Leadership

Michael Kempe

Ron Kilgore

Mike Sperry

Timothy White

Bruff Shea

Robert Graf

James Anest

Jeff Baudier

Chief Executive Officer Jeff Baudier joined CORE in March 2021. He has nearly 30 years of experience in the energy industry as an executive and attorney. Jeff’s experience includes most recently serving as a managing director for private equity fund manager Bernhard Capital Partners Management LP. He also held chief development officer and regional CEO positions at Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC and NRG Energy Inc., respectively. Baudier holds a Juris Doctor from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law and received his undergraduate degree from the University of New Orleans.

Kathleen Solano

Chief Administrative Officer Kathleen Solano oversees CORE’s Human Resources, Information Services and Fleet and Facilities departments, and plays a key role in driving and executing cooperative-wide strategy, setting overall goals and metrics, and proposing projects, systems and programs that align with CORE’s strategy. Ms. Solano joined CORE in May 2021 and has over 30 years of experience, including more than 20 within the utility industry. Ms. Solano holds a Bachelor of Arts in communications – with a minor in management – from Sonoma State University.

Dede Jones

Chief Financial Officer Dede Jones leads the finance functions within the association, including cash and debt management, financial accounting and reporting, financial planning and analysis, risk management, procurement and internal audit. Jones has spent most of her career in the energy industry, previously serving in management positions with investor-owned utilities and a four-service municipal utility before joining the cooperative in August 2016. Ms. Jones has also consulted on utility acquisitions, worked in public accounting and directed the development and implementation of internal audit activities. Ms. Jones earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Accounting from the University of Kansas. She is a licensed certified public accountant and certified internal auditor.

Pam Feuerstein

Chief Operating Officer Pam Feuerstein, P.E., is responsible for engineering, distribution and transmission operations, power supply, and safety for the association. She also serves as the CORE’s North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Compliance Offer and Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Senior Manager. Ms. Feuerstein joined CORE in 2010 as the System Planning Manager and later served as CORE’s Engineering Manager. Prior to working at CORE, she worked for an engineering consulting firm in various roles for over 15 years. Ms. Feuerstein is a registered Professional Engineer and has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Montana State University.

Mandi Lesher

Chief Member Experience Officer Mandi Lesher leads the call center, billing and payments, and public relations functions within CORE. She has over 16 years of experience in the utility industry and has worked for CORE since October 2006. She began her career at CORE implementing special projects and served as the Project Director for CORE’s two-year-plus enterprise-wide implementation that went live in April 2012. She also helped lead the development of CORE’s billing and payment strategy focused on the delivery of multi-channel payment options to CORE members. Ms. Lesher earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Colorado State University and a Master of Business Administration in Strategic Management from Regis University.