Title: Principal Advisor

Company: Southern California Edison

Location: La Habra, CA

Passionate about pushing forward and seeing projects through to completion, Roxanne Contreras has climbed the corporate ladder at her company, Southern California Edison. She started as a project manager, and has since worked her way up to become the principle advisor of the utilities company. Ms. Contreras attributes her success to her team-building skills and collaborative spirit, as well as her tremendous base of knowledge about the company. Her ability to maintain relationships with both internal and external stakeholders has also been key.

On a professional level, Ms. Contreras considers instituting a project management office to define, implement and maintain standards for project management within the organization to be one of her greatest accomplishments. Earning the title of Woman of the Year from the National Association of Professional Women was a big honor as well. Personally, participating in an Ironman event was a point of pride.

One of the biggest challenges Ms. Contreras faced was breaking through the glass ceiling in a male-dominated industry. Just knowing that she could make a difference and change things for the better motivates her to keep going, however. Looking forward, Ms. Contreras hopes for continued growth within her role, and would like to work on enhancing consumer perception. To prepare for her career, she earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree.