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Sandra Mattfeld flew from Colombia to Canada to learn English, but she returned to Bogotá with more than new language skills (and a TOEFL certificate to prove it). She also returned with a serious boyfriend.
Mattfeld, who often finds herself in positions in which she is required to unite people or resources, thinks of herself as a puzzle master. “I enjoy looking at everything in front of me to figure out how things fit and getting people motivated to solve complex problems as a team,” she explains.
As a high school student, Mattfeld created a plan for how the pieces of her life would come together. An education in finance and international relations from the Universidad Externado de Colombia would frame all that was to come. Soon, however, she discovered her plan’s missing piece: English, the global language of business.
While the young Latina could read and write fairly well, she needed fluency to transfer to an American university or gain an advantage upon entering the job market. Thus, she signed up for an exchange program and traveled to meet her host family in Calgary, Canada.
Like most exchange students, Mattfeld devoted herself to adapting to a new culture and learning a second language. But her plans shifted thanks to a wedding she attended in Spokane, Washington. That’s where she met and became smitten with a young American man. “I eventually told him I liked him a lot but didn’t want anything to stand in the way of my career goals,” she recalls.
When the couple returned to Bogotá so Mattfeld could finish her university studies, he proposed and she accepted. The newlyweds intended to stay in South America, but an early pregnancy changed their plans and Mattfeld transferred to Montana State University (MSU).
“I enjoy looking at everything in front of me to figure out how things fit and getting people motivated to solve complex problems as a team.”
Sandra Mattfeld
Going from a metropolis of eight million people near the equator to a town of sixty thousand near the northern Rocky Mountains required a notable adjustment, but Mattfeld got some unexpected news that eased the transition: MSU accepted all her college credits, allowing her to earn a degree in business and technology on schedule.
Mattfeld traces her interest in business, technology, finance, energy, and the environment to her childhood. She remembers rationing electricity after droughts caused by El Niño dried up many of Colombia’s lakes feeding hydroelectric dams. “It made me sad to know that we had to ration electricity, despite our country being rich in natural resources,” she says. “As I got older, I developed a desire to study the subjects that would help me figure out how to help people and governments avoid experiences like that.”
As Mattfeld put the pieces of her professional life together, the big picture started to come into focus. Years later, she remains passionate about working in a space where business and energy issues intersect.
She is currently a vice president of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), petchems, and biofuels for petroleum refiner PBF Energy, a Fortune 150 company headquartered in New Jersey. In her role, she applies the expertise she’s gained in operations management, strategic planning, international economics, and market development to ensure PBF Energy creates value while serving customers and respecting the communities in which it operates.
Part of what attracted Mattfeld to PBF was the chance to quickly acquire new skills at the entrepreneurial, fast-moving company. “We encourage everyone to participate in the work we’re doing together because we need contributions from all voices,” she says. Mattfeld herself has held six roles in her thirteen years with the company. During that time, she handled all supply- and trade-related responsibilities, developed training programs, introduced new career paths, and helped PBF successfully build departmental infrastructures, while leading initiatives in times of rapid growth and transformation.
Her commitment to accessible and reliable energy partially stems from her experience traveling the world as a humanitarian relief volunteer and Christian missionary. Seeing drivers behind the wheels of LPG-powered cars in India and Africa strengthened her resolve to pursue creative solutions in the energy space. “LPG cars make sense in India based on their infrastructure and population growth. In fact, we want to help deliver the fuels that fit people’s situation, whether that is gasoline, LPG, or renewables,” she says. “There is still a place in the world for all types of energy sources, and the products we manufacture help provide the highest standards of living and mobility in history.”
To help supply those products, the United States shipped a record amount of crude oil and LPG in 2023 and is now a net exporter of petroleum. Meanwhile, PBF continues to invest in hydrocarbon and renewable production while making energy independence and sustainability top priorities.
To do that, PBF operates six refineries in Delaware, New Jersey, Louisiana, Ohio, and California. Working from the company’s headquarters in New Jersey, Mattfeld travels to refineries and satellite offices, including one for a wholly owned subsidiary in Calgary. When she walks the streets of Alberta, she thinks back to her early experiences as a foreign exchange student there. “Calgary was an important place in my life, where people welcomed me and showed me patience when I needed support,” she explains. “Now I do the same wherever I can.”
While Calgary holds special significance for Mattfeld, she knows that was one place in time, one piece of the puzzle. Since then, her family, career, faith, friends, team, hobbies, and goals all came together to create the full picture of a life spent pursuing personal, professional, and organizational growth.
Every piece of the puzzle that has fallen into place for Mattfeld has helped shape her journey—a journey that continues to evolve in today’s ever-changing, ever more complex energy environment. By staying true to her values that have guided her along the way, including maintaining her work-life balance, she has experienced one success after another and looks forward to leading her team through the challenges and opportunities to come because the puzzle is a work in progress.
PBF is a long standing customer of Centennial Energy, and I have had the pleasure of working with Sandra Mattfeld for roughly the past 8 years. Over that time, the business relationship has grown and strengthened under Sandra’s leadership. Her honest and hard working style has been key to her rise from scheduling to her current position of Vice President. Sandra’s care and attention to the needs and position of PBF in the market place comes through every day, which makes it no surprise how and why she has achieved her position in a fairly rapid manner.
