Sandy Nessing, Managing Director Corporate Sustainability; American Electric Power Co. Inc.

With 20 years in the utility industry, Sandy Nessing has responsibility for managing sustainability strategy, corporate stakeholder engagement and annual performance reporting for American Electric Power (AEP). She oversees annual production of AEP's Corporate Accountability Report, including a dedicated sustainability web site and companion iPad app (“AEP CAR” in the iTunes store). This is the sixth year AEP will produce an integrated report that combines financial with nonfinancial performance.

She facilitates cross-functional collaboration on sustainability issues across AEP to raise awareness of the interdependencies of functions, resources and issues while providing guidance on externalities that could affect business results or operations. She also develops and manages advocacy opportunities and relationships that support AEP's business strategy. She is a Master Culture Champion for AEP, working with senior management and others to advance a culture shift within AEP that aligns business strategies with employee engagement and performance management.

She leads AEP's participation in the Electric Power Research Institute's (EPRI) Energy Sustainability Interest Group, serving as chair of the group in 2013. Among the group's work includes completion of an industry-wide materiality assessment and the development of industry-wide performance metrics. She also is a member of the EPRI Benchmarking Forum Steering Committee. In Columbus, Ohio, Nessing currently serves on the Franklin Park Conservatory Board of Trustees, one of the nation's premier botanical gardens. She also serves on the Grange Insurance Audubon Center Stewardship Board, where she was president of the board for two years. She serves on the Board of Directors and the Board of Regents for NAEM. Nessing led AEP's participation in the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) Electric Utility Sector Supplement Pilot Program, and most recently served on the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Industry Working Group for the electric utilities sector.

Prior to joining AEP in February 2006, she was manager of Corporate Communications for Yankee Gas Services Company, part of the Northeast Utilities System (now EverSource) for nine years. Before her work in the utility industry, she was senior public information specialist for the Saint Raphael Healthcare System in New Haven, Conn. (now part of Yale-New Haven) and spent 12 years as a broadcast journalist in Connecticut, holding positions that included news director, anchor and reporter. She is a graduate of Briarwood College in Southington, Connecticut.