Energy’s New Era: Meet the Changemakers Driving a Cleaner, Greener Future

Originally published on ESSENCE

For many Black southerners, the end of Jim Crow marked the beginning of covert discrimination—systems that, on their surface, signaled progress but kept discriminatory power dynamics in place. It was within this societal context that Chris Womack came of age. “I was born and raised in South Alabama, growing up in the sixties,” he explained. “When I graduated high school, I knew I wanted to have a different experience.”

Womack set that goal into motion, moving to the Midwest to study political science at Western Michigan University. He went on to pursue graduate studies at American University in Washington, D.C. While there, his appetite for politics was honed, setting sights on Capitol Hill, serving as a legislative aide to former Congressman Leon Panetta. “It was an incredible experience,” he recalled, but Womack’s political aspirations were short-lived. “After I got married and had my first daughter, my wife and I at the time decided to move back to Alabama to be closer to family,” he shared. That decision led him to Birmingham and eventually to the helm of one of the world’s largest electricity producers.

As CEO of Southern Company, the nation’s second-largest utility provider, Womack has come full circle. While his initial dream of creating change through politics shifted, his leadership now impacts over nine million residents across the Southeast.

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