Leadership
Board of Directors
Fueled by volunteers, the organization has dozens of continental committees and over a hundred local chapters facilitated by a Board of Directors affectionately known as The Core.
Each position is a two-year volunteer position and elected by the NAYGN membership except for the presidential positions. A Board Director is elected to the Vice-President position and then serves a three-year term going from Vice-President, President, and then Past-President each year.
Amber Von Ruden
Past-President
Amber is a Manager Project Execution at ComEd in Oakbrook Terrace, IL. Prior to that role, Amber worked at Exelon Generation LaSalle Station for 10 years and held various positions in Chemistry, Engineering, and Project Management. Amber holds a M.S. in Chemistry from Illinois State University, a Project Management Professional Certification, and a BWR ANSI Senior Reactor Operator Certification. Amber is also a published organic chemistry research author. Prior to her role as President, Amber held roles as Vice President and Treasurer on the NAYGN Board of Directors. Amber held various NAYGN leadership roles for the Exelon West Chapter as a site lead, Vice Chair, Chair, and Past Chair of the chapter.
Amber is passionate about NAYGN and wants to increase engagement and diversity and inclusion of our local chapters through alignment of our vision and goals and understanding of our value proposition. Amber plans to leverage the value NAYGN provides to increase and influence industry support through enhanced strategic partnerships for the organization.
Monica Beistline Block
President
Monica Beistline Block is a Senior Project Management Scheduler at Limerick Generating Station. She has been with Exelon for over five years in Operations, Work Management, Maintenance, and Project Management but has been in the nuclear industry for ten years in various capacities. Previously, she worked for PSEG Nuclear as a Systems Engineer and Equipment Reliability Improvement Engineer. She graduated from Widener University with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and has a second Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering. She is a licensed Project Management Professional and is currently pursuing an MBA in International Business.
Jenny Gourley
Professional Development Officer
Jenny Gourley is a Senior Evaluator at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) where she began in 2008. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Cum Laude, from the University of South Carolina. Ms. Gourley holds a Westinghouse Senior Reactor Operator certification, and has previous work experience with Westinghouse’s Nuclear Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carpolina and Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Maryland. Ms. Gourley’s skills include equipment reliability, work management, training and accreditation, analysis and project management. She was one of the co-founders of INPO’s NAYGN Chapter, and is also involved with Women in Nuclear and INPO’s various community service opportunities. Ms. Gourley resides in Atlanta with her husband Bill, an attorney, and their three children. During her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, music, walking the Atlanta-area trails, global news, politics and culture..
Her engagement with NAYGN spans well over 12 years, and began in university through an NAYGN and ANS event that included a visit and tour of V.C. Summer.
As Professional Development Officer, she plans to continue the momentum the organization has gained for providing value-added professional development opportunities. She will focus her efforts on continuing the book club by selecting topics that are pertinent to professional growth, as well as our industry. In addition, she would like to focus on collaboration between chapters in the United States and Canada to identify training opportunities where NAYGN members could join other chapters for professional development and training.
Amanda Lang
Vice-President
Amanda Lang is the nuclear fuel core designer for Oconee Unit 2 at Duke Energy. She is responsible for the fuel reload process including cycle design, physics parameter evaluation, and maneuvering analysis. Before joining Duke Energy, she interned at Exelon Corporation and Idaho National Laboratory. She earned a BS and MS in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin. She is a licensed Professional Engineer in North Carolina.
Amanda sees the public information branch of NAYGN as an integral tool to help the nuclear industry succeed. NAYGN and the voices of young people need to leverage their influence to align policy makers, educators, and environmentalists to the benefits of nuclear energy. She would like to see nuclear energy take center stage as the national and international conversations on climate change ramp up and solutions are proposed.
Farrah Khanpour
Communications Officer
Ashley Lawrence
US Operating Officer
Ashley has been a member of NAYGN since she first joined the nuclear industry, starting at Progress Energy. In 2012 she became an officer at her local site, and then in 2015 became the site NAYGN president. She maintained this role until she became the Duke NAYGN Fleet lead elect in 2018, and then the fleet lead in June of 2019.
In her NAYGN roles Ashley has helped push advocacy events with local communities, organize member interactions with site leaders and helped plan screenings of the Chernobyl series with the community.
Matthew Mairinger
Canadian Operating Officer
Matthew Mairinger was elected as NAYGN Durham vice-president from 2015-2017 and was elected NAYGN Durham president from 2017-2019. He has served on the NAYGN Benchmarking, Public Information, and Engagement committees. In 2018 he was awarded the NAYGN individual achievement award and during his role as president the NAYGN Durham chapter received the best chapter in Canada award. He is currently a board member with the the Canadian Nuclear Association and is a Young Energy Professional member in the Energy Council of Canada.
Matthew is a Professional Engineer in the province of Ontario and received his Bachelor of Engineering in Nuclear Engineering degree from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in 2014. He works for Ontario Power Generation (OPG) at the Pickering nuclear plant as the Senior Advisor in Stakeholder Relations. He resides in Ajax, Ontario, and enjoys water sports such as surfing, skimboarding, and windsurfing.
Daniel Deckman
Treasurer
Daniel joined the nuclear industry as a reactor engineer working for PSEG Nuclear at the Hope Creek Generating Station in 2014. Currently, Daniel is a lead reactor engineer providing expertise on reactivity and nuclear fuel management. In addition, Daniel is the Special Nuclear Material Custodian responsible for control and accountability of all fissile material at Hope Creek. Daniel holds a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and is currently pursuing his MBA from Excelsior College.
While at PSEG Nuclear, Daniel served as the NAYGN chapter’s outreach lead, vice chair, chair and currently serves as the past chair. His vision as Ttreasurer is to ensure NAYGN acts with fiscal responsibility while coordinating and developing fundraisers to empower it. He plans to ensure the financial side of NAYGN is organized and communicated effectively to the board members. Daniel will continue to advocate the importance of NAYGN and its sponsors to ensure our organization remains successful during these economically challenging times for the nuclear industry.
Sarah Davis
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer
Naif Siddiqui
Public Information Officer
Christopher Chance
Technology Officer
Executive Advisory Council
The Board relies on an Executive Advisory Council (EAC) for mentorship and guidance. The EAC is comprised of nuclear industry executives that provide input on NAYGN and industry-wide initiatives.
Executive Advisory Council Goals:
- Provide guidance and strategic input to the NAYGN Board of Directors to ensure that NAYGN is aligned with supporting the nuclear industry’s challenges.
- Communicate NAYGN’s activities and the voice of the young generation to the nuclear industry. Maintain a group of senior-level advocates for NAYGN within the nuclear industry.
Committee Member | Title | Company | Term Start |
Angie Howard [Chair] | President | Howard-Johnson Associates | Feb 2008 |
Susan Landahl | SVP Org. Effectiveness and Performance Assessment | Exelon Corp | |
Clair Goddard | SVP Corporate Strategy | INPO | December 2016 |
John G. Roberts | Member at Large | Canadian Nuclear Society | Feb 2013 |
Mimi Limbach | Executive Partner | Potomac Group Communications | October 2013 |
Phyllis Rich | Exec. VP and Chief Financial Officer | Nuclear Energy Institute | May 2017 |
Joy Russell | SVP, Chief Strategy & Communications Officer | Holtec | |
John Stewart | Director of Policy and research | Canadian Nuclear Association | |
Maria Lacal |
Chief Nuclear Officer | Arizona Public Service | May 2020 |
Canon Bryan | Chief Financial Officer | Terrestrial Energy | May 2020 |
*Steve Biegalski |
Executive Committee
Nuclear and Radiological Eng. and Medical Physics program Chair |
Nuclear Engineering Dept. Heads Org.
Georgia Institute of Technology |
May 2020 |
Todd Allen |
Chair Elect
Glenn F. and Gladys H. Knoll Department Chair of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences |
Nuclear Engineering Dept. Heads Org.
University of Michigan
|
May 2020 |
Kostadin Ivanov |
Chair
Professor and Department Head Nuclear Engineering Department |
Nuclear Engineering Dept. Heads Org.
North Carolina State University
|
May 2020 |
Craig Piercy | Executive Director, CEO | American Nuclear Society | May 2020 |
Pam Cowan |
COO & SVP, Holtec Decommissioning | Holtec | November 2020 |
Marri Marchionda-Palmer | SVP Organizational Effectiveness and Performance Assessment | Exelon Generation | January 2021 |
Joni Falascino | Executive Vice President, Project Management Office | Westinghouse | February 2021 |
Peter Ozemoyah |
Vice President, Tyne Engineering Inc. 1st Vice Chair, International Nuclear Societies Council Director of Conferences, Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering |
Canadian Nuclear Society | March 2021 |