Speakers

Ashley Stowe, Ph.D., serves as ORAU chief research and university partnerships officer. In this role, he enhances ORAU’s scientific research opportunities and expands partnerships with universities, national laboratories and private industry. Under his direction, the Research and University Partnerships office provides awards to ORAU member universities, identifies and promotes funding opportunities by facilitating inter-institutional relationships, and leverages relationships with other organizations to support increased funding for scientific research and education.

Stowe previously served as the director of Y-12’s Oak Ridge Enhanced Technology and Training Center, and has a distinguished 18-year career at the Y-12 Nuclear Security Complex, including serving as the university partnerships program manager, technology transfer lead, CNS engineering internships program manager, fellows program manager, and director of Y-12’s Nuclear Forensics and Detection Division.

Stowe also serves as an adjunct professor of physics and astronomy at Vanderbilt University, is an adjunct lecturer at the College of Business at the University of Tennessee, and is an assistant professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at UT.

Michelle Scott, acting associate deputy assistant secretary for strategic crosscuts at the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, has over 30 years of experience in the Department. In her current role, Scott is responsible for programmatic and externally directed research and development toward crosscutting technologies that support and enable the new and advanced reactor, fuel cycle, and spent fuel management technologies that advance the state of nuclear energy innovation, improve its competitiveness, and promote continued contribution to meeting the Nation’s deployment objectives.

Upon completion of her overseas assignment and returning to the Office of Nuclear Energy, Scott served as a senior advisor in the International Office. She focused on industry engagements regarding market priorities and multilateral presence and lead on critical multilateral initiatives.

Scott previously served as a senior advisor to the principal deputy assistant secretary in the immediate office of the assistant secretary of nuclear energy and led the interagency civil nuclear working group “Team USA” to support U.S. companies compete in the global nuclear market and develop and address policy to support the U.S. nuclear infrastructure. Scott has served in several management positions in the International Nuclear Energy Policy office. Her responsibilities included the advancement of the office’s international cooperation mission by identifying crosscutting opportunities between the U.S. nuclear industry. 

Charlie Woody joined the Heat & Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers Local Union #46 in 1990. Charlie is a third generation insulator and very proud that his grandfather was one of six charter members of Local #46. 

Charlie worked at Sequoyah and Watts Bar Nuclear Plants, Kingston and Bull Run Fossil plants, Y-12, K-25 and X-10 on the Oak Ridge reservation and several commercial jobs in and around the Chattanooga area during and after his four-year apprenticeship with Local 46.

In 2003, he was asked to serve as the job steward at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant. He was elected to the Local 46 Executive Board shortly thereafter and then on to Vice President. In 2010, he was elected business manager, to which he is currently serving in his sixth term. In 2014, Charlie was elected president by the Knoxville Building & Construction Trades Council and is currently serving his fourth term.

Charlie enjoys representing the Insulators Local 46 and members of the Knoxville Building Trades Council and understands that building long-lasting relationships with contractors benefits us all.

As the director of the newly created Workforce Strategy and Development (WS&D) team at TVA, Jamie Choate is passionate about powering the Tennessee Valley region with an agile workforce built through strong community partnerships.

Her WS&D team’s mission is to ensure that our workforce remains adaptable and equipped with the skills, capabilities, and technology needed to safely power TVA’s energy future with a robust pipeline of talent.

Her expertise is rooted in deep technical knowledge and awareness, active industry involvement and a strong leadership presence. With more than two decades of dedicated service at TVA, she has accumulated over 12 years of invaluable leadership experience in prior positions such as director of learning and development, director of technical training, senior manager of regulatory and corporate training, and manager of Power production operations training.

A fair day's pay for a fair day's work, there's not a better slogan to work under. Chris O'Keefe is the business manager for Iron Workers Local 384. In 2010, he became aware of Union apprenticeship programs and jumped to the opportunity of joining. From the apprenticeship on, O'Keefe has traveled the nation as a union ironworker, working on skyscrapers to bridges and TVA power plants to Oak Ridge laboratories.

In 2017, he was hired on at the hall as the local organizer and has won three business manager elections since 2020. He currently works with Iron Workers and Contractors building East Tennessee families with good wages and benefits. There’s joy knowing that we work for contractors that show care, not only from their words, but in their actions to keep our men and women safe while working in labor intensive conditions.

Jason Andrews began his professional career as a sheet metal apprentice. He rose to foreman, steward and general foreman on many projects. He served as Local Organizer for four years, then elected business agent for 12 more years. Jason attended college at The George Meany Center in Silver Springs, Maryland. He is the past president of the Tennessee State Building Trades and the past head trustee of the Knoxville Central Labor Council.

Patty Weaver, Ed.D., serves as the vice president for external affairs at Pellissippi State Community College, where she provides leadership for the college’s outreach and engagement strategies. In this role, she oversees workforce and community development, marketing and communications, event services, career development, and the Pellissippi State Foundation—the College’s philanthropic arm. Her work is instrumental in connecting the institution to its external partners and the broader community.

A native of Monroe County, Weaver brings over 27 years of experience in education, including eight years as a Marketing educator at the K-12 level and 20 years in higher education leadership. Her previous roles at a Tennessee Board of Regents institution include Director of Campuses, Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs, and Vice President of Workforce and Economic Development, where she directed a broad portfolio including workforce development, continuing education, work-based learning initiatives, the Tennessee Small Business Development Center, the Advanced Technologies Institute, and operations of off-campus centers. 

She currently serves on several boards, including the Tellico Reservoir Development Agency, Blount Partnership, Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, Fairview Technology Center, and Junior Achievement of the Ocoee Region and recently was selected to participate in Leadership Knoxville.

Shannon Rosedale serves as the senior policy and research coordinator for the Tennessee Department of Human Services. In this role, she supports the Department's current efforts, like the Tennessee Opportunity Pilot Initiative, and researches new opportunities to further the Commissioner’s vision. Her background in social work, paired with a passion for learning, has helped her focus on the way evidence-based programs can transform the social safety net. Her work at the Department of Human Services lets her put this into practice. 

Previously, she worked with nonprofit organizations by providing them with public policy development, technical assistance, and project management. She joined the Department in 2023.

Kristen Rawson is the manager of the Y-12 National Security Complex Operations Center. She leads 12 employees maintaining a 24/7 site operations.

Kristen joined the Y-12 family in June of 2022 as part of the Skillbridge program. She interned in information Security, Vulnerability Assessment, and emergency management. In December of 2022, she was hired as a readiness assurance specialist in emergency management. In May of 2024, Kristen became the manager of Readiness Assurance group and in November of 2025 she moved into the manager of the Operations Center position.

Prior to joining Y-12 Kristen spent 23 years of active-duty service in the United States Navy as a meteorologist and intelligence professional. She was stationed in several places foreign and domestic. She has completed three sea deployments and one land Middle East deployment. She retired in November of 2022 as a Chief Petty Officer.

Michelle Goodson currently serves as the director of the ORAU STEM Accelerator. In this role, Goodson advances key nuclear workforce development initiatives, such as the Partnerships for Nuclear Energy (PNE), a comprehensive research institute that consists of leading universities, community colleges and technical skill training organizations, industries producing nuclear reactors large and small, professional industry organizations, national research laboratories, and government agencies. 

Goodson is recognized as a Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional and holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Tennessee, a Master of Arts in Human Resources from the University of Alabama and is pursuing a Doctor of Business at National University, focusing on Generation Z's retention in the nuclear industry.