FP Climate Summit 2023

Ali Zaidi serves as Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor. In this role, he leads the White House Climate Policy Office, which coordinates policy development and President Biden’s all-of-government approach to tackle the climate crisis, create good-paying, union jobs, and advance environmental justice.  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.  Before his current role, he served as Deputy National Climate Advisor.   During his time in the Biden-Harris Administration, Zaidi has led on efforts to re-establish U.S. climate leadership, set a national target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52 percent by 2030; deliver robust executive actions, including regulatory, investment, and procurement-based initiatives; and secure the largest legislative wins on climate in U.S. history, through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.  Together these efforts have advanced the largest annual deployment of solar, wind, and batteries; brought together the U.S. auto sector around an all-electric future; tackled super-pollutants like methane and HFCs; bolstered domestic adaptation and resilience; and centered U.S. climate action around workers and communities, prioritizing good-paying union jobs and the critical work of environmental justice.  Zaidi joined the Biden-Harris Administration after serving as the state of New York’s Deputy Secretary for Energy and Environment and Chairman of Climate Policy and Finance, where he led the state's efforts on climate change — driving investment into infrastructure and innovation, empowering workers and communities, and boosting economic and environmental resilience.  Zaidi also taught graduate courses on technology policy and studied the fiscal and financial impacts of climate change as an adjunct professor at Stanford University.  During that time, Zaidi also co-founded Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy, a Stanford-coordinated initiative that equips sustainability-focused startups with pro bono legal services. Zaidi brings the cross-sector and multi-disciplinary experience needed to deliver a whole-of-government response to the climate crisis.  During the Obama-Biden Administration, Zaidi served as Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy, and Science for the Office of Management and Budget and as Deputy Director of Energy Policy for the Domestic Policy Council — helping to design and implement a wide range of domestic and international policies.  Zaidi has advised non-profits, including as a Trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council, and counseled the private sector, as an attorney who helped launch a sustainable investment practice. Zaidi immigrated from Pakistan and grew up outside Erie, Pennsylvania. He received an A.B. from Harvard University and J.D. from Georgetown University.

Gillian serves as the Chief Climate Officer and is responsible for directing and overseeing all climate and environment work across the agency. She also serves as Deputy Assistant Administrator, overseeing DDI’s Center for Environment, Energy, and Infrastructure and the Office of Environmental and Social Risk Management.   Ms. Caldwell has worked to protect human rights and the environment throughout her career. Prior to joining USAID, she served as the CEO of Global Witness, which has a focus on tackling climate change and deploys investigations into corruption and natural resource extraction to drive systems change worldwide. From 2007-2010, she launched and led 1Sky, a highly collaborative cross-sector campaign with over 600 allied organizations to pass legislation in the U.S. to address the climate crisis. Gillian also has extensive experience consulting in the areas of strategic planning and organizational development with over 70 non-profits, foundations, and universities.   Ms. Caldwell has a B.A. from Harvard University and a J.D. from Georgetown University, where she was recognized as a Public Interest Law Scholar. She has received a series of awards recognizing her work as a leading global Social Entrepreneur.

John Kotek is NEI’s Senior Vice President of Policy Development and Public Affairs. He is responsible for providing policy and public affairs leadership on financial, economic, tax, electricity market and environmental issues related to the nuclear energy industry. Kotek was appointed in January 2015 to the position of principal deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) and was nominated by President Obama in October 2015 to serve as assistant secretary for nuclear energy. In that role he was responsible for DOE’s research efforts on current and future nuclear energy systems, maintaining the government’s nuclear energy research infrastructure, establishing a path forward for the nation’s spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste management program and a host of other national priorities. Prior to his appointment, Kotek was the managing partner of the Boise office of Gallatin Public Affairs. He advised energy, natural resources and other clients facing complex communication and government relations challenges. From 2010-2012, Kotek served as staff director to the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, which recommended a new strategy for managing nuclear waste in the United States. He led the development of the commission’s final report to the Secretary of Energy, engaged in regular communications with congressional and White House staff and served as media spokesperson. From 2003-2006, Kotek was deputy manager of the DOE’s Idaho Operations Office. He was responsible for development and management of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) contract and interface with the INL cleanup effort. Before joining DOE in July 2003, Kotek worked for Argonne National Laboratory where he directed Argonne’s participation in the Generation IV technology road mapping project, an international effort focused on evaluating and developing a next-generation of nuclear energy systems. In 2002, Kotek was the American Nuclear Society’s Glenn T. Seaborg Congressional Fellow. He served in the Office of Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Kotek started his career with DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology. He held several positions during his nine years with DOE-NE, including associate director for technology, associate director for management and administration and chief of staff. Kotek holds a Bachelor of Science in nuclear engineering from the University of Illinois and a master of business administration from the University of Maryland.  

Maggie Lake is a veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering business, technology, politics, and international affairs. She started her career at Reuters, where she worked in both the New York and London bureaus covering economics and global finance. In 2001, she joined CNN International, where she served as a correspondent and anchor for the network’s flagship business shows. Over the course of her career, she has interviewed the world’s top CEOs, celebrities, and politicians and has been a consistent champion of economic inclusion and sustainable development. She has served as a weekly contributor for NPR and moderated events for the United Nations, World Bank, Council on Foreign Relations, and Global Citizen. She now runs the communications consultancy Maggie Lake Media and is a founding board member of the newly created Rutgers University Center for Women in Business.

Ravi Agrawal is the editor in chief of Foreign Policy, a role he assumed in November 2020 after two years as the magazine’s managing editor. Before joining FP, Agrawal worked at CNN for more than a decade in full-time roles spanning three continents, including as the network’s New Delhi bureau chief and correspondent. Agrawal has shared a Peabody Award and three Emmy nominations for his work as a TV producer, and his writing for FP was part of a series nominated for a 2020 National Magazine Award for columns and commentary. Agrawal is the author of India Connected: How the Smartphone Is Transforming the World’s Largest Democracy. He is a graduate of Harvard University. Agrawal hosts FP’s Global Reboot podcast and is a frequent commentator on world affairs on CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and the BBC.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced on 15 August 2022 the appointment of Simon Stiell of Grenada as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).  The appointment has been made after consultation with the Conference of Parties through its Bureau.  He will succeed Patricia Espinosa of Mexico to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her commitment and dedicated service to the Organization.  The Secretary-General also wishes to extend his appreciation to the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Ibrahim Thiaw, who will continue to serve as Acting Executive Secretary of UNFCCC until Mr. Stiell assumes this position.  Mr. Stiell, a true champion for formulating creative approaches for our collective global response to the climate crisis, brings to the position a unique skillset developed over a thirty-three year career, coupled with vast experience in bilateral, regional and multilateral affairs.  Mr. Stiell served as senior minister in the Government of Grenada from 2013 through June 2022, holding the portfolio of Minister for Climate Resilience and the Environment for five years.  He previously served as Minister for Education and Human Resource Development, Minister of State with responsibility for human resource development and the environment and as a Parliamentary Secretary within the Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry and Fisheries.  He also served as a member of Grenada’s Upper House of Parliament, the Senate, where he served as Leader of Government Business.  Prior to joining government, Mr. Stiell’s career spanned some fourteen years within the technology sector, holding senior executive positions in a number of industry leading companies, from Silicon Valley based technology start-ups to major corporations, including Nokia and GEC Plessey Telecommunications.  Mr. Stiell originally trained as an engineer at London Metropolitan University and College of North West London, and holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Westminster in the United Kingdom.