Keynotes

Joseph hezir

Energy Futures Initiative

Joseph S. Hezir joined former Secretary of Energy Ernest J. Moniz and fellow Principal Melanie A. Kenderdine in founding the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to driving innovation in energy technology, policy and business models. He serves as the Managing Director as well as manages a broad range of major policy studies, including the EFI reports on commercial nuclear energy and national security nexus, expansion of the Loan Guarantee program to support energy infrastructure and Carbon Dioxide Removal program design. Mr. Hezir also holds a part time appointment as Professor of the Practice at the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University, advising on strategic directions and lecturing on energy policy.

From 2013 through January 2017, he served as Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Energy, leading a 200-person organization responsible for the $30 billion Department of Energy budget. He also served as a senior advisor to the Secretary on management organization and strategic initiatives. Prior to joining the Department of Energy, Mr. Hezir was senior member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative. From 1992 to 2014, Mr. Hezir co-founded and served as Managing Partner of the EOP Group, Inc. He also formed EOP Foundation and EOP Education, LLC, affiliated organizations providing public policy analysis and executive training programs. Mr. Hezir served for eighteen years (1974-1992) in positions of increasing responsibility at the White House Office of Management and Budget, rising to the level of senior career official responsible for federal energy, science and technology and space exploration policies and budgets. Mr. Hezir holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and M.S. from the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University.

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Jacqueline Patterson

NAACP

Jacqueline Patterson is the Senior Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program. Since 2007 Patterson has served as coordinator & co-founder of Women of Color United. Jacqui Patterson has worked as a researcher, program manager, coordinator, advocate and activist working on women‘s rights, violence against women, HIV&AIDS, racial justice, economic justice, and environmental and climate justice. Patterson served as a Senior Women’s Rights Policy Analyst for ActionAid where she integrated a women’s rights lens for the issues of food rights, macroeconomics, and climate change as well as the intersection of violence against women and HIV&AIDS. Previously, she served as Assistant Vice-President of HIV/AIDS Programs for IMA World Health providing management and technical assistance to medical facilities and programs in 23 countries in Africa and the Caribbean. Patterson served as the Outreach Project Associate for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Research Coordinator for Johns Hopkins University. She also served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Jamaica, West Indies.

Patterson holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves on the Steering Committee for Interfaith Moral Action on Climate, Advisory Board for Center for Earth Ethics as well as on the Boards of Directors for the Institute of the Black World, Center for Story Based Strategy, the American Society of Adaptation Professionals, Greenprint Partners, and the National Black Workers Center.