Darren Peters
37 Manager, System Government Affairs - Entergy Corp. Little Rock, Ark.
Darren Peters started the magazine Powerplay “from scratch, with only the volunteer help of friends and family.” It is the first magazine in Arkansas to highlight the depth and diversity of the African-American community in the state, he says. The magazine has since spawned the Powerplay Awards and Powerplay Television, which airs on a major television network in the state of Arkansas.
Peters, 38, is also a charter member of 100 Black Men of Greater Little Rock, holds a chair on the Central Arkansas Transit Authority and is a board member of various civic organizations, including Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and the Little Rock Parks and Recreation Commission. “I see all of my public service work as a duty, never just as a job,” Peters says.
Evidently. When Peters is not advising, mentoring, or publishing a magazine, he can be found at his day job managing the System Government Affairs team at Entergy Corp., an Arkansas-based integrated energy company. That day job is a mighty big one. The second-largest nuclear generator in the United States, Entergy delivers 30,000 megawatts of electricity to 2.7 million customers throughout Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas through these plants and its other electricity-generating facilities. Its annual revenue rings in at more than $10 billion and has a payroll exceeding 14,000 employees. “My grandfather taught me the importance of. . .setting lofty goals,” Peters says.
His grandfather also stressed the message in the story of the early bird and the worm.
Peters earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Hendrix College, a private liberal arts school in Conway, Ark., and subsequently landed a coveted spot as a political appointee at the White House during the Clinton administration. Now back in his home state, Peters credits his children with influencing him to continue his career in national politics and government affairs. “They give me a reason to fight harder to try to make the world a better place,” he says.
