Colette D. Honorable:
Bridging the Energy Gap
By Writer/Editor Stephanie Clarke
Commissioner Colette Honorable
When Commissioner Colette D.
Honorable was a high school student,
she dreamed of living in Dallas, Texas, or
Memphis, Tennessee. A career in law or
the energy sector was not on her radar.
Her dreams were nothing compared to
her reality, however. She was nominated
to be one of five commissioners’ at the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
by President Barack Obama. She was
unanimously confirmed by the U.S.
Senate in December, 2014. She is only
the third African-American to hold this
position. Honorable sits down with
DyNAMC to share journey and the
future of the energy industry.
“Our goal is to support the work that is occurring
around the nation where states are developing
plants to comply with this new rule.” Honorable
Sasha Werblin
Her father was responsible for
planting the seed for her to
become a lawyer. Honorable
had other ideas. “At that
age, and maybe because
he thought it was a great
idea, I didn’t want to do it,”
she laughs. Her original plan
was to major in business
administration in college and
then pursue an accounting
career. She entered Memphis
State University [now the
Honorable was drawn to
public service. Her career
started at Legal Services. She
was a consumer protection
attorney, Medicaid fraud
special prosecutor, chief of
staff to Arkansas Attorney
General, Mike Beebe. She told
DyNAMC • ISSUE 10
Colette D. Honorable was
born in St. Louis, Missouri,
and lived for a period of time
in Los Angeles, California. Her
family settled in Little Rock,
Arkansas, and that’s where
she was raised. “I’m proud to
be from Arkansas,” Honorable
shared with DyNAMC. “I was
raised with wonderful values
in a great community and
lots of wonderful family who
supported and inspired me to
do whatever I wanted to do.”
University of Memphis]
where she took an
Introduction to Criminal
Justice course as
an elective. “I really
enjoyed it. I thought it
was challenging and
intriguing.” Ultimately,
she changed her major
to criminal justice and
criminology, and then
she decided to pursue a career
in law. Her family needed her
home, so she enrolled at the
University of Arkansas at Little
Rock School of Law.
15