Karen Harbert
President and Chief Executive Officer, American Gas Association
Karen Alderman Harbert is President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Gas Association. As the representative for more than 200 local energy utility companies that deliver natural gas throughout the world, Harbert frequently briefs Congress and provides analysis to the media, policymakers, and industry leaders.
Under her leadership, AGA doubled its activities in the states, created the first ever grassroots advocacy platform, and established firm relationships with the financial community including analysts, investors and bankers. AGA has been certified as “A Great Place to Work” and Harbert has been designated by Washingtonian magazine as a one of the top 500 influential people in DC and a top lobbyist by The Hill.
Prior to joining AGA, she was president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute. Under Harbert’s leadership, the Energy Institute evolved into a premier national and international organization dedicated to advancing a constructive energy agenda with the business community, policymakers and consumers. Harbert led the Energy Institute’s
development of its comprehensive Energy Works for US platform, which provided policy recommendations to secure our nation’s energy future and create millions of jobs, billions of dollars in revenue, and trillions of private investment.
Harbert is the former assistant secretary for policy and international affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). She was the primary policy adviser to the U.S. Secretary of Energy and to the department on domestic and international energy issues. She negotiated and managed international agreements and was vice chairman of the International Energy Agency, advising 28 member countries on energy policy and coordinating responses to supply disruptions. She led the response for DOE to the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita which ravaged the energy sector.
Prior to joining the DOE, Harbert was deputy assistant administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean at the U.S. Agency for International Development with oversight of programs in 11 countries, totaling more than $800 million and 1,000 employees. In the private sector, Harbert worked for over a decade developing, financing and constructing international infrastructure and power projects valued at more than $9 billion in countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.
She currently serves on a number of not-for-profit boards including: the American Gas Foundation, the United States Energy Association, Bryce Harlow Foundation and Jefferson Islands Club. Harbert is a
member of The Economic Club of Washington D.C. She received a degree in international policy studies and political science from Rice University in Houston, Texas and resides in Washington, D.C.
