Sherina Maye Edwards leads the Chicago office of the Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Practice Group at Quarles & Brady, LLP. She focuses her practice on electric reliability, water, natural gas and critical infrastructure issues. A utility professional with solid regulatory experience which includes analyzing, formulating, and implementing public policy at the state level, she brings a wealth of knowledge on issues affecting the energy and public utility industry including grid modernization, natural gas infrastructure, cybersecurity, reliability and supplier and workforce diversity.
Prior to joining the firm, Sherina served a five year term on the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), making her the youngest commissioner ever appointed in the state of Illinois. During her term on the ICC, she was actively involved in the National Association for Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and served as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Pipeline Safety as well as Chair of the Subcommittee on Supplier and Workforce Diversity and as a member of the Committee on Gas, with previous service on the Water Committee.
Throughout her term, Sherina was a champion for diversity and inclusion and in September 2014, founded the Women’s Energy Summit as an annual forum for select women across the nation to discuss pertinent issues in the energy industry, highlight accomplishments, uplift rising stars and break down barriers. In 2015, she co-founded the Chicago chapter of the Women’s Energy Network, an organization which attracts, educates and develops professional women across the energy value chain. Additionally, she was influential in the establishment of the ICC’s Office of Diversity and Community Affairs and the formation of the Illinois Utilities Business Diversity Council.
Most recently, Sherina was selected as a 2017 Eisenhower Fellow. In this capacity, she served as an ambassador for the United States in South Africa and Australia, met with leading experts in the energy field, and learned more about the shift to renewable energy. A member of the Leadership Greater Chicago Fellows Class of 2015 and the Lake Shore chapter of the Links, Inc., Sherina sits on several boards, including the Board of Directors of the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana and the National Executive Board of Delta Sigma Theta. She also spends time volunteering with and mentoring underprivileged youth in the Chicago community. Sherina earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Spelman College, cum laude, and a Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., where she was a merit scholar.
