Gale Norton: First woman elected to Attorney General of Colorado & First woman appointed as Secretary of the US Department of the Interior – 132
Today on Extraordinary Women Radio, I'm excited to bring you the very extraordinary Gale Norton: First woman elected to Attorney General of Colorado & First woman appointed as Secretary of the US Department of the Interior.
Gale is also the first of six 2020 Colorado Women's Hall of Fame Inductees who will be featured here on Extraordinary Women Radio!
In this episode:
Discover how Gale’s path was meaningfully opened up to politics and law
Gale’s momentous journey as the first woman elected as Attorney General of Colorado
Running for office and how to raise your voice as a woman
Gale’s experience as the first woman appointed Secretary of the US Department of the Interior
Learn how collaborative decision-making can be a very effective leadership style
The challenge of partisan-based politics and how to remedy the same
How to cope with pressure, conflict, and political scrutiny
Gales’ significant accomplishment that she is most proud of
The importance of practicing women’s right to vote and Gale’s hope for women in the future
Gale become the first woman elected Attorney General of Colorado – at a time when only two women had previously held the office of state Attorney General anywhere in the country. She achieved another first when she was appointed Secretary of the US Department of the Interior – the first female leader in the Department’s 150-year history. In that role, Norton was responsible for managing over 20% of the land area of the United States, a Fortune-500-sized budget, and a workforce of 70,000 employees. Norton led efforts that resolved 70-year-old interstate disputes on the Colorado River and instituted a west-wide water conservation program. She championed the President's Healthy Forest Initiative and Cooperative Conservation.
As an attorney, Norton has handled multi-billion-dollar and high-profile litigation, including arguing cases before the US Supreme Court and negotiating one of the largest lawsuit settlements in history. Norton has a B.A., J.D. and honorary Ph.D. from the University of Denver, and an honorary Dr. Eng. from the Colorado School of Mines. In 2014, DU Law School honored Norton with the Outstanding Alumni Award.
Norton is now president of Norton Regulatory Strategies. She serves on the boards of directors of American Transmission Company, which operates electric transmission facilities, and Liberty Oilfield Services. She resides in Colorado with her husband John Hughes.
As Secretary of the Interior, 2001-2006, Gale Norton played a key role in shaping national energy policies. In the face of crises including the September 11th attacks and the War on Terror, increasing domestic energy production became a major focus for Norton’s term. She oversaw lands and offshore areas that produced a third of America's domestic oil, natural gas, and coal. She was actively involved in consideration of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, offshore and onshore oil and gas production, coal mine leasing and reclamation, hydroelectric generation, as well as biomass, wind and geothermal development.
Norton was General Counsel for Royal Dutch Shell Unconventional Oil, 2007-2010, and Attorney General of Colorado, 1991-1999. She is currently President of Norton Regulatory Strategies and serves on the Board of Directors of American Transmission Company, which operates electric transmission facilities across the US.
“What I found worked the best with a team is if you focus not on who’s making the suggestion but focus on the substance of the decision that has to be made.” - Gale Norton
Connect with Gale Norton on LinkedIn and check her out on this website: Norton Regulatory Services.
Let’s meet Gale Norton!
Gale Norton Show Notes
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