Meghan Pinch has been at City Light for seven years. She’s part of Customer Energy Solutions (CES) where she works as a Business Transformation Strategic Advisor. “I’m helping reposition CES to be more nimble, agile and responsive to emerging energy efficiency technologies and evolving customer needs,” Meghan explained. “I’m also leading the CES culture change initiative – a multi-year effort that will enable us to fulfill our division’s Mission Vision and Values.”
Meghan grew up in Spokane and came to Seattle to pursue her undergrad in Jewish Studies at the University of Washington (UW). After college, she lived in the Bay Area, Whitefish and Jackson Hole before returning to UW to receive a master’s degree in Urban Planning. She lives in Rainier Beach with her husband and two children – her daughter Addie (four-years) and son Oren (18-months).
In this week’s (spot)Light, Meghan talks about life in Rainer Beach, her interests and what she enjoys about City Light.
Meghan with her family
“I love Rainier Beach – its history, sense of community, diversity and plentiful open space! We live next to the Chief Sealth Trail, a beautiful pathway (under City Light power lines!) with great views of Mt. Rainier and downtown. We take family walks along the trail; it’s a great way for my kids to explore! Before I had children, I helped launch the Rainier Beach Urban Farm, and now Addie attends pre-school next door. They often go on exploratory adventures to the farm. There is also a horse farm behind us, and we see people riding horses on the trail. Oren loves airplane spotting at Boeing Field just over the hill.”
“I love to ski and ride bikes. Before I had children, I did cyclocross and mountain bike racing as a member of a local cycling team. These days I’m busy teaching my kids to ski. I also sneak in knitting and quilting when I can. In warmer months, we do a lot of outdoor activities like camping and fishing. I also love to garden but am figuring out how to fit it in with the general chaos of our kids and pets!”
“My CES colleagues are fantastic and are a favorite part of my job. In the past two years, we’ve better aligned our programs with our strategic goals. We’ve also designed and implemented a new framework to govern program development, portfolio decisions and resource allocation. We spent the last year developing a Blueprint for Culture Change and held training practice to create a more respectful workplace. This year, we’re implementing the Blueprint. So far, we’ve engaged our leadership team with training in conflict management, inclusive leadership and have put a strong focus on effective performance reviews. Looking ahead, we plan to conduct training and practice in conflict management.”
“There is so much I value working at City Light. I appreciate the family friendly culture. I also love the people. I’m continually amazed by my colleagues, their commitment and how we work together to do new, innovative things. City Light has been a great place for career growth. I’m not sure I would have seen myself in my current role 7 years ago; it wasn’t really on my radar. However, I’ve really enjoyed this job and have been given a great opportunity to develop the skills required to do this work.”