A CEO’s journey is a testament to her determination, resilience and the power of dreams
March 2025
Sonja Cox is president and CEO of Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, one of the largest electric distribution cooperatives in the country. (courtesy SMECO)
by Laura Emery, Staff Writer
“I remember my mother bringing a calculator to the grocery store,” says Sonja Cox, president and CEO of Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, one of the largest electric distribution cooperatives in the country.
“She would have to add everything up in order to make sure she had enough money to pay for the food,” Cox recalls.
Cox grew up in the small town of Hartsville, S.C., and was aware that her mother, who worked long hours at a local sewing plant, was always desperately trying to stretch a dollar past its breaking point. “There were times when my younger brother and sister and I didn’t know if we were going to get anything for Christmas,” Cox says.
Neither one of her parents finished high school, but Cox says her mother encouraged her to graduate. “She really wanted me to get a good job,” Cox says. Cox found further encouragement in tenth grade in a high school teacher who believed in her. “She was very kind to me. She really pushed me, and told me I could do great things,” Cox says.
“Great things,” however, didn’t seem likely to come easy for young Cox. Despite excelling at school, her home life was difficult. Her father suffered from an addiction to alcohol and was unable to keep a job for very long. His addiction defined their family dynamics and shaped much of Cox’s childhood.
Sonja Cox, age 16
“I hated being at home,” she remembers. “I would stay after school and do extracurricular activities when I could. I did anything to get out of the house.”
While challenging to share, Cox says, “I’m willing to tell my story because a lot of people don’t understand how bad it can be to live with someone who is an alcoholic.”
School became a haven for Cox, and she poured herself into her schoolwork. She knew getting an education was the key to overcoming her circumstances.
It was in her sophomore year that she identified her career path. “I took a bookkeeping class in high school, and I was fascinated by accounting. Numbers always made sense to me,” she says.
Cox acknowledges that her parents’ financial struggles impacted her being drawn to accounting. “I wanted to have a better understanding of how to best manage finances through accounting,” she explains. “I didn’t want my children to grow up the way I did. Not that money is everything, because it isn’t — but it was difficult, and I didn’t want that for them.”
The following summer, just before her senior year in high school, Cox went to work for the sewing plant her mother worked at. She performed assembly line tasks, like putting plastic bags over pieces of clothing before they were put into shipment.
Just before returning to school, Cox was called into the office of the plant’s manager. “I can even remember his name,” she says. “Mr. Duvall said to me, ‘I appreciate you being here and working so hard. But … don’t come back next year asking me for a job.’ When I heard him say that, I was devastated. I said, ‘Why? What did I do?’ He said, ‘Nothing. But you can do better than this. You need to pursue your education.’”
It was a defining moment for Cox.
She couldn’t afford to attend college through the traditional route, so Cox went to work for Carolina Power & Light and took advantage of their employee tuition-reimbursement program. She attended college courses in the evenings while working full-time during the day.
In 1989, Cox married her coworker Robert. After only a short time together, Robert was offered a job at Baltimore Gas & Electric in Maryland. The couple moved to Huntingtown, Md., in 1990. Cox transferred her college credits to the University of Maryland and completed her bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1994.
Sonja Cox greets newly elected director Ed Holland, and is joined by director Danny Dyer and retired director Fern Brown, left. (courtesy SMECO)
FORGING AHEAD
Cox had her eyes set on a C-suite role. “I knew I wanted to be a CEO,” she says. “Not this CEO position, specifically, but I had a dream of reaching the top. And I knew I needed to become a CPA to do that.”
In 1998, she earned her Certified Public Accountant credentials. Everything was going according to her plan until, according to Cox, “a good monkey wrench” was thrown into the mix.
In 1991, Cox gave birth to her second child — a son — who was born with a congenital heart defect. He was diagnosed with DiGeorge Syndrome, a genetic condition caused by a missing piece of chromosome 22. “We decided that I would take some time off to care for our son Josh. After about a year, my husband’s company agreed to pay for in-home nursing care five days a week, so I was able to go back to work,” she explains.
In 1999, a position opened at Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative. Cox had heard that electric co-ops were great places to work and she was already familiar with the industry, so she applied for the job and was hired as financial reporting supervisor.
“When I came to work at SMECO, I got my [Master of Business Administration],” she says. She rose through the ranks until becoming senior vice president and chief financial officer in 2006. “When I became CFO, my mother was so proud of me. She told all of her friends and all of her sisters and brothers,” Cox says.
Her ascent to leadership over the next 14 years showcased her ability to lead and innovate, as well as her dedication, adaptability and willingness to learn. Cox credits Joe Slater, former SMECO president and CEO, for mentoring her. “He wanted me to succeed and always encouraged me,” she says.
In 2016, Cox was named one of The Daily Record’s Top 100 Women of Maryland. The Daily Record described her as a consummate professional and lauded her as having a “gift of handling myriad issues” with leadership and drive that “sets an example for all employees at SMECO.” The feature also mentioned her duties as the point person on all fiscal/rate matters for the co-op, as well as the fact that she managed the human resources department of a 500-employee organization.
In March of 2020, Cox assumed the mantle of SMECO’s fifth president and CEO. “My mother never got to see me become CEO, but I know she would have been proud of me,” she says. Cox became the company’s first female chief in its 83-year history.
Her first challenge after taking the position at SMECO’s helm was dealing with a global pandemic caused by COVID-19. Crises present unexpected, complex scenarios that evolve quickly, and Cox handled them quickly and efficiently. “Two weeks after taking over as CEO, I had to figure out a way to send nearly 260 employees home to telework. We put a process in place and within 12 business days we were teleworking,” Cox says.
When asked to name some other accomplishments during her time as CEO, Cox references SMECO’s bid to privatize the electric system at the Indian Head Naval Surface Warfare Center. “SMECO will take over the electric system behind the fence, bring it up to safety code, install meters and handle other repairs. It’s a 50-year contract,” she explains.
Another big accomplishment during her tenure at SMECO was transitioning from a full-requirements wholesale power supply contract to contracting with various power suppliers to fulfill the co-op’s power supply needs. She explains, “We, with the assistance of ACES Power Marketing, manage our own power supply needs and we are not a member of a G&T. This was a very large undertaking.”
Scott White, a member of SMECO’s board of directors, says Cox is respected among SMECO employees and its industry peers. He says, “SMECO has made a lot of progress with regard to technological innovations, construction of power lines, substations and new facilities, and the expansion of customer services — and Sonja has been involved with these improvements every step of the way.”
In March 2020, Sonja Cox assumed the mantle of SMECO’s fifth president and CEO.
BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS
Electric cooperatives across the country are facing a similar challenge: filling leadership roles as older employees retire. According to a Jan. 31, 2023, article in RE magazine, “One silver lining to the dilemma is a trend among co-ops to further widen the net they cast for prospective senior staff, which has led to a small but noticeable uptick in the hiring of female CEOs and general managers.” Between 2020 and 2021, the number of female co-op CEOs jumped from 80 to 90, according to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. As of January 2025, there were 98 female electric cooperative CEOs across the country, with Cox being one of only 10 on the East Coast.
As a female CEO in an industry with predominantly male CEOs, Cox acknowledges there are challenges. “When I’m talking to male colleagues — especially in engineering — they sometimes feel the need to explain things in layman’s terms. I will usually say, ‘I understand that. You can move forward. I don’t need that explanation.’ But, for the most part, the male co-op CEOs are generally very supportive — especially in the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association. I am friends with a lot of the CEOs that belong to the Association, and they are amazing leaders and great people.”
SMECO has been part of VMDAEC, publisher of Cooperative Living magazine, since 2023. “We get tremendous value out of our membership in the Association. It’s been a good investment for us,” she says. Cox is the first female CEO in the VMDAEC network.
Says Brian Mosier, president and CEO of VMDAEC, “We are honored to have Sonja as our first female CEO represented on the VMDAEC Board and expect that trend to continue.”
John Hewa, president and CEO of Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, notes that Cox is not only successfully guiding one of the nation’s largest electric cooperatives, she is also a strong contributor when it comes to VMDAEC. “It’s become quite common for the leadership teams [among the VMDAEC member co-ops] to work alongside one another. Under Sonja’s leadership, she has helped grow the strength of our statewide program, fortified our mutual-aid across the mid-Atlantic states, and extended SMECO’s influence and helping-hand reputation across the national Association of Large Distribution Cooperatives.”
Belvin “Butch” Williamson, president and CEO of A&N Electric Cooperative, has served with Cox on several regional cooperative committees and says, “I enjoy her passion for SMECO and the community it serves. Sonja brings a different perspective that provides a refreshing outlook to the utility industry.”
From left, VMDAEC CEO Brian Mosier, SMECO CEO Sonja Cox and immediate past SMECO board chairman Scott White at the October 2023 VMDAEC board meeting. (photo by Gregg MacDonald)
LEADING INTO TOMORROW
There are certain qualities that Cox believes are important in the role of CEO. Cox says, “I manage my employees as a team. I don’t give out edicts; I ask for input. I think you also have to trust the people who work for you to do what you hired them to do, and make people feel like their jobs and their opinions are important and valued. You need to be willing to listen to people.”
Jason Loehr, president and CEO of Southside Electric Cooperative, has known Cox for nearly 20 years. “Sonja’s dedication to the employees and members of SMECO and the Southern Maryland community is unrivaled. Her commitment is evident not just in the success of her cooperative, but also in the respect that she has earned from her peers within the industry. As a lifelong Commanders fan, she knows the value of patience, perseverance and loyalty — qualities that she exhibits every day in the electric cooperative industry.”
Cox’s 2025 goals for SMECO include starting a three-year communications project. “Our fiber communications system on the operations side is outdated and at end-of-life. We are replacing the communications system with a state-of-the-art system that will allow us to become more digital in the future,” she says. Cox is also focused on setting up a methodical succession-planning process at SMECO.
BEYOND THE DESK
Cox lives in Leonardtown, Md., 20 miles from SMECO’s headquarters. “I love the people here; they are very friendly. I also love being near the water, and that we are in an area with a lot of good food and music,” she says.
She enjoys spending time with her husband and three grown children — Kristen, Josh and Gunnar — as well as her five-year-old granddaughter, Charlie, and two chihuahuas, Persi and Cassie. Cox also loves golfing, going on cruises and spending time at the beach.
Says Cox, “Growing up watching my parents struggle to provide for us was challenging, but it just made me more determined to achieve my goals and to provide a different kind of life for my family. I was able to do that for my children — but my greatest ‘riches’ will always be my family and friends. And being able to lead such a great team at SMECO.”
Another “First” Lady
Nancy Hoover, of Broadway, Va., was a trailblazer in the co-op world.
She was the first woman to serve on the board of directors for Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative, as well as the first woman to serve as chairman of the board of the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives, publisher of Cooperative Living. In 2003, she became the first woman to receive the coveted Leadership Award from VMDAEC.
“She was thorough, conscientious, passionate about the co-ops, and always kind to everyone in word and deed. She was a very special lady and will be missed,” said retired VMDAEC CEO Richard Johnstone after Hoover passed away in October 2024.