Meet the Speaker: Penelope Furry, Sr. Manager, IT PMO at Atmos Energy

Meet Penelope Furry, Sr. Manager, IT PMO at Atmos Energy. Find out how this high school mate of Reese Witherspoon and avid traveler provides conference participants ideas and approaches to use in their next large-scale program.

Meet Penelope in person at the 10th Change Management for Utilities Conference, March 2nd and 3rd in St. Pete Beach, FL. She’ll talk about how Atmos Energy used a blended internal and external team, historical organizational change models, cultural awareness, and Waterfall and Agile methodologies to lead organizational change and training for four Office 365 projects to over 5,000 employees and contingent workers — all within seven months.

Q: Name, title, company

A: Penelope Furry, Sr. Manager, IT PMO, Atmos Energy

Q: Family, hometown, where you live

A: I was born in Indianapolis, IN, grew up in Nashville, TN, and now live in Coppell, TX, which is a suburb of Dallas.

Q: Utility/Change Management experience

A: My utility experience has been with Atmos Energy on the marketing and utility sides. My change management experience has been in healthcare, utilities, and retail.

Q: What do you like to do when you’re not working? Hobbies?

A: We love to travel and are always planning our next adventure. I’ve also been asked to be the President of the Coppell Arts, Cultural and Heritage Foundation. We will be the Board of Directors for the new $20M performing arts center which opens in May of 2020. I’m excited about this opportunity.

Q: Notable achievements

A: I love it when, at the end of a large project, a team member comes to me to say to me how much they have learned.

Q: Where do you see Change Management in utilities in two years?

A: I see Change Management being a core competency on both the industry and vendor sides with better offerings and more experienced practitioners.

Q: What is your biggest challenge?

A: Balancing the best way to execute a program balanced with the stakeholder needs and budget.

Q: What did you do prior to working in your current role?

A: Led the PMOs for Brinker International and Neiman Marcus.

Q: Who are a couple of your role models, and why?

A: Reese Witherspoon (we went to the same high school in Nashville) and Charlotte Jones Anderson ( SVP of Dallas Cowboys). Both are strong women who are taking an entrepreneurial approach to their respective industries.

Q: What is one of your biggest goals?

A: My 2020 professional goal is to expand my change management knowledge and practice.

Q: What’s the biggest misconception you run into in your role, or what people seem to think about Change Management?

A: That effective change can happen with a job aid.