President

Lori Ward

Principal, Deloitte

Lori serves as Lead Client Service Partner for a portfolio of Dallas/Fort Worth-based companies, many of which are Oil & Gas clients. She has 20 years of experience in professional services managing strategic services and relationships with clients, as well as leading large, transformative consulting engagements. Lori’s consulting specialization includes the intersection of business and IT with emphasis on process optimization. She has served many Fortune 500 clients around the globe. She previously was with KPMG and IBM. Lori holds degrees in business (BBA & MBA) from Texas Christian University. Lori lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband and 2 year old daughter.

Lori is committed to the leadership of women. In addition to helping launch the North Texas chapter of Women’s Energy Network (WEN), she led the formation of a regional organization, Network of Executive Women (NEW), Texas chapter, focusing on the advancement of women in the Consumer Products & Retail Industry. Lori is a founding member of United Way’s Women of Tocqueville society in Metropolitan Dallas, and serves as a campaign coordinator for the Energy industry.

Vice President

Christina Kitchens

Vice President, Sovereign Bank

Christina serves as Vice President within the Sovereign Bank Energy Lending group in Dallas, TX. She has been in banking for more than twelve years and she focuses primarily on providing acquisition and working capital financing for independent E&P and midstream firms, both public and private, in a range of $1MM to $60MM. Her market area consists primarily of Texas firms with properties domestically located in the US or firms with headquarters outside of Texas but with an operational presence in Texas. Christina is among the fourth generation of oil and gas professionals in her family and received her BA and MBA from the University of North Texas. She also has numerous industry affiliations including the Dallas Petroleum Club, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, SIPES, and DAPL among others.

Christina has demonstrated her commitment to the advancement of professional women having significant prior experience in organizing, launching and chairing women professional organizations. She founded the Citibank Women’s Network of DFW while at Citi and served as its chairman for four years while it grew to 800+ members before she resigned to her current bank position at Sovereign Bank. Additionally, she has been actively involved in other women and diversity oriented agencies and organizing women legislative agendas in the State of Texas. Lastly, Christina is passionate about the oil and gas business and desires to see a platform of support available to other women that share this passion for the business.

Secretary

Debra Villarreal

Partner, Thompson & Knight LLP

Debra Villarreal is a Partner with Thompson & Knight LLP. The focus of Debra’s legal career has always been on the energy sector. She has represented both lenders and borrowers in financings secured by E&P and midstream assets. Debra’s primary practice is the acquisition and divestiture of E&P properties, but she also represents energy companies in the preparation and negotiation of agreements in relation to exploration and production activities, including operating agreements, developments agreements and exploration agreements.

Debra is a former Chairman of the Oil and Gas Section of the Dallas Bar Association. She is also an active member of the Eastern Mineral Law Foundation.

Treasurer

Melinda Yee

Partner, Deloitte

Melinda is a Partner with Deloitte & Touche LLP, where she specializes in assisting her clients with financial and tax due diligence on transactions in the energy space. She has worked with companies across the energy spectrum including gas gathering and processing, interstate and intrastate pipelines, refining, E&P, mining, merchant power generation, alternative energy, trading, and regulated utilities. Melinda is Deloitte’s M&A Women’s Initiative Leader for Mid-America and a member of the organizing committee for Deloitte’s annual Women Leaders in Energy event. She is also a founding member of United Way’s Women of Tocqueville Society in Metropolitan Dallas.

Membership Director

Amber Bennett Shockey

Prescott Legal Search

Born in Houston, Texas, Amber Shockey grew up in the energy industry and has a father who is still active in the production and pipeline industry. While in private practice as an associate attorney with Thompson & Knight, Amber focused her legal career on oil and gas transactions and litigation. Her energy experience led her to , where she is a member of the National Energy Team and has a special expertise in energy recruiting in Dallas and Houston.

Public Relations Director (Co-Chair)

Ann Vandenberg

Land Coordinator, Dale Resources, LLC

Ann’s launch into the industry began in 1981 with Argonaut Energy Corporation in Amarillo, Texas, and then with Heritage Resources, Inc. when she moved to Dallas in 1987. She later joined Dale Operating Company in 1989 where she formed their Land Department shortly thereafter and served as Vice President of Land until their Barnett Shale property divestitures to Chesapeake Exploration in 2006. Ann’s long-term experience in the oil and gas industry provides her with diverse knowledge in many different areas of the business. These include oil and gas accounting, regulatory matters, field operations, investor relations, and legal matters including joint operating agreements, participation agreements and unitization issues. Ann has successfully executed and managed numerous transactions over the years including 10 divestitures for Dale with gross proceeds exceeding $500 million. She is currently serving as Land Coordinator for Dale Resources, LLC in their Dallas corporate office and has worked for the Dale Companies for 20 years. Ann is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Landmen, Dallas Association of Petroleum Landmen and Fort Worth Association of Petroleum Landmen.

Public Relations Director  (Co-Chair)

Crystal "Chris" Bell

President, C. Bell & Associates, Inc.

Crystal “Chris” Bell is an investor relations and corporate communications consultant with more than 25 years’ experience in the energy industry. As president of C. Bell & Associates, Inc., Chris provides investor relations, public relations and corporate communications services to public and private companies and organizations. She specializes in working with domestic and international oil and gas clients.

Before establishing her company in 2002, Chris was vice president, investor relations and corporate communications for Triton Energy (acquired by Amerada Hess in 2001), an independent oil and gas exploration and production company. She was responsible for working with Triton’s new management team to build organizational value by improving corporate perception and enhancing credibility. As director, investor relations for Flowserve Corporation from 1998-2000, Chris established the investor relations and corporate communications department for this international manufacturing company. Previously, Chris was director, financial communications, for ENSERCH Corporation (later acquired by TXU), a diversified energy company. Chris began her career as a newspaper editor in Arizona and transitioned into public relations management.

Chris is the editor and writer of the coffee table book Spectacular Homes of Texas. She holds a bachelor of science degree in communications from the University of Illinois. She is a former officer and current member of the National Investor Relations Institute and a member of the Network of Executive Women.

Special Events and Networking Director

Susan H. Radar

Land Manager, Nexen Petroleum U.S.A. 

Susan Rader ("Sue") is currently Land Manager for Nexen Petroleum U.S.A. Inc. in Plano, TX, an organization operating primarily in the Offshore, Gulf of Mexico region. Sue has held numerous Land positions since starting her career in 1972 with companies including Goodrich Oil Company in Shreveport, LA, Union Pacific Resources in Fort Worth, TX and Cairn Energy in Dallas, TX. She was among the first female Landman and was instrumental in starting networking opportunities for women Landmen working in the Offshore. 

Assistant Special Events and Networking Director

Sarah Bennett

Operations Engineer, Merit Energy

Sarah Bennett is a Petroleum Engineering graduate from Montana Tech of the University of Montana who is currently working as an operations engineer with Merit Energy responsible for all engineering for central Oklahoma CO2 floods. She has also done summer internships with Schlumberger Oilfield Services, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and Newfield Exploration. While in school, Sarah was active in various industry organizations, including the Society of Women Engineers. 

Communications Director (Co-Chair)

Brandy Barnes

Vice President, Barnes Oil & Gas, LLC

Brandy is Vice President of Administration for Barnes Oil and Gas LLC and a member of its board of directors. She is a founding member and director of B&R Energy LLC and is an Executive Vice President with that firm. She has been a director of BWOC since 2006.

Prior to joining to the family business, she had an extensive career in the fashion industry. At J.C. Penney Co. from 2001 to 2004, Brandy oversaw design and development of $300 million per year of product lines. From 2000 to 2001, with Coach, Inc., she led the group that designed and implemented a computer-based product development, design, and manufacturing system. From 1997 to 2000, with the Lerner New York division of Limited Corp., she created and managed product that produced $350 million in annual revenue. From 1994 to 1995 she was HR and special project manager for Brinks, Inc., North American division. From 1991 to 1994 she was a project manager for Barnes Enterprises.

Brandy’s bachelor’s degree in International Studies is from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she also played on the NCAA championship Women’s Soccer team. Brandy also holds a bachelor’s degree from Parsons School of Design. She is a member of ADAM Energy Forum and the Dallas Petroleum Club. 

Communications Director (Co-Chair)

Jill McMillian

Manager, Crosstex Energy

Jill McMillan is Manager of Public and Industry Affairs for Crosstex Energy, a midstream natural gas company. Jill led the development of the Public and Industry Affairs Department at Crosstex. She manages public and media relations, investor relations, crisis communications, branding, advertising, internal communications and community relations. She has 10 years of experience as a public relations professional and has worked seven years in the energy industry.

Jill previously worked with ExxonMobil and Devon Energy through public relations agencies in Dallas. She is a member of the Public Relations Society of America and is involved with many nonprofit organizations in the DFW area. Jill holds a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Texas Tech University and lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband. 

Program Director Co-Chair 

Megan Brown

Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, Approach Resources

Program Director Co-Chair 

Diana Frazier

Title Agent, Dale Property Services, LLC

Advisor to Board 

Janice Hartrick

Retired VP, Associate General Counsel, Apache Corporation