Contribution and experience
Erika’s extensive experience, gained from over 25 years working in global organisations, enables the delivery of change and growth in complex, world-leading businesses. Her broad knowledge has been built serving various parts of the chemicals industry, across a range of sectors from plastics, petrochemicals, agriculture and pharma.
Erika is currently serving as Senior Vice President Chemical Intermediates and Oxyfuels at multi-national chemical company LyondellBasell. Erika was previously Senior Vice President at BASF Corporation, where she led the North American Chemical Intermediates business. Erika held other senior executive roles with BASF, covering manufacturing and production, engineering, strategy, and commercial business management. Passionate about STEM and DEI, she actively supports community workforce development programs, as well as a range of diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Erika sits on a variety of College of Engineering Advisory Boards, including those for the University of Houston and the Georgia Institute of Technology. She serves as a Board Trustee for The Chatfield Edge, a scholarship foundation based in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is also a member of the Executive Leadership Council, a non-profit organization whose mission is to accelerate the development of black executives to C-Suite positions. Erika holds a BSc in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Houston.
Appointment to the Board:
October 2021
Board Committees:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Remuneration Committee
External appointments:
- LyondellBasell (Senior Vice President)
Penny joined Drax in 2018 as Chief Transformation Officer, ensuring best practice is applied across our transformation programmes and overseeing HR, Legal, Company Secretariat, Property and Facilities, Physical and Cyber Security as well as Strategy and M&A. In December 2023, Penny was appointed as the Group’s Interim Chief Operating Officer.
Penny has spent her entire 30+ year career in the energy industry in a variety of roles in a number of different companies, including time with Engie as Director of Asset Optimisation and Digital, GDF Suez as EVP Strategy & Communications and International Power Limited as Director of Global Resources.
She also held business development roles at National Power and BG Group, and financial and commercial roles with BP. Penny has lived in both the United Arab Emirates and Thailand during her career.
Appointment to the Executive Committee:
Karen leads Drax human resources (HR) to attract, retain and develop talented and capable people in a diverse, progressive and inclusive workplace spanning the US, Canada and the UK and across a wide range of operational and professional functions. She also has responsibility for the PMO (Programme Management Office) function, that supports the planning and execution of our major projects.
Karen joined Drax as Group HRD in March 2020, bringing strong people and change management skills, alongside substantial experience in the retail leisure, and technology sectors.
Since joining Drax, she has played a significant role in supporting the people aspects of Drax’s COVID19 responses, developing the organisation’s D&I strategy and driving operational excellence and efficiency through the People Function.
Karen was previously Chief People Officer for Buzz Bingo and has held several senior HR positions through her career at Samsung, CSR, and Dixons Stores Group, as well as having run her own people consultancy business.
Karen is responsible for the Programme Management Office, people development, reward and benefits, HR services and business partnering, resourcing and DEI, and employee engagement areas of the business.
Appointment to the Executive Committee:
October 2021
Hillary has extensive experience heading up legal teams in the energy sector, having previously served in similar roles for ENGIE and International Power. She has acted as General Counsel for businesses located in the UK, US, Africa, Turkey and Continental Europe. During her career she has also advised on M&A transactions, power generation development and financing, and disputes.
Appointment to the Executive Committee:
As Drax expands its global presence and identifies international opportunities the role of our commercial teams becomes even more important. Maximising the value of the biomass and renewable power produced from the Drax portfolio is achieved through three key functions; the Biomass Sales and Customer Logistics function which manages the supply of our Biomass products to our large customers across Europe and Asia, the Trading and Optimisation function which trades and manages the fuel and power commodity in the UK energy markets, and the Customers business which supplies renewable energy and decarbonisation services to our large portfolio of business customers in the UK.
These three areas come together under Paul’s leadership and are aligned to deliver the Drax purpose and ambition, to be carbon negative by 2030, and enabling a zero-carbon, lower cost energy future. Together, they support a renewable energy system and support businesses to achieve their commercial and sustainability goals through the use of Biomass and renewable energy services. Biomass Sales to third parties is an important function in this as we seek new markets and opportunities for bioenergy and sustainable biomass globally.
Paul joined Drax as Chief Operating Officer, Haven Power, in May 2017, bringing extensive experience of the energy sector, across trading and retail over a 20+year career.
Appointment to the Executive Committee:
Matt White is Executive Vice President with Drax, where he leads the Pellet business. At the beginning of 2020, Matt joined Drax from Rockwater Energy, where he was Director, Manufacturing & Engineering. Matt’s 30+ year career has been in manufacturing management helping organizations grow and adapt to change, while increasing safety and efficiency by developing high-performing teams. Matt holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and has worked in a number of sectors including Air Products and Chemicals, and Solvay.
Appointment to the Executive Committee:
Forest Research works for and with UK government departments and devolved administrations, forestry and land management stakeholders, environmental NGO’s, the European Union and internationally.
Forest Research’s objectives include:
- Providing evidence and expertise to inform the development and delivery of UK and European forestry related policies
- Providing innovative applied research, development, monitoring, scientific services, forestry data services and professional training to UK, European and international forestry stakeholders
- Facilitating knowledge exchange directly, and/or in partnership with others, to UK, European and international audiences
- Working in partnership with others to promote the development and uptake of tree and forest science expertise
Forest Research’s work is founded on the principle that research and evidence are central to informed policy-making and sustainable land management practices. Its priorities are to provide the science and evidence to: protect its trees and forests; enhance forest ecosystem resilience and service provision; ensure sustainable management and adaptation of its forests to climate change; effect knowledge exchange and; grow its business.
Forest Research has joined Drax’s Independent Advisory Board on Sustainable Biomass as an ex-officio observer, in which Robert Matthews is currently in position. This means it participates fully in the activities of the board but plays no role in shaping recommendations to Drax.
Virginia is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee. She is a Corporate Fellow Emeritus with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where she worked for 34 years in the Environmental Sciences Division.
Virginia has served on national scientific advisory boards for five agencies of the United States and several committees of the National Academies of Science. She has authored 11 books and more than 250 published articles.
Virginia’s interests include sustainability and ecosystem management in the context of large disturbances and climate change. She was among the members of the international science community that contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Scientific Assessment that in 2007 received with Al Gore the Nobel Peace Prize.
She was selected as the Distinguished Landscape Ecologist of the US chapter of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE) in 2013. She was the 2006 Distinguished Scientist for ORNL, YWCA of Knoxville Tribute to Women Finalist in 2006, distinguished alumnae of her high school in 2004, and Top Citizen of Oak Ridge in 1999.
Virginia has a BA and MS in mathematics from the University of Tennessee and received her Ph.D. in mathematical ecology from the University of Washington.
Sam Fankhauser is Professor of Climate Economics and Policy at the University of Oxford, where he is affiliated with the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment and the School of Geography and the Environment. He is also Research Director of Oxford Net Zero and an Official Fellow of Reuben College.
Before moving to Oxford, Sam was Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, where he remains a Visiting Professor. He has also worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility. He was an inaugural member of the UK Climate Change Committee, a Non-Executive Director of CDC Group (now British International Investment) and an Associate Director of economics consultancy Vivid Economics.
Sam has studied economics at the University of Berne (Switzerland), the London School of Economics and University College London.
