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Leadership

Brian Anderson, Ph.D.
Executive Director, The Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization
Senior Advisor on Energy Communities, U.S. Department of Energy

Brian J. Anderson, Ph.D., serves as senior advisor to the Under Secretary for Infrastructure in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and is the executive director of the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization (Energy Communities IWG). A native and longtime West Virginian, Anderson brings extensive expertise and a network of contacts in regional innovation, technology advancements and workforce development for the fossil energy sector.

In his dual roles, Anderson offers technical advice and strategically leverages DOE’s resources and expertise — along with those of a nearly a dozen federal agencies — to reduce barriers, increase efficiencies and raise awareness about resources to drive billions of dollars in competitive funding opportunities and tax credits to coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities. Led by priorities set forth by workers and leaders in their respective local areas, such efforts are helping to drive economic revitalization work in Appalachia and across the nation. In the past three years, the Energy Communities IWG facilitated more than $54 billion in federal awards and loans to America’s energy communities. During this same period, the private sector announced investments of approximately $315 billion in fossil energy communities.

Anderson previously served as director of DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) from 2018 to 2023. In that role, he advanced NETL’s mission to enable domestic coal, natural gas and oil to economically power our nation’s homes, industries, businesses and transportation, while safeguarding our environment and strengthening America’s energy independence. He was also responsible for NETL’s project portfolio, including research and development (R&D) conducted through partnerships, cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs), financial assistance, and contractual arrangements with universities and the private sector. In 2021, he was recognized as the Federal Laboratory Consortium National Laboratory Director of the Year.

Prior to joining DOE, Anderson served as director of West Virginia University’s (WVU) Energy Institute, where he coordinated and promoted university-wide energy research in engineering, science, technology and policy. Anderson earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at WVU and his master’s and doctorate in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Briggs White, Ph.D.
Advisor to the Office of the Director, National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)
Deputy Executive Director, The Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization

[email protected]

Briggs White, Ph.D., serves as deputy executive director of the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization (Energy Communities IWG). He works with a nearly a dozen federal agencies to listen to the needs of energy community stakeholders and coordinate responsive actions, policy, communications and funding resources. He builds partnerships with academia, nonprofits, philanthropy, states and the private sector to catalyze investments that are responsive to local priorities. In the past three years, the Energy Communities IWG guided more than $54 billion in award selections to America’s energy communities. During this same period, the private sector announced investments of approximately $315 billion in energy communities. White played a central role in establishing a partnership with AmeriCorps to build local capacity in distressed energy communities.

White joined the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in 2007 and has served various roles in program and project management supporting the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM). Research and development (R&D) projects and programs that White led include coal and natural gas power generation, hydrogen, artificial intelligence, workforce, supply chain development, high-performance materials, water management, and energy storage.

Based out of NETL’s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, site, White worked at NETL’s Morgantown, West Virginia, site from 2007 to 2014. He holds degrees in materials science and engineering from Alfred University (B.S.), the University of Florida (M.S., Ph.D.) and the University of Rome (Ph.D.), with an emphasis on solid-state, high-temperature electrochemical devices.

Jennifer Granholm
Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy
Administrator, The Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization

Jennifer M. Granholm was sworn in as the 16th Secretary of Energy on February 25, 2021, becoming just the second woman to lead the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Secretary Granholm is leading lead DOE in helping America achieve President Biden’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 by advancing cutting-edge clean energy technologies, creating millions of good-paying union clean energy jobs, and building an equitable clean energy future. Secretary Granholm will also oversee DOE’s core missions of promoting American leadership in scientific discovery, maintaining the nuclear deterrent and reducing nuclear danger, and remediating the environmental harms caused by legacy defense programs.

Prior to becoming U.S. Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm was the first woman elected Governor of Michigan, serving two terms from 2003 to 2011.

As Governor, Jennifer Granholm faced economic downturns caused by the Great Recession and meltdown in the automotive and manufacturing sectors. She successfully led efforts to diversify the state’s economy, strengthen its auto industry, preserve the manufacturing sector, and add emerging sectors — such as clean energy — to Michigan’s economic portfolio. Today, one-third of all North American electric vehicle battery production takes place in Michigan, the state is one of the top five states for clean energy patents, and 126,000 Michiganders were employed in the clean energy sector prior to COVID-19.

Secretary Granholm was also the first woman elected Attorney General of Michigan and served as the state’s top law enforcement officer from 1998 to 2002.

After two terms as governor, Jennifer Granholm joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley as a Distinguished Professor of Practice in the Goldman School of Public Policy, focusing on the intersection of law, clean energy, manufacturing, policy, and industry. She also served as an advisor to the Clean Energy Program of the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Jennifer Granholm began her career in public service as a judicial clerk for Michigan's 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. She became a federal prosecutor in Detroit in 1990, and in 1994, she was appointed Wayne County Corporation Counsel.

Secretary Granholm, an immigrant from Canada, is an honors graduate of both the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She and her husband, Daniel G. Mulhern, have three children.

Lael Brainard
Director, National Economic Council
Co-Chair, The Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization

Lael Brainard, Ph.D., serves as the Director of the National Economic Council (NEC), advising President Biden on domestic and international economic policy. Prior to her appointment to the NEC, she served as Vice-Chair of the Federal Reserve. Dr. Brainard took office as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in June 2014 to fill an unexpired term ending January 31, 2026. Prior to her appointment to the Board, Dr. Brainard served as undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Treasury from 2010 to 2013 and counselor to the secretary of the Treasury in 2009.

From 2001 to 2008, she was vice president and the founding director of the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution. Dr. Brainard also previously served as deputy national economic adviser for President Clinton. From 1990 to 1996, she was assistant and associate professor of applied economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management.

Dr. Brainard received a BA with university honors from Wesleyan University in 1983. She received an MS and a Ph.D. in economics in 1989 from Harvard University, where she was awarded a National Science Foundation Fellowship. She is also the recipient of a White House Fellowship.

Ali Zaidi
Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor
Co-Chair, The Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization

Ali Zaidi is currently the Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor. Zaidi is a longtime advisor to President Biden, having provided counsel and leadership on climate policy development, legislation, and executive action from day one of the Administration and on the Biden presidential transition and campaign. Zaidi served in leadership roles for climate change and energy during the Obama-Biden Administration and as New York’s Chairman of Climate Policy and Finance and Deputy Secretary for Energy and Environment, where he led the state’s efforts on climate change and clean energy.

John Podesta
Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation
Co-Chair, The Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization

John Podesta serves as the Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation. He is the founder and chair of the Board of Directors for the Center for American Progress. Podesta also Chairs the board of ClimateWorks Foundation and serves on the Board of the Climate Jobs National Resource Center. Podesta served as counselor to President Barack Obama, where he was responsible for coordinating the administration’s climate policy and initiatives. In 2008, he served as co-chair of President Obama’s transition team. He was a member of the U.N. Secretary General’s High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Podesta previously served as White House chief of staff to President William J. Clinton. He chaired Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president in 2016.

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