Tara Meek
National President-Elect
Regulatory Affairs, Williams
As a founding member of WEN Appalachia (now the Greater Pittsburgh Chapter), Tara Meek has been involved in many roles at the chapter level, including Special Events Chair, Director at Large, Vice President and President. Tara has served as Membership Director on the National Board for the last 3.5 years and looks forward to serving as President Elect on the National Board for 2020. Tara has over a decade of environmental experience including mine reclamation, groundwater and geochemical modeling, creating and maintaining GIS maps and databases, environmental audits, permitting, and site investigations. She began her career as a Geologist working at the West Virginia Geological and Economic survey. She continued in the Oil and Gas industry at CTL Engineering as a Senior Project Manager. She managed permitting and site design for several large oil and gas companies. She went to work at CONSOL Energy in 2011 and managed all permitting for midstream and water pipelines and facilities for CONSOL and Noble Energy. Tara most recently is working at Williams Companies as Supervisor of Permitting. She is currently overseeing several permit and compliance managers for midstream facilities and pipelines. In 2004, prior to joining the West Virginia Geological Economic Survey (WVGES), Tara received her Bachelors of Science degree in Environmental Geoscience from West Virginia University. She continued her education at WVU receiving her Master’s Degree with dual specialization in Hydrogeology and Environmental Microbiology. Tara has enjoyed visiting her family in Ireland every 2-4 years since the age of 2. Her mother originates from Dublin, Ireland, where her maternal family still resides. Tara enjoys running and entering races for fun. She has participated in over 20 races and obstacle courses, including a 10k on the beach of Portmarnock, Ireland. She completed the April 2013 Tough Mudder 12 mile obstacle course and enjoys training for future obstacle courses.

Andrea Tettleton
National Secretary
Attorney, Seabaugh Joffrion Sepulvado Victory
Andrea Tettleton is an oil and gas attorney with Seabaugh, Joffrion, Sepulvado & Victory. She serves as the managing attorney of the firm’s Baton Rouge office. Andrea graduated magna cum laude from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 2006. Andrea obtained her Juris Doctorate cum laude from Louisiana State University in 2009. Andrea was selected as a Louisiana Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2019. Andrea has over a decade of experience in advising upstream energy companies operating in Louisiana. Her current practice focuses on examination of land, mineral and leasehold title, drafting title opinions, division order work and drafting, interpreting and negotiating contractual provisions in oil and gas related contracts. Andrea has been a member of the South Louisiana Chapter of WEN for over seven years, having served as president of the Chapter in 2017, Vice President in 2016 and Special Events Director in 2015.

Kristi D. Obafunwa
National Membership Director
Associate, Kean Miller LLP
Kristi Obafunwa is an associate in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. She joined the firm in 2014 and practices in the environmental and litigation group. Kristi earned her B.S. in 1999 and her M.S. in 2005 from Louisiana State University. She earned her J.D./D.C.L., cum laude, in 2014 from the LSU Law Center, where she was named to the Chancellor’s list, received CALI awards in Legal Professions and Legislation Seminar, and was a member of the Moot Court Board. Kristi is a member of the Baton Rouge, Louisiana State and American Bar Associations, the Louis Martinet Legal Society, and the Baton Rouge Association of Women Attorneys. She serves her community as a member of the Taste of Louisiana Committee for Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center.

Kara Byrne
National Programs Director
America Commercial Leader, Control Valves, Baker Hughes
Kara Byrne is currently the America’s Commercial Leader for Control Valves in the Flow & Process Technologies division of Baker Hughes. At Baker Hughes, she is responsible for leading the Commercial Application Engineering team for the Masoneilan, Becker and Mooney product lines in both North and Latin America. In addition to her valve responsibilities, Kara is also the North America Region Leader for the Baker Hughes Women's Network. In 2020, Kara has been named the National Programs Director Women’s Energy Network (WEN), responsible for creating accessible programming for members across all of WEN's many chapters. Prior to this year, Kara has also served terms as WEN Houston Chapter President, WEN 25th Anniversary Chair and WEN Houston Volunteer Chair. Kara has more than 15 years of experience in the energy industry working in the various commercial, engineering, and supply chain roles. After earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI, Kara began her career at Fairbanks Morse Engine. At Fairbanks, she was a design engineer medium speed diesel engines and was a Lean Blackbelt in supply chain. In 2006, Kara joined GE’s Commercial team and globally negotiated the technical and commercial contracts for the Turboexpander Product Line. In 2009, Kara joined the LNG Team and made her mark securing the first USA based LNG Main Refrigerant Compression Orders for the Cheniere Energy and the largest Electric LNG Main Refrigerant Compression Order for Freeport LNG. Kara also participated on the commercial integration team for the merger of Baker Hughes with GE Oil & Gas to form Baker Hughes, a GE company, the industry’s first full-stream energy provider and continues to support the company transition to Baker Hughes as an energy technology company. Kara is passionate about connecting and developing strong women leaders for the energy, oil and gas, and other industrial networks.

Erin Magee
National Past President
Member, Jackson Kelly
Erin E. Magee is Of Counsel in Jackson Kelly’s Energy and Manufacturing industry groups, focusing primarily on litigation and labor and employment matters. She practices out of the Firm’s offices in Charleston, West Virginia, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of Erin’s best qualities is her straightforward, no-nonsense approach – she won’t tell you what you want to hear, but rather what you need to hear. Erin is passionate about helping clients navigate issues in the workplace, consulting daily with employers about wage and hour issues, employee leave and benefit questions, reductions in force, drug testing, workplace privacy, personnel policies, and employee discharge and discipline issues. Erin also provides training and speaks at seminars and conferences on issues such as how to avoid harassment in the workplace. She is knowledgeable on this subject because she regularly conducts investigations of complaints of harassment and discrimination in the workplace, and knows providing guidance and advice on the front end often prevents the issues that ultimately lead to litigation. Erin has built a solid labor and employment practice because she’s more than just a litigator – she’s an advisor, an instructor, and a fierce advocate. That said, she’s also a heck of a litigator. When necessary, Erin has been more than ready to go to court for her clients. She has a history of success litigating on behalf of employers in state and federal courts, as well as before the West Virginia Human Rights Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and in mediation and arbitration. Erin has defended clients from claims of discrimination based on age, gender, race, disability, and workers’ compensation, as well as claims involving wrongful discharge, sexual harassment, wage and hour, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), employee benefits, breach of contract, deliberate intent, wrongful death, and workplace safety.