Tell us about your career with Chevron.
I have worked at Chevron for 30 years in a variety of roles. I have had several different jobs all based here in Richmond over my career including serving as the Health, Environment and Safety Manager at the Richmond Technology Center. I also worked in the Corporate Operational Excellence (OE) Audit Group where I traveled to different Chevron operations around the globe ensuring our business units were meeting the OE expectations.
What’s your current role?
I’ve been fortunate to have a rewarding and fun career. Currently, I am the Operational Excellence Assurance Team leader. My team works to assure that these safeguards are being effectively managed here at the refinery. We perform audits, inspections, field walks and other assurance activities that verify and validate that systems that are functioning properly.
How are the safeguards managed?
Chevron has established a rigorous system of safeguards which are designed to directly prevent or mitigate an incident or impact. The refinery has many different systems in place to manage safeguards. One example is our comprehensive database management system. This is how we ensure that we are in compliance with all applicable OE and regulatory requirements. It’s how we hold ourselves accountable to know the tasks that we need to perform are being done correctly and on time.
What does OE mean to you?
OE is really an important part of how we manage risk and improve our overall health, environment and safety performance. OE is what enables us to have a high degree of confidence that the systems we have in place are keeping our workforce and the community safe. OE touches every area of our operations including process safety, environmental, workplace safety and health and stakeholder engagement. OE helps ensure we are meeting our own expectations as well as regulatory requirements and what the community expects from us.
How do you see OE values reinforced at the refinery?
Having a culture where these principles are reinforced at every level of the organization is a really important component of who we are. Our leaders walk the talk. They spend a lot of time within our plants, talking with our workforce. This helps ensure a shared understanding of our OE expectations and priorities. Both as a company and here at the refinery, we are always looking at ways to enhance our approach to OE. Our goal and expectation is to have continuous improvement. To do that successfully, we must routinely understand how to manage risk and ensure that the right safeguards are in place.
Outside of work, how are you involved in the community?
I really enjoy being actively involved and I spend a lot of time volunteering the community. I am on the Board of Directors for the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program. I take part in the AIDS Walk, help with Chevron Richmond’s annual food drive and volunteer at the Police and Fire Toy Drive. I’m also part of the Chevron Richmond Black Employee Network and Chairperson of our scholarship committee. This year, we are celebrating our 20th anniversary which is pretty exciting.
What does volunteering mean to you?
Giving back is just part of who I am as a person. I feel like it’s my contribution to humanity. The world needs more of that. It’s a small but important way to show the community that we care. Chevron really affords employees the opportunity to pursue their passion. That’s something I appreciate.
We hear you’re a big basketball fan?
I am big Golden State Warriors fan. During the last few seasons, I’ve organized some rallies for employees during the basketball season. It’s fun to get people together in support of our team. I also played basketball in college at Cal State Hayward (East Bay) and I wore the #30 jersey. So I guess I feel a connection to Steph Curry.
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