Karen Alderman Harbert

Karen Alderman Harbert, President and Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy

As President and CEO for the U.S. Chapter of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, Karen Alderman Harbert leads the Institute’s efforts to build support for meaningful energy action nationally and internationally through policy development, education, and advocacy.

The Institute’s mission is to unify policymakers, regulators, business leaders, and the American public behind a common sense energy strategy to help keep our country secure, prosperous and clean.

Under Harbert’s leadership, the Energy Institute has evolved into a premier national and increasingly international organization truly dedicated to advancing a constructive energy agenda and transforming the energy and environmental debate into a widely supported plan of action. Harbert frequently testifies in front of Congress and provides analysis to the media, policymakers and industry leaders.

Harbert is the former assistant secretary for policy and international affairs at the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE). She was the primary policy advisor to the Secretary and to the department on domestic and international energy issues, including climate change, fossil, nuclear, and renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Harbert was also a member of DOE’s Executive Board as well as the Credit Review Board. She negotiated and managed bilateral and multilateral agreements with other countries and international agencies to further the nation’s energy security and research and development objectives.

In the private sector, Harbert worked for a developer of international infrastructure and power projects valued at more than $9 billion in countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. Harbert gained experience on issues associated with economic reform and privatization through earlier positions at the USAID, the Organization of American States, and the International Republican Institute.