fundamentally see as being important in this economic shift, and we say it in this Practical Guide to the Green Economy, is that this transition we believe will favor places that make things.… and we want to make them better and more sustainable.” Bethia Burke on Electric Ladies Podcast As communities seek economic growth and manufacturing jobs, a recent study found that...
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Organic Cotton From Female Farmers: Alison Ward, CEO of CottonConnect
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“I've been particularly passionate about working with women in those communities to teach them about new techniques so they can understand how to run their farm more effectively, but also understand their rights as women in those communities so they have a stronger voice…. And because they were called an ‘ambassador,’ their status in the village rose.” Alison Ward on Electric Ladies Podcast If you're shopping for back-to-school clothes or a new fall wardrobe, you'll look at the labels a bit differently after listening to today's episode. Why? Because the cotton in your...
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How Hotel Rooms Affect Your Health & The Planet – JoAnna Abrams, Founder/CEO of MindClick
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“We did a study where we shared the story of the careful thought that went into products that were better for people and the planet … Then we administered the standard guest satisfaction survey, and what we found, Joan, was 150% increase in satisfaction, loyalty numbers… Why?...They equated it to service. They said a hotel that goes out of its way to choose products that are better for me and the planet is a hotel that I have confidence is going to take better care of me while I'm there.” JoAnna Abrams on Electric Ladies Podcast With summer travel season is in full swing, a lot...
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Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“There are those individual actions that we can take. But if I can work with my community or work inside of my company, or if I can work inside of my house of worship and we can build some community and some action that way, it will have a much bigger impact than anything that I can do as an individual… The communities that they're already a part of, whether they're residential, like in their neighborhoods, or it's the nonprofits that they're a part of, or the places where they have other kinds of communities like religious communities, and start conversations there. What could we do as a...
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Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“(Climate modelling)…it's being used in things like insurance companies. It's being used by companies for their ESG assessments. So, when you get your insurance premium at the end of the year, there is some kind of climate model that has said something about the risk of your house to flood. It has said something about your risk to fire. And so that might be driving up your insurance premium…And so it's being involved in your lives in many different ways. The food you consume, those grocery bills, there's prices behind it that are being driven by people using climate models saying...
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Plastic Bottles & Summer Vacations – Ann Marie (Canela) Chock, Head of Niagara Cares, the Philanthropic Arm of Niagara Water, America's Largest Water Bottler
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
Plastic Bottles & Summer Vacations – Ann Marie (Canela) Chock, Head of Niagara Cares, the Philanthropic Arm of Niagara Water, America's Largest Water Bottler “We were the first to lightweight our bottles. So, if you think about a typical bottle of soda, it's about 27 grams of plastic. Our bottles, this year, I think they're coming in at 6.6 grams …We've created label-less bottles so they're easier to recycle. …We're now running lines that are entirely recycled content. So we are very committed to creating bottles that that do not harm the planet, and also that allow for the...
info_outline"Successful energy innovations can have outsize economic and social outcomes, impacting industrial competitiveness, trade, environmental health, infrastructure investment and security," according to the International Energy Agency's State of Energy Innovation 2026 report. They added that "spending on energy represent(s) as much as 10% of global GDP" and that "one in ten patents is related to energy – more than for chemicals, pharmaceuticals or transport."
Joan Michelson at her Tulane Energy Forum Panel
Our entire economy depends on energy. Yet, we find ourselves in both an energy crunch and some of the most innovative energy technologies being developed. What are the most promising energy technologies and where's the money coming from for them?
Listen to Electric Ladies Host Joan Michelson's panel at the Tulane Energy Forum 2026 recently with policy expert Heather Reams, formerly of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES), fusion and nuclear expert Ben Byboth of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, transmission expert Michelle Bourg of Entergy and energy industry expert Kevin Book of Clearview Energy Partners.
You’ll hear about:
· What technologies they think are undervalued and underfunded.
· Funding for energy innovation, including markets and the role of government
· What the condition is of the grid, the backbone of the energy infrastructure.
· What kind of workforce the energy industry needs today.
· Plus, insightful career advice
“I think as we go forward, the solution space is going to require integrated cross-discipline thinking where people are able to come together and collaborate.…and the people that can facilitate those types of conversations and then work to then solve the problems that occur when those things come together, those are the biggest things. Can you drive collaboration and can you solve problems? And if you can do those things and you're a highly valuable person in the energy space. And the last thing I say is just get a diverse set of experiences.”
Ben Byboth on the Tulane Energy Forum Panel
You’ll also like:
· The State of Energy Today Might Surprise You - with Lisa Jacobson, CEO of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy
· Critical Minerals, AI and Energy - with Liv Carroll, Critical Minerals Expert, former Managing Director – EMEA Mining Lead and Global Natural Resources Lead for Data & A.I. at Accenture
· Bipartisan Climate and Energy Policy - with Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus and Air Force Veteran
· New Nuclear Energy is Growing Fast - with Maria Korsnick, CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute
· Critical Minerals 101 - with Abby Wulf, Critical Minerals expert and former head of Critical Minerals at the U.S. Dept. of Energy
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