A veteran attorney was sworn in Tuesday to begin a four-year term on the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.
The Los Angeles City Council unanimously confirmed Laura Genao as a commissioner on Feb. 12. She was nominated by then-City Council President Pro Tempore Nury Martinez.
“We are very pleased to welcome Commissioner Genao to the Ethics Commission,” said Heather Holt, the Ethics Commission’s executive director. “We look forward to learning from her expertise both in the corporate arena and in government regulation of utilities.”
Genao has more than 20 years of litigation and energy policy experience, according to a statement from the commission. She has served as legal counsel to large corporations and worked on major energy legislation and regulation related to electric utilities.
Genao is managing director of regulatory affairs at Southern California Edison, where she oversees a team responsible for interactions with state and federal energy agencies, and she previously served as both a renewable energy policy expert and in-house regulatory attorney for the company.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Genao received her undergraduate degree in history and literature from Harvard College and a law degree at the Columbia University School of Law.
Before becoming an attorney, she taught middle and high school students in the Los Angeles area. She also worked as a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, where she was part of a team of reporters nominated for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize in the categories of public service and spot reporting.