WOWE - Women of Wind Energy

WoWE Annual Honors

By putting the spotlight on women at the pinnacle of the industry, and also the up-and-coming next generation of leaders, we provide examples of achievement, creativity, and courage.

WoWE News and Events

From Left to Right: 2010 Rising Star - Jennifer States, 2011 Rising Star - Alicia Cushman, and WoWE Executive Director Kristen Graf

Photo credit: AWEA

WoWE offers two annual awards:

• Woman of the Year - Awarded to a woman who stands out for her leadership, inspiration, and significant contributions to the expansion and improvement of the wind industry. Whether she is the leader of a company or organization, or works behind-the-scenes, she is making wind energy development happen at the highest level.

• Rising Star - Honors a woman relatively new to wind energy who is already making significant professional contributions. Rising Star nominees show unusual talent, dedication, and innovation in their wind industry work.

Click here to download nomination forms for
2012 Woman of the Year and
2012 Rising Star 

The nomination deadline for both of these awards is March 12, 2012.
If you have questions, please contact awards@womenofwindenergy.org. 

WoWE's 2011 Honorees:

2011 WoWE Woman of the Year Beth Soholt.  Beth Soholt is the Executive Director of the non-profit organization Wind on theWires (WOW). Launched in 2001, WOW members include non-profit environmental organizations, tribal representatives, wind developers, wind turbine manufacturers, and business that provide goods and services to the wind industry. WOW’s mission is to overcome the barriers to bringing wind power to market. The WOW footprint covers 9 states that stretch from the Dakotas to Indiana. Beth has more than 15 years experience working with the electric industry in various capacities. At WOW she directs work in the areas of technical/transmission planning, state regulatory proceedings, legislative education and outreach. She also holds a seat on the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) Advisory Committee representing the Environmental Sector.

From the Nomination Essay for Beth Soholt: "Her dedication to the wind industry is evident by her efforts at WOW, where she is able to bring together a group of individuals and companies representing very diverse interests, and yet find a collaborative approach towards achieving the mission and goals of all of the members.  She is well respected for her vast knowledge and experience, and her ability to lead her members to find innovative solutions that acknowledge each member’s interests and yet further the common goals of the group.  Beth’s industry connections and expertise make her a key contact person for nearly all issues related to transmission policy and technical issues."

2011 WoWE Rising Star Alicia Cushman.  Alicia Cushman is the Wind Energy Assessment Manager for enXco, managing work tha tincludes meteorology, met towe management, met tower data QA/QC, long term correlations, extrapolation to hub height, wind flow modeling, project energy forecasts, uncertainty assessments and operational assessments.  Aliia has recently been admitted to the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and will continue to work with enXco as she pursues her graduate degree.

From the Nomination Essay for Alicia Cushman: "[Alicia's] efforts go far beyond the idea of doing a good job for the company you work for. The degree of difficulty in trying to understand, refine, and improve, the methods and procedures used in resource assessment requires an analytical mind and a dedication to renewable energy not seen in the average person. Alicia has also demonstrated the ability to pull together fierce competitors into open dialogues by using creative solutions to avoid anyone sacrificing a competitive advantage in an overall effort to solve technical concerns that affect the entire industry."

Celebrating other great women of wind:

Past WoWE Honorees include: