Emily Ake

Circon Evironmental - Regional Business Development - Gulf Coast

OCI - Chapter  President 

As the OCI- Houston East President, I could not be more excited for what the future holds for this chapter! As a graduate of LSU and Texas native, I have been around the Oil & Gas industry my entire life. I understand the importance of having a community to lean on during the ups and downs of this unpredictable industry and how important networking truly is. I know O&G is coming back stronger than ever and I love to see it! As a Regional Business Development Manager for Circon Environmental,  I am in plants and refineries every day talking to customers about OCI and our bright future. My goal is to grow our chapter in order to help people network and grow in their careers, discuss important topics in the industry, and, most importantly, give back to our community. The Christian values OCI represents are those I hold near and dear to my heart and I intend to keep them at the center of our organization. Thank you all for the warm welcome and I hope to see you all at our monthly meetings!

Joshua Smith

Chapter Vice President & Chapter Chaplain

Joshua is a native Houstonian, raised in Pasadena by a family that relied on Oil & Gas to provide for them and their future. He’s familiar with the world of Oil & Gas and the benefits it offers, for which he now relies on to take care of his own family.

As an adult, Joshua jumped straight into vocational ministry; he has become connected locally and throughout Texas, while also spending months on different continents. With 12 years of pastoring experience, he decided to round off 15 years of vocational ministry and pursue bringing encouragement and leadership into a different arena.

Joshua’s life statement is: “Love people where they are at, Help them become who they are called to be so that we can Shape history together." Armed with pragmatism, encouragement, and a genuine desire to connect. Take the opportunity to get to Joshua and you won’t regret it.

Logan Taylor

Chapter  Treasurer 

Logan Taylor is a proud husband, member of Second Baptist Church of Kingwood, graduate of Texas A&M University, former Aggie Baseball Player and Professional Baseball Player for the Seattle Mariners.  In his spare time, he enjoys playing golf, hunting in East Texas and spending quality time with his family. At GIA Insurance, Logan serves his clients as a Risk Advisor by building lasting relationships, while upholding his core Aggie values of selfless service, excellence, loyalty, leadership, and respect.  Logan specializes in risk-management services to companies within the O&G and Petrochemical Industries.

GIA was voted “A Best Practices Agency, #1 of 25” in Texas and is the only agency south of Houston to be elected. Additionally, GIA is a member of the Insurors Group: this is a hand selected group of elite agents across the state of Texas that come together for the power of group purchase and rate leverage for the benefit of our clients.

Maureen Solomon

Administrator

I am excited to be a part of the Oilfield Connections team. I have been in leadership positions in the Oil, Gas and Chemical area for many years and see the OC team as an exciting new approach. We work to combine the networking that everyone needs in order to grow their business, with a united group of people who truly embrace our industry and support the people who are working to keep it great!

We are constantly evolving to be the organization that people need and want, no matter the economy or outside factors, we remain a TEAM.

Jim Sorg

Sponsor  Chair

Jim Sorg spent 20 years in the chemical industry in various sales and operations roles and switched to the service side of the oil and gas industry starting with Fluor.  He is now the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Space City Services and the Sponsor Co-Chair for Oilfield Connections International. 

Melissa Wolkenhauer

Media Officer

Melissa is a Chicago transplant that moved to Houston after college to start a career in the Oil & Gas industry. With her father and brother-in-law in the industry for most of their careers it gave her a nice perspective. The opportunity to work for Enterprise Pipeline and Genesis Energy and their data integrity teams gave her an in-depth knowledge of the midstream sector. With a passionate personality and motivation to interact with customers she transitioned to a sales role in the waste packaging space.

In her everyday life Melissa is always with her family and friends. If she can help you or connect you to a need you have then she will drop anything to help. With a competitive edge if you ever need a partner to attend an event she will show up and hopefully help you win. At work Melissa is the Lead Generation Manager for Insgroup an insurance broker in Houston. She helps to send ideal customers to their risk advisors for assessment and solutions.

William B. Currier

Veteran's Affairs Officer

Will graduated from Duke University in 2010 where he played 4 years on the Duke Baseball team. Upon graduation Will moved to Texas to pursue a career in Oil and Gas. He spent 5 years working for a series of environmental firms that service all areas of the Oil and Gas sector. In 2015 he felt called to serve and enlisted in the US Army with the intention of becoming an Army Ranger. After completing Basic Training, Infantry MOS training, Airborne School, and being selected after completion of the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program, he earned the title of United States Army Ranger. He served 5 years and deployed twice to Afghanistan as a member of the primary special operations strike force out of Bagram Air Base.

Upon being honorably discharged from the military, will accepted the role as Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Horizon Environmental and is currently a year away from completing his MBA from Rice University. Will has a passion for helping other veterans, hunting, and fishing the bountiful waters of the Texas Gulf Coast.

Telisa Penden

Secretary

Telisa works as an Industrial Sales Account Manager for Lion Industrial Resources.  Her industrial experience began seven  years ago when she relocated to the Houston area from East Texas where she grew up.  She started as a sales rep for a tank and box rental company and was sold on the industry.  She is constantly looking for growth opportunities and ways to expand her knowledge within the waste management side of the business.  She has a passion for people and loves the close community whithin the oil and gas industry.

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Telisa is the proud mohter of two college aged children; a son attending his second year at Sam Houston University and a daughter in her last year at Stephen F Austin University.  She enjoys spedning as much time as possible with them on the weekends.

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Telisa was drawn to OCI's heart for others and their respect for God and our Veterans.  She looks forward to growing and learning from the years of accumulated experience among the members of our various chapters.