Jennifer Haley

When Jennifer Haley took the helm of Kern Energy as CEO in 2018, she became one of just a few female CEOs in the refining industry – and the first in California. Jennifer stepped into an incredibly dynamic and challenging operating environment as she guided Kern to a more public and collaborative approach to navigating California’s energy evolution. As a former D-1 athlete, Jennifer is not one to shy away from a challenge. Where many leaned out and pivoted to different business models, Jennifer and her team embraced the opportunity to evolve, moving to invest further in renewable and low carbon fuels and leveraging Kern Energy’s relatively small size in the market to serve as a catalyst and incubator for innovative solutions.

Building on Kern Energy’s pioneering spirit, under Jennifer’s leadership the company has gone from being one of the first refineries in the nation to produce renewable diesel to now having produced over 57 million gallons of renewable diesel while continuing to provide 1% of the state’s gasoline and 3% of its diesel fuel. Jennifer also oversaw a rebranding of the company from “Kern Oil Refining Co.” to “Kern Energy” to better represent their all of the above approach to achieving California’s climate goals while continuing to reliably supply the transportation fuels that drive the state.

Jennifer’s empowering leadership style and commitment to her team can be seen in every aspect of the work that is being done at Kern Energy. A self-described convenor, Jennifer believes problems are better solved through collaboration and is constantly working to bring leaders together to expand and shift perspectives.

She drives this same ethos at Kern Energy and through her leadership positions on the Board of Directors for the California Chamber of Commerce, as an at-large member of the Chamber’s Executive Committee, one of the founding members of the Chamber’s Women’s Leadership Council and on the Foundation Board of the California Science Center. Jennifer was recently described as having “a way of organizing people such that they feel like they collectively have a purpose” and has established herself as a courageous leader and force for good. A driving principle for Jennifer is to leave things better than she found them, especially for her two sons, Luke and Jake.