Executive Leadership Breakfast: A Conversation with Monica Alston

Dr. Claudia V. Schrader, interim president of York College, CUNY, invites you to join her for the next Executive Leadership Breakfast (ELB), featuring Monica Alston, the Vice President of Safety, Health and Environment (SHE), Risk and Compliance for National Grid’s New York business.

Biography

Monica Alston is the Vice President of Safety, Health and Environment (SHE), Risk and Compliance for National Grid’s New York business. In this role, Monica is responsible for driving performance, culture and continuous improvement initiatives for occupational safety and health, process safety, well-being, and environmental sustainability. She is also responsible for second line assurance of controls related to operational risks and regulatory obligations. Monica leads a team of safety, health, wellbeing, risk and compliance SMEs and partners closely with corporate, functional, and business unit leaders to realize our vision and commitment to achieving world-class SHE performance, effective risk management and ongoing regulatory compliance in support of achievement of the company’s business objectives.

Monica serves as the Executive Sponsor of the Alliance of Black Professionals (ABP) Employee Resource Group (ERG). In this capacity she provides strategic direction and guidance to the ABP leadership team to define and deliver on its mission and purpose. She is also a member of National Grid’s Sustainability SteerCo which is chaired by our Chief Sustainability Officer.  

Prior to joining National Grid, Monica served as the Director of Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) for Comcast Cable, a division of Comcast-NBCUniversal where she was responsible for developing strategies to reduce risks through effective sustainable management practices to derive business value. Throughout her career, Monica has held several leadership roles within the pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries. Leading in global roles at Kellogg’s, Eaton Corporation and GlaxoSmithKline, Monica has lived in Brussels and Montreal.

Monica holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University, an MS degree in Environmental Engineering from Villanova University, and various technical and professional certifications in safety, health and sustainability. She sits on various non-profit boards providing insights, expertise and guidance.

Monica currently resides in Albany, NY. She and her husband have 3 older children and are from the western suburbs of Philadelphia, PA.