Women in Apprenticeship Summit 2022

Our Keynote Speaker is Samantha Coker.  Coker is a leader in Human Resources management with over 16 years of experience in the construction, field services and professional services industries.  She has a passion for delivering value and results to the business, providing opportunities and resources for employees to live a better life, and leading a team of accomplished and talented HR professionals.   Prior to joining Apache Industrial Holdings as Chief Human Resources Officer, Samantha held senior HR leadership roles with both domestic and international responsibilities.

Samantha holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Louisiana State University and a master’s degree in Psychology from Southeastern Louisiana University. She is a certified HR Project Manager and holds both her SHRM-CP and SPHR certifications. Samantha currently sits on the Board of Directors for HR Houston. In her free time, she enjoys travel and time spent outdoors with her husband and daughter.

Ann Pham serves as a state liaison to help facilitate registered apprenticeship expansion and engage efforts in Texas. She helps to develop the programs, including providing technical assistance and working with apprenticeship sponsors, other support programs, and local education agencies. She directs and evaluates program areas and activities according to federal guidelines and assists U.S. Department of Labor-registered Apprenticeship programs in Texas, employers, community colleges, technical schools, public high schools, middle schools, and local workforce development boards (LWDBs). Ms. Pham also coordinates with other TWC programs including Adult Education and Literacy, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, Vocational Rehabilitation, and others to facilitate growth of registered apprenticeship programs across various populations.

She graduated from St. Edward’s University with a BBA in Operational Management and MBA in International Business.

Peppia Sherrouse, CIC, is the Vice President, Regional Operations, at Texas Mutual’s Houston Location. In this role she provides leadership for the region, ensuring a strong culture of engagement, development and corporate citizenship. She works with distribution partners, ensuring a positive customer experience along with successful business development. In her role, she also serves as the leader for local strategic alliances and community partnerships.

Peppia currently serves on the board of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation’s, Houston Chapter and is the co-chair of the volunteer committee. She is also on the Executive Committee of the Greater Houston Partnership’s, Upskill Houston initiative in workforce development.

Peppia has been in the insurance industry for over 30 years, serving in many different roles. Starting in her hometown of San Diego, California, her career has taken her on a journey through 5 cities, across 4 states. She is passionate about closing the talent gap that exists in this under recognized industry.

James Carnes’ tenure with the U.S. Department of Labor began in 2004 after serving as Local Veterans Employment Representative at the Texas Workforce Commission. Upon joining the U.S. Department ff Labor, he made an immediate impact to a number of national initiatives across industries. He continues to contribute by promoting Apprenticeship USA as the premiere national workforce development strategy in a variety of Industries and applications. Mr. Carnes has received several DOL commendations and was recognized nationally as the Office of Apprenticeships Associate of the Year. He served as a training Developer/Writer and Instructor at the United States Army’s School of Advanced Military Command and General Staff College.

Our moderator is Brittaney Wilmore. She is a digital producer and has been at KTRK since 2017.

A Houston native and proud University of Houston alum (Go Coogs!), Brittaney first discovered her love for journalism in a class with Mrs. Hodges at Cinco Ranch High School. But if you want to throw it back even further, Brittaney was introduced to the world of news anchors and reporting after delivering a book report in the 6th grade and learning about Katie Couric.

Since then, Brittaney has spent time learning more about the industry, devouring Oprah episodes (though, Brittaney can't give away cars. Sorry!) and has met some awesome people along the way.

Brittaney attended Houston Community College, where she got to soak up as much as she could in the TV department, getting the opportunity to learn everything from editing to videography.

Brittaney loves fashion, travel, French culture and language, musicals and watching classic movies. But she also loves the Marvel Cinematic Universe, anything to do with comics, watching Astros baseball games with her dad and adding to an extensive list of books to read.

Catch her weekdays with the morning team! She's extremely honored to serve the community through ABC13 and doesn't take the opportunity lightly to be here.

Dawn C. Spreeman is a Managing Director at Aon Houston. She leads the Corporate Risk Solutions team with mangement responsibility for Account Executives and Account Specialists. She holds the position of National Account Executive practice leader for Aon Houston and is a member of the senior leadership team for the Aon Houston office. As an Account Executive, Dawn has responsibility for U.S. and global clients, alike. She is responsible for managing client account teams, client development, retention, sales, and service delivery.

She has experience in various industry sectors, including manufacturing, heavy industry, construction, retail, real estate, public entity, food/agribusiness, and safety services. Dawn holds the Insurance Institutes of America’s Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter designation and is a Certified Insurance Counselor. She has completed various leadership, professional development, and management training programs at Aon.

Dawn has managed account teams and staff throughout her tenure at Aon and has over 35 years of property and casualty experience.

Kim Shelton-Brown is Vice President of Technical Development for Welding Outlets, Inc (WOI). Kim is an Entrepreneurial-minded, Senior Business Development and Supply Chain Specialist with 35+ years of experience in Oil, Gas and Chemical Industry. She has a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in Metallurgical Engineering, Master of Engineering (MEng) in Materials Sciences and holds a Ph.D. in Metallurgy specializing in corrosion, fully proficient and coded in GTA W (TIG& HF TIG) SMA W, GMA W (MIG), FCA W. 

Kim is a board member of the PVF Roundtable Charitable Foundation which is an organization of industry professionals in the Pipe, Valve and Fitting Industry and the board liaison/lead for the PVF Young Professionals. 

She is Vice Chair on the board of the Houston Community College Foundation Fundraising Committee and was Auction Chair for the 2022 HCCF 50-year Gala Celebration.

Kim is on the advisory boards of numerous committees including HCC Advanced Manufacturing, Welding Council at Lee College, Advisory Council at San Jacinto College in S.T.E.M, Houston Chapter of ASM (American Society for Metals) International and was invited to join the newly formed HCC Chancellor’s Business Champions Council.

Kim is this year’s inductee in The Wholesaler Magazines Hall of Fame for the PVF Industry.

A global traveler for business and pleasure with a passion for animals and animal rescue. Living in Houston, TX since January 2012 with her husband Adrian. Originally from Birmingham England where she began her career at British Steel as a laboratory technician/inspector. 

Lexii Zielinski is an Apprentice within the Aon’s Houston Health Solutions team. She is responsible for assisting Specialists/Consultants with peer reviews, Summary of Plan Description (SPD) reviews, updating client newsletters, assessing benefit summaries. As an Apprentice, she supports the Aon team with projects pertaining to clients.

Lexii has over 12 years of customer service experience and core management skills.  She joined Aon’s Health Solutions team August 2021 in a two-year Apprenticeship that will conclude with an Associate’s of Science in Business Management Degree. Since joining Aon, Lexii has supported the Health Solutions group by developing awareness of annual client projects through awareness of client promise, stewardship, marketing, annual enrollment, and implementation. She participates in annual enrollment projects – reviewing employee benefit open enrollment presentations, benefit guides, annual notices, and mandated government documents. In addition to, familiarization of annual budget projects like reviewing/checking carrier annual premium and rate confirmations. 

Lexii is also an active member of Aon’s Business Resource Group(s) championing Inclusion and Diversity at Aon.

Helene Webster began her career at the Independent Electrical Contractors TX Gulf Coast in 2004 as Membership Director. She was tasked with growing Contractor Membership. Within a couple of years, the membership grew from 155 electrical contractors to 183. Currently, this chapter has 216 Contractor Companies and 71 Associate Partner Companies as members and stands as the largest chapter within the 52 IEC chapters nationwide.

In 2010 she was promoted to Director of Member Services, Deputy Executive Director in 2015 and Executive Director in October of 2020 when Bob Wilkinson (Executive Director for 34 years) retired.

Helene sits on the City of Houston’s Construction Industry Council (CIC) as the Electrical Code Delegate. CIC was formed to assist the city with their many Building Codes.

She is also 2nd Vice Chairman and Fundraising Chairman for the IEC Foundation. For over 25 years the Independent Electrical Contractors Foundation (IECF) has provided grant funding, student scholarships, disaster relief and state-of-the-art equipment to Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC) training centers and enrolled apprentices across the country.

Helene was born and raised in Florida; earned her bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Public Relations from the University of Central Florida; and then moved to Texas in 1985. She is proudest of her four adult children (one daughter and three sons) and three handsome grandsons.

Susan Dixon oversees employer development efforts for the Gulf Coast Workforce Board—Workforce Solutions as a manager for the Business Services team for the Board.  Ms. Dixon joined the Gulf Coast Workforce Board in 2015 and has been part of the Workforce Solutions system since November 2002.

Susan has fostered hundreds of quality business relationships with small, medium, and large businesses throughout the region acting as a key partner for many employer incentives and customizing solutions to help each business meet their HR needs. Ms. Dixon is a member of several economic development councils, chambers of commerce and is a recent graduate of Leadership North Houston.

As the Vice Chancellor Workforce Instruction for the Houston Community, Dr. BurilloHopkins is responsible for the strategic vision and administrative leadership of Workforce Instruction for the district, including guiding support for the Centers of Excellence, apprenticeships, continuing education, employer and community instructional partnerships, and workforce training grants. As President at Houston Community College Southwest College, Dr. Madeline Burillo-Hopkins oversees all operations at HCC’s Southwest campuses including the Center of Excellence in Digital and Information Technology, and four college locations in Harris County and Fort Bend County, as well as community engagement, and school district relationships in the designated service area. Over the past 22 years, Dr. Burillo-Hopkins has been instrumental in bringing innovative educational credit and continuing education, workforce partnerships, the development of the Prior Learning Assessment procedures, and many federal and state workforce grants. In addition, Dr. Burillo-Hopkins has been instrumental in private sector fundraising for instructional programs and student support. Dr. Burillo-Hopkins earned the Hispanic Women in Leadership Award for outstanding service in education in 2001. In 2003, she received the HCC Chancellor’s Medallion for Outstanding Service, and in 2010, Dr. Burillo-Hopkins was an HCC Eagle Award recipient for Administrative Leadership. In 2013, D’Mars Magazine selected her as one of Houston’s Top 30 Influential Women. She was again recognized as one of Houston’s 50 Most Influential Women in 2015, by Houston Women Magazine. She is currently serves on the AACC Commission on Economic Development and Workforce, the Manufacturing Skills Standards Business and Educators Council, the Fort Bend Economic Development Board and the Greater Houston Partnership Upskills Houston Executive Committee. During her over 30 years in higher education, she has held multiple administrative positions, and has always been an advocate for workforce education, diversity and equity, culminating with her college Presidency in 2016 and Vice Chancellor in December 2020. She credits her parents, her father from Spain and her mother from Puerto Rico, for teaching her the importance of higher education and planting the values of hard work, kindness, respect, integrity, determination and positive thinking, which she still lives by today. Dr. Burillo-Hopkins holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Puerto Rico, a Master’s in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix and a Doctorate in Education in Educational Leadership from Sam Houston State University.

Dr. Christina Robinson currently serves as the Executive Director of Work-Based Learning and Industry Partnerships for the Houston Community College System.  Robinson oversees the Gulf Coast Region Apprenticeship Hub, an accelerator for industry-wide apprenticeships and talent pipeline development. Prior to her role, she oversaw one of the largest grant-funded adult education and integrated workforce programs in the state of Texas with over $5 million in grant funding. Dr. Robinson spearheaded the creation of the "Change Your Life for $20" program and Career4U Academy. An accomplished leader and champion of higher learning, she has been recognized for her leadership both locally and nationally. Dr. Robinson has been honored as the top 30 Most Influential Women in Houston and Top Ten Most Influential Women by Houston Woman magazine. Robinson is a State of Texas Fellow for Coalition of Adult Basic Education, and currently services on the City of Houston Advisory Board for Adult Literacy. Having earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Texas A&M University and a Master of Arts in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix, Robinson received her doctorate in Community College Leadership from The Roueche Graduate Center at National American University with a dissertation on, "What Can Higher Education Learn from Healthcare Innovation?"

Melissa Benitez works at McCarthy Building Companies as a Project Safety Coordinator. Her job has taken her to different parts of Texas in a variety of different jobs. She has worked on Marine/Heavy Civil in Freeport. Also, in Solar fields in Corsicana & San Antonio.

She is responsible for monitoring and evaluating daily operations and planning procedures to mitigate risks and improve safety regulations. As a safety coordinator she inspects building premises, individual workstations, as well as common areas to ensure that the arrangements are compliant with federal and state law safety protocols.  Her work involves making sure all the workers on site are working safely and following the correct procedures. She gets great satisfaction knowing she is helping keep construction workers safe so they can go home unharmed. She states that, “When accepting this job, I didn’t realize I’d also be gaining an incredible work family.”

While working as an apprentice in Energy Utilities Installer, she was promoted into the safety role. Melissa graduated from her apprenticeship in July 2021. Since then, she has taken more training in being a project engineer and business administrator. She has also started to take part in engineering technology e.g., drones. Currently Melissa is working on a Solar field in San Antonio.

If she is not at work or taking a class, you can find her going on road trips. She would like to visit all 50 states; taste all sorts of food, wine, and the sweetest treats she can find. Her adventurous spirit wants to go overseas to Spain, Italy, and Portugal just to name a few.

Hello, my name is Dakota Rayburn. I have been working with CFI Mechanical for 2.5 years. I started in as a probate apprentice working in the fabrication shop, I then transferred to the field halfway through my first year in the apprenticeship program. My uncle is the one who pointed me in the direction of joining the UA as he is a part of the Austin Plumbers and Pipefitters Local. At first I was a little nervous because I didn’t know what to expect being a woman heading into a man’s field much less not even knowing how to read a tape measure. Throughout the last 2.5 years I have learned so much working my way through the program and cannot wait to see what the future holds for me and the end of my Apprenticeship.

At the time I started I didn’t know what I was looking for. Covid had just wreaked havoc on the world, and everything was shutting down. In that time, I was looking for something that would put me on the right path for a career not just something that pays the bills. I pushed through the first year of learning a completely new trade and working through school. Learning how to manage my daily life working full time, school every other Saturday and completing homework and having time to focus on family and friends. Joining this trade has been a life adjustment and a learning opportunity. My goal is to get through my apprenticeship and work my way from the field to the office, I want to see myself having a role in a company where I can help apply my knowledge from this program to possibly becoming a union organizer or a business agent to help send people to the field to learn what I am currently learning.