Meet the 40 Under 40 who is leading the charge for women in energy

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Scott Dalton

Leigh-Ann Russell, vice president of performance for BP's Global Wells Organization

Nora Olabi

Editorial intern- Houston Business Journal

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Leigh-Ann Russell wears many hats as the vice president of performance for BP's Global Wells Organization. She works with everything from key stakeholders to processes ranging from drilling engineers in the field to the upstream executive team.

Russell oversees multibillion-dollar budgets and manages people across the globe, and she does it all in a field that is traditionally male-dominated. Her efforts breaking the glass ceiling have landed her on the 2014 Houston Business Journal's 40 Under 40.

Russell was the first female keynote speaker at The Next Wave program, an annual day-long forum for young professionals, during the 2014 Offshore Technology Conference, where she shared her story with more than 500 people. She also mentors young professionals, in particular, female engineers at BP.

"Mentoring is an extremely rewarding part of my career. … Working with young female engineers and inspiring them to pursue their passions without letting any barriers — actual or perceived — stand in their way is one of my passions," Russell said in her application.

Russell's advice to young professionals: keep an open mind.

Over the past several weeks, Houston Business Journal introduced our readers to the 40 Under 40 class of 2014. The winners are being honored at an event Oct. 29 at Hotel ZaZa and featured in a special publication for subscribers on October 31. Subscribe here.

Meet last year's 40 Under 40 here.