Meet Laura Lemke, Our December Employee of the Month 

Every organization needs to have a good plan.

The PUD has spent several years crafting and executing its Strategic Plan to help ensure we are serving our communities while remaining as prepared as possible for what the future may bring. It’s important for the PUD to be forward-thinking and looking ahead as we continue to build a sustainable future and bolster operational reliability and resiliency.

Fortunately, we have future planning luminary Laura Lemke.

Laura, a Program Director in Government and External Affairs, has been hard at work the past several years helping the PUD map out the next 15-20 years (and beyond). Through working with groups across the PUD to develop the Strategic Plan and then execute it, Laura has helped ensure that the utility is ready to continue energizing life in our communities.

For all her work that she does to help develop, strengthen and help groups stay on track for the future, Laura has been named the PUD’s December Employee of the Month.

“The thing I want to emphasize about Laura is that she sets a really high bar for herself, for the team, for the ELT and for the organization,” said Kim Johnston, the PUD’s Chief Government Relations and Strategy Officer. “Then, she does everything she can to help us live up to those high expectations. She is incredibly skilled at storytelling. She is able to toggle between high-level strategic thinking and in the weeds detail and data. It’s a rare skill to be equally good at both. She uses those skills to best tell the story of the PUD and where we are headed in the future.”

Kim remembers the first time she heard Laura present to the Executive Leadership Team. Almost immediately, she began trying to figure out how she could get Laura on her team.

“The first time I saw Laura in action she came in and rolled out this loose plan of what a Strategic Planning process could look like for the organization,” Kim said. “She instantly made an impression on me. I was so excited. She brought this passion into the room. I was like, ‘How can I get her on my team so that we can work together?’”

Originally in Energy Efficiency and then on the Data & Analytics team before being asked to take on strategic planning for the PUD, Laura has been at the PUD for over 17 years. After shepherding the PUD through the Strategic Planning process, Laura has continued to help workgroups make sure they are measuring the right information and staying on track so that the PUD can meet its goals and ensure that its priorities and initiatives are considered and accomplished.

“When work started on the current Strategic Plan you could feel a collective groan around the PUD,” said Kellie Stickney, Lead Communications Specialist – Engagement. “Those that had been around for a while were sure this would be just another document collecting dust on a shelf. Work at the PUD now feels more strategic, more collaborative, and less siloed than before and I think that Laura’s leadership of the process was integral to that outcome.”

“Her work goes far beyond the Strategic Plan,” Kim added, “but I also don’t want to lose the fact that she’s done an incredible job creating a process for us to really have a high-impact strategic plan and implement that plan across the organization.”

Kim said Laura is a very social person and a really good communicator with a quick wit and great sense of humor. Laura is known to love a whiteboard and a good brainstorming session.

“Laura has been instrumental in driving both large and small projects across the PUD,” said Hillary Olson, a Program Manager in Strategic Accounts. “Her extensive knowledge enables her to effortlessly connect different areas of the PUD, fostering coordination and collaboration across often siloed divisions.”

“Laura has truly become my ‘go to’ at the PUD,” added Sarah Bond, the PUD’s Senior Manager for Budget & Financial Planning. “Whenever I need to share an idea, seek guidance, or get feedback on anything—whether it’s a presentation, document, an email, or a new procedure—she’s one of the first people I turn to. Her depth of knowledge is remarkable, and what I value most is her honesty and candor. Laura doesn’t just give feedback; she offers thoughtful, thorough insights.”

Demonstrating her commitment to a variety of programs at the PUD, Laura is also the Board Chair for the Women Empowered at Snohomish PUD and was instrumental in the relaunch of the employee resource group last year.

“There are too many things Laura has done to make this a better workplace,” said Kristi Sterling, Chief Information Officer for the PUD. “She is the board chair for Women Empowered. Through her organization and drive, she was instrumental in establishing this group and helping to make it even better. They have achieved success in bringing a broad range of employees together to encourage growth and opportunities.”

Laura was born in Chicago and grew up on a small farm outside of Minneapolis in Wayzata, Minnesota. She started her career in the masonry industry, handling marketing and web design for Mutual Materials in Bellevue. After working in marketing and strategy roles with Callison Design (now CallisonRTKL) and Intermec (now Honeywell), Laura joined the PUD in 2008 in the former Energy Efficiency Planning & Evaluation team.

Her favorite part of her work is that she gets to interact with teams across the PUD, and loves getting to understand the various aspects of what Team PUD does. Not surprisingly, outside of the Strategic Plan, one of her favorite projects came in her Data and Analytics days when Power BI was adopted as the PUD’s analytics and dashboard platform.

Laura loves speaking with all of the departments around the PUD about their goals and key metrics and wanted to extend her sincere thanks for the Employee of the Month award.

“Thank you for this honor. I appreciate each and every one of the PUD’s employees and the work you do,” Laura said. “You humor my curiosity and questions and need to understand how it all works. Your dedication to our customers and communities and our shared purpose is inspiring and makes me want to get up and do it all over again with you every day.”