PPL Corporation announced that its board of directors has appointed Wendy E. Stark senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. Stark will replace Joanne Raphael.

Raphael will become executive vice president and chief legal officer until she retires on June 1.

In her new role, Stark will lead PPL’s legal department and oversee the company’s ethics and compliance program. She brings more than two decades of legal experience to PPL, with the vast majority of her service in the public utility sector. She joins PPL from Pepco Holdings LLC, where she was senior vice president, Legal and Regulatory Strategy, and general counsel.

Stark began her legal career in labor and employment law, representing clients first at Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP and then at Baker & Hostetler LLP, both in Cleveland. In 2002, she joined FirstEnergy Corporation’s legal team as an attorney and spent a decade with the company, her last seven years as associate general counsel before joining Pepco.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and political science from Kalamazoo College in Michigan and earned her juris doctor from University of Michigan Law School.

Throughout her career, she has served on numerous nonprofit and industry boards, including the Girl Scouts Council of the Nation’s Capital, GridWise Alliance, the New Jersey Utilities Association, Homeless Children’s Playtime Project in Washington, D.C., and the Energy Association of Pennsylvania.