20 UNDER 40 | Nikki Goodson

That’s why when she’s not serving as team lead of Environmental Compliance — Generation & Renewables at NiSource, there’s a good chance you’ll find her teaching pilates and spin classes or working with youth to promote careers in STEM.

A volunteer spin class teacher at the Duneland YMCA and pilates teacher at Hot Body Pilates in Portage, Goodson also has worked with the Chesterton Parks Department to bring Pilates in the Park to town every other Saturday during the summer months.

“In addition to encouraging the community to move, my biggest life purpose is empowering young girls and women’s interest in STEM activities,” she said.

After being a part of various local community STEM outreach programs, including STARBASE and NiSource’s Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, Goodson created the STEAM Like a Girl event — a collaborative effort between Women’s International Network of Utility Professionals (WiNUP) and the Duneland Family YMCA Healthy Living Campus.

“A small but mighty group of amazing women, who call ourselves STEAM TEAM, was created,” she said. “My hopes are that the legacy of this event are everlasting. We plan to commit to an annual STEAM Like a Girl event. To me, this is just the beginning. Northwest Indiana has so many amazing opportunities for collaboration, I cannot wait to see what else stems from this program.”

Goodson began her career at NiSource as an intern in the chemical compliance department and was later promoted to chemical lab supervisor for the Michigan City Generating Station. After working in the lab for four years, she joined the environmental compliance team where she has been for three years. In April, she was promoted to team lead in Environmental Compliance-Generation & Renewables.

“For the last couple of years, I have been supporting renewable generation as it pertains to environmental compliance,” she said. “This has been challenging but rewarding in the best ways.”

In her newest role with NiSource, Goodson says one of her goals is to become a leader people can trust, count on and enjoy being around.

“I want people to know that I am always in their corner cheering them on,” she said. “My goal is to build a reliable, high-functioning team that knows how to get things done in the most effective way possible.”