March is Women’s History Month and it’s a dedicated time to reflect on the contributions of women. We are doing just that here at I&M. We have more than 320 women employed here that are all committed to serving our communities and customers.

“We aim to work in an environment free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination that values differences because diversity of thought and experiences is critical to our future success,” said Katie Davis, I&M vice president of External Affairs and Customer Experience. “We are directly tied to our communities so attracting, developing and retaining a talented, diverse workforce that is reflective of the communities we serve will help us continue to serve our customers how they want and expect to be served.”

We have more 320 women working for I&M and more than 50 in managerial roles. One of those is Shanelle Sellers, who is a Distribution Work Plan manager based in New Haven, Ind.

“I love what I do every day and the people I get to work with. My team gets to write the district work plan every year,” Sellers said. “This is a huge responsibility and I take a lot of pride in my team and how we tackle all the year’s challenges head-on to get the plan accomplished. The entire team is encouraging, creative, and inspiring. I feel very fortunate to get to work with this bunch.”  

Another employee, Gail Buhr, Budget Analyst, just marked 15 years with us. She said the strong female presence at I&M is what attracted her to the organization.

“When I saw a job opening at Indiana Michigan Power, I researched the company and found, at that time, a female President and multiple female directors. Since the utility industry is known for being male dominated, especially within smaller utilities, I saw I&M as having opportunities for the advancement of highly motivated women,” Buhr said.

American Electric Power (AEP), our parent company, was included in Forbes magazine’s America’s Best Employers for Women 2022 list for the third consecutive year. AEP is also among those in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI), which highlights companies dedicated to disclosing their efforts to support gender equality through their business strategy and transparency. This is the fifth consecutive year AEP has been included in the index.

“Diversity, equity and inclusion are key parts of our strategy,” said Steve Baker, I&M president and chief operating officer. “We look at the best ways to support and empower women in our workplace along with continuing to develop programs to support our female colleagues.”