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Leadership

 

Angela O'Brien

Deputy Consumers' Counsel and Legal Director

Angela O’Brien was appointed the Deputy Consumers’ Counsel in June 2023, by the Consumers’ Counsel Governing Board. Angela is also Acting Legal and Analytical Director. She is one of the Board’s two appointees for leading the agency, the other being the Consumers’ Counsel (agency director). Her leadership initiatives include achieving justice, equity and regulatory reform for residential utility consumers, as stated in OCC’s Vision.

Angela has served Ohioans for four years as an Assistant Consumers’ Counsel. She was named an OCC Employee of the Quarter in 2022, for the excellence of her regulatory case work on behalf of consumers. From 1998 to 2010, Angela was in the private practice of law. She worked for 10 years at Mayer Brown in Chicago. Earlier, she worked for Barnes & Thornburg in Indianapolis. Her work at both firms included representing telephone companies and competitive energy suppliers, appearing before state public utility commissions in Indiana and Illinois. In 2015, Angela and her family moved from Chicago to the Columbus, Ohio area. Angela earned her B.A. from the University of Houston and her J.D. from the Indiana University School of Law.


Susan LoeOperations Director

Susan Loe serves Ohioans as the Director of the Operations Department. OCC’s Operations Department manages human resources, information technology, and budget and fiscal matters. Susan joined the Agency in September 2021. Prior to joining OCC, Susan held positions in HR/Fiscal Management at the State Medical Board and the Ohio Ethics Commission.  She also previously held Chief of Staff and administrative positions in private sector law firms for more than a decade.  Susan earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Franklin University, with a dual major in Business Management and Human Resources Management.  Susan also received her Ohio Certified Public Manager (OCPM) certification from Ohio State’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs and is a graduate of the Ohio Fiscal Academy and the Office of Collective Bargaining Academy.
 

Merrilee EmbsPublic Affairs Director

Merrilee Embs is the Director of OCC’s Public Affairs Department. Merrilee joined the OCC as a Public Affairs Liaison in March 2019. She was named Public Affairs Manager in December 2022 and director in January 2024. She oversees the Public Affairs Department to support OCC’s efforts in communications, outreach and education, and legislative services. Currently she is working toward her Ph.D. at Tiffin University. She earned a Master of Science Degree in Mass Communications/Public Relations from Murray State University in 2022 and a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications/Journalism from Wright State University in 1995. In addition, she has more than 20 years’ experience in editorial publishing, business operations with multiple daily and weekly newspapers, as well as health care public relations throughout the Miami Valley.