Board of Directors

Matt Faulkner serves as the Director of Labor Relations for the Tennessee Valley Authority. In his role, Mr. Faulkner’s primary responsibilities include all labor relations functions for TVA, including negotiations, contract administration, and Labor-Management partnerships across the 7 state TVA service territory. Matt’s TVA career began in 2009 as a Labor Relations Consultant.  Through his years in Labor Relations, Matt has been responsible for a multitude of fleet-wide strategic initiatives and currently serves on multiple labor-management boards, ensuring TVA and its union continue their 9-decade productive labor-management relationships.  

Matt has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kentucky, a Master of Science in Human Resources Management from Marshall University, is Project Management Professional (PMP) certified, and is a Rule 31 List Mediator in the state of Tennessee.   He and his wife Jordan have two children, three dogs, and reside in Knoxville, TN. 

Glenn Brannen is the Vice President of the IBEW 5thDistrict which consists of over 100 local unions representing more than 50,000 active members. 

Glenn began his career with the IBEW in 1981 when he entered the inside electrical apprenticeship program in Local 194 in Shreveport, LA.

After graduating, he taught the second year apprenticeship class for 5 years before becoming Business Manager in 1993. 

He also served on the executive board of his local and on several negotiating committees prior to becoming Business Manager.

In 2002 he was appointed as an International Representative for the 5th District where he serviced locals in the construction, utility and manufacturing industries.

In 2024 he was appointed Vice President of the 5thDistrict. 

Glenn and his wife Dianne have been married for 42 years and they live in Shreveport, La.

Sloane Drake is executive vice president and chief human resources officer for Southern Company, leading America’s premier energy company’s human resources and people-focused efforts. This includes guiding teams focused on medical services, diversity, equity, and inclusion, health and wellbeing, HR delivery, labor relations, medical services, talent acquisition, talent management, total rewards and HR technology and worker’s compensation.

Prior to her current role, she served as senior vice president of Human Resources for Georgia Power, Southern Company Gas and Southern Company.

Drake joined Southern Company in 2001 as a participant in Georgia Power’s Professional Development Program and has held several positions in Southern Company’s HR organization, including the dual role as assistant to the vice president of HR and talent manager. In these roles, she supported strategic initiatives across all areas of human resources and led the development of solutions to enhance leadership and employee development, as well as diversity and inclusion. She also led the HR team responsible for HR delivery and staffing for Southern Company’s two new nuclear units at Plant Vogtle, located outside of Augusta. Drake also served as director of human resources at Southern Company, where she was responsible for providing HR consulting services for accounting, finance and treasury, marketing services, human resources, system air, general counsel, external affairs, internal auditing and information technology.

Active in her community, Drake serves on the board of directors for Georgia Public Broadcasting, Southeast Labor and Management Public Affairs Committee and OnBoard. She is also a 2018 alumni of Leadership Georgia.

Drake graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

 Jerry Grissom is vice president of Labor Relations and Workforce Development. In this role, Grissom provides strategic direction for Alabama Power’s local, regional and national labor partnerships and workforce development. Safety and Health also fall under his leadership at Alabama Power,

and he provides direction on external labor relations for Southern Company.

Grissom has more than 24 years of experience with Southern Company. He began his career as an engineer at Alabama Power’s Miller Steam Plant before holding numerous leadership positions within both Alabama Power and Georgia Power’s generating fleet. Grissom held various Technical Services functional manager roles for the fossil and hydro generation

assets in the areas of Fleet Strategy, Plant Operations Excellence initiatives and Plant Engineering support areas.

He also served as director for SCS Operations Services, where he provided leadership and strategic direction for external

craft labor relations, specifically work agreements, alliances and relationships at the local, state and national levels. Additionally, he provided leadership for the Technical

Training organization and the Continuous Improvement and Learning team.

Prior to joining Southern Company, Grissom worked in lead roles in the steel tubing production and fabrication industry.

Grissom holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Birmingham-Southern

College and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

He is active in community and workforce affairs, currently serving as chairman of

the Alabama Construction Recruiting Institute Board of Directors and a member on the Alabama Apprenticeship Council. Previously he has served on the Make-A-Wish Board of Directors for Alabama and as chairman of the advisory board for the Georgia Southern University College of Engineering and Information Technology.

Grissom and his wife, Cheryl, reside in Hoover.

Cesar Reyes is a strategic professional with deep expertise in navigating the workforce challenges facing the energy industry. Cesar current serves as the Director of Labor Relations at Entergy, leading a team focused on the implementation and maintenance of a productive and effective labor relations program to support a growing enterprise. 

As an experienced HR leader, Cesar has developed and implemented successful strategies for change management, organizational development, talent management, and strategic leadership to support the sector's expansion and evolution. Drawing on his background in senior HR roles across the Oil & Gas, Technology, and Manufacturing sectors, as well as having represented both management and union organizations, Cesar brings a unique perspective on navigating the complex labor relations landscape. 

Holding a Master of Science in Labor Relations from the University of Massachusetts and a Bachelor of Arts in Management, Cesar brings a wealth of knowledge to address the critical workforce trends and opportunities in the power generation space.

Dave Stroup serves as Director of Labor Relations at Florida Power & Light, where he acts as the company's chief negotiator, responsible for implementing comprehensive labor policy, managing complex union relationships, and fostering collaborative solutions between workforce and management. His expertise encompasses contract interpretation, grievance resolution, and strategic workforce planning, ensuring that FPL maintains productive partnerships with its unionized employees while supporting the company's mission of delivering reliable energy services to Florida's communities.