Mikal Byrd loves the opposition and challenges life brings her. A native from Maryland, Byrd works in the oil industry which gets a lot of criticism. She is the spokesperson for Chevron and has been with the company for about four and a half years now. She moved to Utah almost two years ago and is now the Policy, Government and Public Affairs Representative at the Chevron Salt Lake Refinery.
Since moving to Utah, her lifestyle changed as she realized how much she loved the outdoors and hiking, perhaps even working out and staying fit. Her passion is helping give back to the community any way she can. It comes natural for her to lead and take on multiple responsibilities which is evident why Chevron has her in charge.
With Chevron, “My job is to protect the brand, engage the community and represent Chevron the best way possible.” Byrd appreciates the variety of challenges she gets to face with her job. One night she could be having dinner with the Governor, the next day she would be out at the refinery working with the guys, and the next morning she would be on a field trip to a conservation site with a group of 4th graders. “I really do have the best job in the world, I get a little bit of it all” she replies.
What are some things that make you proud of Chevron? “I am proud to say that Chevron really cares about the community and is always looking for ways to help out in any way through donations, scholarships, services and special projects.” On the Chevron website it states, “We contribute to the economic and social well-being of the communities where we operate by creating jobs, supporting local businesses and training the work force of the future.” In the past 3 years, Chevron has invested more than $170 million in education and programs to help further improve the quality of learning and hopefully in return improve the company itself. Wherever there is a Chevron dealership, the company strives to build lasting relationships with that community and aim to create prosperity for the future.
Some of the challenges Chevron face on a daily basis are “Making the community understand what we do. Where ignorance tends to be, people will fill in the gaps if they don’t know.” Her main focus is to educate the community on what Chevron is all about. Whether it’s through newspapers, social media, television, or the internet, Byrd’s job is to shed light on any grey areas or concerns that people may have on the company. Some of the problems that Chevron has been working on are air pollution and water usage. They’ve invested a lot of money to help find the best possible solutions. She says, “In the last 10 years we invested hundreds of millions of dollars to get air pollution down 90%.” Along with the environment, Chevron is passionate about community service. “The public should know how much Chevron really cares about the community and is always looking for ways to help out in any way through donations, scholarships, services and special projects. We are always looking out for the public’s safety as well and want everyone to know that we are the best at what we do by keeping our gas as clean and safe as possible, which separates us from all others.”
Byrd certainly sees herself retiring with Chevron. In 10 years from now she hopes to be working overseas for the company and do international projects. She is always optimistic about the future and she has no doubt Chevron will continue to flourish because of the high standards and ethic morals they stand by.
U NewsWriting 