2020-21 USEA Volunteer Awards Presented at Annual Membership Meeting


WASHINGTON, D.C. - Last Thursday, at USEA’s Annual Membership Meeting and Public Policy Forum, USEA Senior Director Will Polen and Program Director Marjorie Jean-Pierre announced the recipients of the USEA 2020-2021 Volunteer and International Partner awards.

“USEA’s international work with USAID would not be successful without volunteers and the cooperation of our international partners. They generously provide their expertise and serve as peer-to-peer sounding board for their colleagues. Most importantly, they provide the generosity of their time, which may be the most valuable of all the things they contribute,” Polen said.

The 2020-2021 recipients are:

International Partner of the Year

  • Georgian State Electrosystem (GSE), accepted by Zurab Ezugbaia, Member of the Management Board of Directors

Individual Volunteers of the Year

  • David Batz, Managing Director, Cyber and Infrastructure Security, Edison Electric Institute
  • Vibhu Kaushik, Director of Transmission and Distribution Business Strategy, Southern California Edison
  • Rich Barone, Vice President, Advanced Energy Transformation, TRC

“Our relationship with USAID has been ongoing since the early 1990s. A key element of that relationship, and a reason why it is successful, are the volunteers who contribute their time and are willing to share their best practices, expertise, and knowledge with our overseas partners. I’m always pleased to see USEA take the time every year during the Annual Membership Meeting to honor these volunteers for their incredible contributions,” Jean-Pierre said.

USEA applauds the spirit of volunteerism and created the International Volunteer Recognition Program to recognize outstanding individuals and organizations for their contributions to USEA activities. The International Volunteer Recognition Program highlights the extraordinary contributions of the U.S. energy industry to support U.S. government initiatives, demonstrate global corporate and social responsibilities, and contribute to worldwide sustainable development.

View the presentations of the four awards and USEA Volunteer Award brochure below: