![]() “I’m honored to lead the 1,800 team members who are improving lives with their energy by keeping natural gas safe, reliable and affordable for our customers.” ![]() Much like her parents, Harris sees to it that kids are interested and exposed so they can apply themselves to learning about various careers fields in the STEM space.Īs far as her new corporate role, she brings her exceptional experience and strategic skillset to the forefront in executing the company’s journey to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. ![]() They don’t have engineers in their families, they don’t really understand what it means to be an engineer. Very similar to my parents, I try to do the same for other kids in this community.” “Students in the African American community they don’t necessarily know engineers. Harris puts much value in the importance of young people learning and being exposed to STEM early and the doors of opportunity that can open when STEM is made to be fun and engaging, particularly for Black students. “I have learned at least from my own experience with children, you have to pique their interest. You have to get them interested, much less prepared for STEM fields.” “What was interesting and still is, the program was designed so that it’s hands-on and you get an opportunity to experiment,” Harris recalled. She would later attend college at Howard University where she completed her first three years and then graduated back home at Wayne State University.ĭuring Harris’ early years as a kid, being captivated by STEM and continuing her education on Saturdays of the related subject matter didn’t feel like school. Those activities meant going to school on Saturdays and participating in the Detroit Area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP), an organization that partners with universities, training programs, and K-12 school systems in order to connect youth to the best science, technology, engineering, and math educational experiences. Harris credits her mom and dad who took notice of her love for science and technology and guided her into STEM-related extra-curricular activities. “He can and could fix about anything, so I was a kid who took things apart in the house and helped my dad work on cars and took an interest in any time he was taking something apart or repairing in the home, I was right there at his hip.” “My dad is probably the best engineer I know that never went to college,” Harris adds. Growing up, her parents made sure she was grounded with a wealth of knowledge in the classroom and outside of it. Harris’ interest in the STEM Field likely began well before her shadowing experience in high school. “I think what really impressed me the most about the entire experience were the people that took the time out of their busy days to really invest in my development very early on.” She would ultimately become a company co-op at 18 and has been with the organization ever since.ĭetroit Edison and Michigan Consolidated Gas merged years later to form DTE. “They were working on some really exciting projects for our company and we were doing a lot of construction work and I got to see firsthand what it meant to be an engineer,” said Harris. ![]() Prior to the new role, Harris served as vice president.īeing exposed to the world of engineering started at an early age. During her high school years, she began shadowing engineers at the age of 15. In the 10th grade, she shadowed on Fridays with Michigan Consolidated Gas and that’s where the spark was lit. ![]() Paying dues of hard work has led Harris on a 30-year journey of climbing the ladder of the organization. Harris, a Black woman, is a veteran of the company in both operations and in leadership. DETROIT - DTE Energy recently announced the appointment of Joi Harris as president of DTE Gas, the company’s natural gas utility. ![]()
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