Behind the Art: Remembering a PG&E Trailblazer

Back in 1993, PG&E commissioned artwork for the facade of the Emeryville transformer repair center. Two local artists created six, 6-by-12-foot concrete and fiberglass relief panels depicting the company’s history and technology.

The panels adorning the now-100-year-old building illustrate facets of PG&E’s business. There are characterizations of hydropower, gas service and power transmission. There’s also a panel saluting those who maintain and preserve the natural environment around company facilities.

That panel features a kneeling female PG&E coworker with long braided hair wearing a hard hat and holding a pad and pencil. She’s surrounded by rain clouds, a forest, wind turbines and fish jumping out of water.

The woman who posed for the sculpture was Karen Stroud, a 30-plus-year PG&E coworker who broke many barriers as a black woman in Electric Operations.

Stroud, who passed away in late January, was very proud of that statue.

“She loved it,” said John Johnson, an associate electric distribution engineer who worked with Stroud. “I believe that to her it represented positive change and hope for the future of PG&E. She wanted to see more people like her in more roles. Over her career, that slowly became a reality.”

Breaking barriers and stereotypes

According to a 1984 story in the Oakland Tribune, Stroud was an English major at Brandeis University near Boston and wanted to work in journalism. After numerous jobs in radio, she came to the Bay Area and joined PG&E. Stroud became the only woman and the first black among the eight field crews stationed in Fremont laying underground cables.

“She was disrespected and bullied in the early days,” said Johnson, who considered Stroud a close friend. “PG&E culture was very different in those days. She obviously didn’t look like the vast majority of her peers in construction. She experienced racism, sexism, and abuse at work, mostly during her time in the line department.

“I was constantly amazed to see her take it all in stride,” he added. “She was determined, and things changed slowly as she proved herself. I always admired her confidence and perseverance.”

After being in the field, Johnson said she worked in Oakland and Concord as an electric mapper and estimator. Stroud eventually became an electric associate distribution engineer, the highest position in electric estimating.

Johnson said becoming an electric associate distribution engineer is hard work. He said passing the exam requires months of study and a huge time sacrifice outside work. Stroud’s hard work made her the first black woman at PG&E to pass the exam. By the time Stroud retired in 2016, she was one of four black females at PG&E holding the title of electric associate distribution engineer.

“By passing this test,” said Johnson, “Karen challenged outdated norms and proved that talent and hard work should define success, not race or gender.”

‘An incredibly proud woman’

Stroud liked working at PG&E because of her coworkers. “That’s what kept her going,” Johnson said. “She certainly appreciated her job at PG&E and was grateful for the good life it afforded her.”

Another friend of Stroud’s, Rae Dowell, a PG&E senior new business representative, said Stroud “unofficially mentored many black women at PG&E. Karen was a genuinely caring person and shared her knowledge willingly to anyone in need of it. Even after retirement, she kept in touch with many of her PG&E coworkers. Truly one of a kind.”

According to Johnson, Stroud had a passion for basketball. She played at Brandeis and even tried out for the men’s basketball team. Stroud officiated youth basketball games in the East Bay and was a big fan of the Golden State Warriors.

Stroud was godmother to former NFL cornerback Asa Jackson, whose Baltimore Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII in 2012 over the San Francisco 49ers.

“Karen was an incredibly proud woman,” said Johnson. “She wasn’t going to be told by anyone what she could or could not achieve. She was determined to be a role model and beacon for positive change. She was a trailblazer who paved the way for others.”