Mary Sotos

Program Director, Federal Energy Management Program, Department of Energy

Mary Sotos is the Director of the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). She leads a team dedicated to helping federal agencies achieve sustainable facilities and fleets by assisting with federal-wide data collection and aggregation, developing reporting tools and technical assistance, and offering training and project funding.

Sotos previously served as a senior policy advisor with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, where she launched a revamped "Lead By Example" program to create new strategies to track and manage greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and water use across all state agencies. She also served as the agency's deputy commissioner for energy, directing the state's energy policies and programs. Sotos also worked at the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Program at the World Resources Institute, an international think tank, where she developed new global carbon accounting standards and tools used by thousands of organizations worldwide. Additionally, she partnered with corporate leaders to develop and advance new renewable energy strategies, tools, and policies to decarbonize the grid.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from St. Olaf College and completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Brussels, Belgium.

Andrew Mayock

Federal Chief Sustainability Officer, Council on Environmental Quality

As the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer, Andrew Mayock leads President Biden's efforts to improve the sustainability of the Federal government, including by helping Federal agencies prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change on their operations and services.

Andrew brings over 25 years of public and private sector experience to the Biden Administration, including service in the Obama and Clinton Administrations. In the Obama Administration, Andrew served as Deputy Director for Management and Associate Director for General Government Programs at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). At OMB, he led OMB's management offices and the President's Management Council with a focus on digital services, cybersecurity, acquisitions, financial management, personnel and performance management. As Associate Director for General Government Programs, he oversaw policy and budget for six cabinet agencies comprising $225 billion of the President's budget and covering over one million federal employees.

Prior to his OMB roles, Andrew served as the Deputy Vice President for Compact Operations for East and Southern Africa at the Millennium Challenge Corporation. He served as Executive Secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department from 2009-2010.

In the Clinton Administration from 1995-2000, Andrew worked at the White House and the U.S. Treasury Department. Andrew was a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton from 2003-2009 and McKinsey & Company from 2017-2020, where he focused on public sector programs.

During 2019–2020, Andrew served on the steering committee of the Climate 21 Project, which delivered advice for a coordinated, rapid-start, whole-of-government climate response.

Andrew received a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois, law degree from The George Washington University Law School, and a master in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Joe Bryan

Chief Sustainability Officer & Senior Advisor for Climate to the Secretary of Defense 

Joe Bryan serves as the Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Advisor for Climate to the Secretary of Defense.

Prior to his appointment, Joe Bryan was principal at a boutique consulting practice focused on clean energy technology and its intersection with national security. Joe previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy where he was responsible for policies relating to the Department’s installation and operational energy programs.

Earlier in his career, he led investigations for the Senate Armed Services Committee and served on the professional staffs of the Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence and Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Joe has consulted on energy policy in southern Africa and began his career working on electricity restructuring and state-level policies to encourage the growth of clean energy markets. He is a former Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center.

Randolph D. "Tex" Alles

Deputy Under Secretary for Management, Department of Homeland Security 

Randolph D. "Tex" Alles became the Deputy Under Secretary for Management in July 2019. In his role, Mr. Alles oversees Department-wide management and oversight for all support functions, such as Information Technology, budget and financial management, procurement, human capital, security, and asset management.

Mr. Alles previously held several leadership positions at the Department of Homeland Security. Most recently, he served as the 25th Director of the United States Secret Service from April 2017 to April 2019. As Director, he was responsible for the successful execution of the dual Investigative and Protective missions of the Secret Service. He led a diverse workforce, comprised of more than 7,000 Special Agents, Uniformed Division Officers, Technical Law Enforcement Officers, and administrative personnel.

He also held various positions in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), notably serving as Acting Deputy Commissioner, Acting Executive Assistant Commissioner of the Enterprise Services, and leading Air and Marine Operations as the Executive Assistant Commissioner.

Prior to joining the Department, Mr. Alles served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 35 years, retiring in 2011 as a Major General. Throughout his military service, he gained extensive experience in flight training, standardization, operations, quality assurance, logistics, and aviation maintenance.

His squadron (VMFA-312) was awarded the 1997 Robert M. Hanson Award for Marine Corps Fighter Attack Squadron of the Year. His military honors include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal with Oak Leaf cluster, the Legion of Merit with Combat V and Gold Star, the Meritorious Service Medal with Gold Star, the Air Medal with strike/flight numeral 8, and the Navy Commendation Medal with Gold Star.

Mr. Alles received his bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University and a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.

Jetta Wong

Senior Advisor on Climate Change to the Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration

Jetta Wong is the Senior Advisor on climate change to the Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration. At GSA she provides advice and assistance on all elements of the agency’s climate, energy, and sustainability programs and participates in key policy decisions, affecting the operations of GSA. Prior to her work at GSA Jetta worked as a consultant developing clean energy policies and programs that help commercialize new technologies. She was a Senior Fellow at the Center for Clean Energy Innovation at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation where she focused on U.S. competitiveness and the commercialization of technologies that reduce carbon emissions.

Jetta was a political appointee in the Obama Administration and worked at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she established the Office of Technology Transitions for the Department and served as its first director. Before OTT she was in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Before joining DOE, she worked for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Prior to that, she worked for the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI). Her career in energy started in Uzbekistan where she was a natural resources consultant. She holds a MPS in legislative affairs from George Washington University and a B.S. in natural resources and the environment from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Teresa Pohlman

Executive Director—Sustainability and Environmental Programs, Department of Homeland Security

Dr. Teresa R. Pohlman has over 25 years of extensive leadership experience managing all aspects of public and private sector environmental and infrastructure program and product development. Her background includes management positions with responsibility for $300 million to over $1 billion annual budgets for environmental, infrastructure, and facility maintenance programs.

At Headquarters Air Force, she was the Environmental Division Chief, and managed the Air Force’s $1 Billion environmental program, including cleanup, compliance, conservation, and pollution prevention, for all bases in the United States and overseas, including international bilateral agreements with Russia, Norway, Argentina, and Italy. She also served as an Air Force Regional Program Manager with the Air Force Base Conversion Agency, for a $300 million program concerned with base closure and disposal issues, closing five Air Force bases. While working for the Navy, she served at the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Headquarters as the Navy single point of contact for environmental base closure issues, She also worked at the Naval Coastal Systems Center in Panama City, Florida as the Project Manager for the Chemical Warfare Protective Dive Suit.

As the Tenant Activities Group Leader at the Pentagon Renovation Office (PRO), she was responsible for the strategic master planning for the entire Pentagon Renovation, other facilities on the Pentagon Reservation, and other geographically dispersed sites for alternate operations. She ensured that the strategic design and requirements for these projects were consistent across the Department of Defense, among the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and the other Defense agencies. These requirements integrated operations and maintenance considerations during construction, via the Design Process, where multiple stakeholders participated to ensure renovation and construction are accomplished without sacrificing mission continuity. In addition, she managed the safety and occupational health program for all projects in the Pentagon Renovation Office’s $3 billion program, including both renovation and new construction. She was also responsible for coordinating the overall implementation strategy to incorporate appropriate force protection projects, added to the Pentagon Renovation Program as a result of the September attacks, into the $1billion Pentagon renovation efforts. For their outstanding efforts in sustainable construction, her Team won the Presidential Award for Leadership in Federal Energy Management, one of five awarded in the federal government. In addition, she spearheaded the efforts for LEED certification of three Pentagon Renovation projects, the Metro Entrance Facility, the Pentagon Athletic Center, and the Remote Delivery Facility.

Prior to the Department of Defense, she worked for several defense contractors, and wrote Program Management Plans, Operational Specifications, and Quality Assurance Plans for research and development projects. She also performed and directed power spectral density, 2 moment of inertia, and stress analysis of a large Navy ship cargo transfer crane, and analyzed an inertial navigation system for shock and vibration effects. While working at Rockwell International and NASA, she managed and executed the installation and test of Orbiter Experiments on the Space Shuttle, for the first three flights of the Columbia.

Currently, Dr. Pohlman is the Executive Director, Sustainability and Environmental Programs at Headquarters, Department of Homeland Security.

Robin Carnahan

Administrator, U.S. General Services Administration

Robin Carnahan currently serves as the Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).

As Administrator, she is working to empower GSA career professionals and build on the agency's efforts to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to the government and American people.

Prior to joining GSA, Carnahan served in executive and leadership roles in business, academia and government, including as the Secretary of State of Missouri (2005-2013), and founded and led the State and Local Government Practice at 18F, a tech consultancy, inside GSA (2016–2020). She's a nationally recognized government technology leader and in 2017 was named one of the federal government's "Top Women in Tech." Most recently, Carnahan was a Fellow at Georgetown University's Beeck Center where she co-founded the State Software Collaborative.

As Secretary of State, Carnahan also served as the state's Chief Election Official and State Securities Regulator and was responsible for providing in-person and online services to hundreds of thousands of customers. An essential part of her job was leading the office's technology modernization efforts across 7 operating divisions. She frequently speaks, writes and testifies about government innovation through smarter use of technology.

While previously at GSA, Carnahan helped federal, state and local government agencies improve customer facing digital services and cut costs. She focused on training and empowering non-technical executives on ways to reduce risk and deliver better results for the public by more effectively budgeting, procuring, implementing, and overseeing digital modernization projects.

Carnahan holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from William Jewell College and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Kathleen Hogan

Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Infrastructure, Department of Energy

Kathleen Hogan is a distinguished national leader in clean energy with a more than twenty-year career as a federal executive spanning the US EPA and DOE. She currently serves as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Infrastructure at DOE. Prior positions include the Acting Under Secretary for Science and Energy where she helped the Agency launch its Energy Earthshot program and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency at the DOE. There she oversaw a more than $600 million annual energy efficiency policy, program, and research portfolio and helped pursue national goals in advanced manufacturing, building energy technologies, low-income weatherization, appliance and equipment minimum standards, federal energy management, and building energy codes.

Earlier, she led an EPA division for more than ten years in the development and implementation of a suite of clean energy policies and programs to cost-effectively address global climate change. There she established a strong track record of addressing complex challenges in the energy and climate arena using voluntary partnership approaches, including leading the ENERGY STAR program to national prominence.

Kathleen has been recognized throughout her career for her leadership in public service, most recently with a Presidential Rank Award (2015), The Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals Career Achievement Award (2016), and a Secretary of Energy Exceptional Service Award (2018).

She holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering of the Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. in Chemistry from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.

Aftab Pureval

Mayor of Cincinnati

Aftab Pureval is the 70th Mayor of Cincinnati. He was raised in Southwest, Ohio, the son of first-generation Americans. He is making history as Cincinnati's first Asian American Mayor. As Mayor, he is committed to serving Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods. He has made equitable economic growth a top priority of his administration, as well as a comprehensive reform and improvement of public safety, affordable housing, and environmental action.

He served as Hamilton County Clerk of Courts from 2016 to 2021 and was the first Democrat to hold this office in over 100 years. During his tenure, he brought modern and professional reforms to the Clerk's office. He paid a living wage to all employees and become the first county officeholder in Ohio to offer comprehensive paid family leave. By ending nepotism, by cutting waste, and by making the office more professional, he saved taxpayers millions of dollars.

Mayor Aftab graduated from The Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati for law school. He resides in Clifton with his wife, Whitney, and their sons, Bodhi and Rami.

Sarah Adair

Director of Public Policy, Duke Energy

Sarah Adair is Director of Public Policy at Duke Energy. She has responsibility for federal policy related to electrification and emerging technologies in support of the company's net zero commitment. Prior to her current role, Sarah served as Environmental Policy and Affairs Director for Duke Energy in North Carolina and led the company's engagement on the state's clean energy plan. She joined Duke Energy in 2017 from Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, where she focused on climate and energy policy and electricity sector engagement. Sarah holds a Master of Environmental Management degree from Duke University and a Bachelor's degree from Northwestern University.