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.
Monica Beistline Block, PMP
Past-President
Monica is the Manager of Reliability at PHI, An Exelon Company. She has been working in the energy industry since 2008, with time split between the Salem and Limerick nuclear generating stations as well as PECO. She previously worked for Constellation for 9 years in various positions in Operations, Work Management, Maintenance, and Project Management. She has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Widener University and a second Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering as well as her Project Management Professional certification. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Illinois Gies College of Business focused on Entrepreneurship and Mergers & Acquisitions.
Prior to her role as Past President, Monica held roles as President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Communications Officer on the NAYGN Board or Directors. Monica held various NAYGN leadership roles for the Constellation East Chapter as Vice Chair, Chair, and Past Chair of the chapter as well as Northeast Regional lead.
Amanda Lang
President
Amanda Lang is a Senior Product Analyst at Duke Energy. She performed nuclear reactor core design calculations supporting the Oconee Nuclear Station for 9 years. She is president of North American Young Generation in Nuclear. Lang was awarded two NAYGN Future Awards, two Top Innovative Practice Awards, and the James B. Duke Award for her work in student outreach and public information. She has co-authored two children’s books about nuclear energy: Marie’s Electric Adventure and George’s Energy Adventure. Lang leads the Atomic Mentoring Program. She has a BS and MS in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin.
Ce’Nedra Darragh
Professional Development Officer
Ce’Nedra is awesome
Matthew Mairinger
Vice-President
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.
Farrah Khanpour
Communications Officer
Farrah is awesome
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 Przybylowski
Canadian Operating Officer
Matthew is awesome
Brian Holman
Treasurer
Brian graduated from NC State University with a B.S. and M.S., joining the nuclear industry in 2012 working for Entergy in Nuclear Fuels focusing on spent fuel management and then core design. He then transitioned to Duke Energy in 2022 joining Safety Analysis after completing an MBA from Mississippi College.
Brian has served NAYGN since his second year in the industry, taking chapter vice chair, chair and fleet president positions and serving on the awards committee before becoming Treasurer.
Sarah Davis
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer
Sarah Davis (she/her) is a Safety Analysis Engineer at Enercon Services, Inc. outside of Atlanta, GA. She started working at ENERCON in 2019 and quickly became involved with the company’s NAYGN chapter as Social Events Chair. Ms. Davis has her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Tennessee (Go Vols!). While at UTK, she interned at Oak Ridge National Laboratory under the Nuclear Fusion group and focused on environmental qualification of nuclear power plant cables. At ENERCON, Ms. Davis is responsible for calculations and evaluations in terms of safety-related components and systems at various nuclear power plants. She is also the lead for ENERCON’s DE&I Committee and is the new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for NAYGN.
Naif Siddiqui
Public Information Officer
Naif is awesome
Michael Smyth, PE
Technology Officer
Michael joined ENERCON in 2013 after working at Nextera Energy at their St. Luice and Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plants from 2011-2013.
With over 11 years of Mechanical Thermal Fluids and HVAC Experience, Mr. Smyth is currently serving as a Mechanical Engineering Supervisor in the ENERCON Nuclear Services Group. He is a subject matter expert in the utilization of the standard design process and has applied it in a variety of engineering applications. His engineering project experience includes projects in both nuclear primary and secondary systems as well as equipment reliability and systems engineering applications. Mr. Smyth has led a variety of projects including Reactor Coolant Pump Seal Replacements, Fire Pump Replacements, and Cyber Security Upgrades. As an engineering supervisor, he leads a team of mechanical engineers and performs technical consultation and direction on mechanical thermal fluid and HVAC design and analysis applications. In this supervisor role he has overseen up to 18 engineers and has been responsible for budget, schedule and quality for his team’s work products.
Michael graduated with his Mechanical Engineering degree from Georgia Tech. He resides in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife, Amina, and their two children – George and Ruth. In his free time Michael enjoys golf, softball, and traveling.
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.