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Blank Rome Of Counsel <a href="/people/joan-m-bondareff/" type="poa_person" id="13">Joan M. Bondareff</a> received the following <a href="https://www.vaoffshorewind.org/authority/about">commendation</a> from Virginia Governor Ralph Northam on her 11 years of dedicated service to the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority (“VOWDA”).

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<strong>Governor Ralph Northam’s comments on Joan Bondareff,&nbsp;Outgoing VOWDA Chair and Principal — Blank Rome</strong>

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On behalf of a grateful Commonwealth, I express my admiration and sincere appreciation to Ms. Joan M. Bondareff for her selfless service, achievements and contributions to the development of Virginia’s offshore wind energy resource.

With offshore wind, we have a unique opportunity to address the climate crisis while creating new jobs and driving economic growth.&nbsp;Thanks to the voluntary public service contributions of visionaries like Ms. Bondareff, our Commonwealth has turned what was just a dream a decade ago into a steel-in-the-water reality today.

Joan Bondareff was appointed to the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority when it was created in 2010. She served steadfastly for more than a decade, first as vice chair and later as chair, a position that she held from November 10, 2016 until she completed her final appointed term, the last allowed, in December 2021.

She had an almost perfect (45 of 46 meetings) attendance record, despite having&nbsp;among the longest drives of any Authority member. Only once did Ms. Bondareff come up slightly short, when a storm September 29, 2016 was so severe that the Amtrak train she took from Northern Virginia to Richmond, in order to avoid driving in dangerous conditions, was delayed by flooding for several hours, only arriving in Ashland two hours into an Authority meeting that had nearly finished its business and which had a quorum without her traveling the final few miles from the train station to the state Capitol.

Ms. Bondareff&nbsp;is a nationally respected expert in maritime law whose practice and reputation made her a coveted speaker and earned her seats at public platforms where she unflinchingly promoted Virginia's policy support, and contributed her own, to make the Commonwealth a leader in the development of offshore wind resources.

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