Margaret Mary (Peggy) Smyth is CFO for National Grid U.S., one of the world’s largest publicly owned electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery companies serving more than 20 million people. Under Peggy’s leadership, National Grid is driving the transition to the clean energy future, developing financing models for new energy solutions like battery storage, solar energy, and the expansion of electric vehicles (EV). Peggy’s paternal ancestors come from Sligo while the maternal side hails from Leitrim. Peggy, her husband, and her two sons have dual citizenship. They own her mother-in-law’s family home in Fairymount, County Roscommon, to which they travel every year. Peggy says that her Irish heritage is an integral part of who she is, and she suspects she is one of the few honorees who knows what the expression “hairy engine” means. “I’ve been surrounded by my Irish heritage my entire life. My maternal grandparents lived on the second floor of my parents’ two-family house in the Rockaways,” she says. “My Irish heritage suffused my upbringing, shaped my values, and is a fundamental aspect of my family’s identity and shared experiences.”