Karen Harbert

Karen Alderman Harbert is president and chief executive officer of the American Gas Association. Founded in 1918, AGA represents more than 200 local energy utility companies that deliver natural gas to 178 million Americans nationwide.

Prior to joining AGA, she was president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute (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 provides policy recommendations to secure our nation’s energy future and create millions of jobs, billions of dollars in revenue, and trillions of dollars of private investment. Under Harbert’s leadership, the Energy Institute established the groundbreaking Index of Energy Security Risk and the International Index of Energy Security Risk, the first tools to quantify America’s energy security on an annual basis. Harbert frequently testifies in front of Congress and provides analysis to the media, policymakers, and industry leaders.

Harbert is an appointed member of the National Petroleum Council, an industry advisory organization that advises the Secretary of Energy on issues related to the oil and gas industries. 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 secretary of energy and to the department on domestic and international energy issues. She negotiated and managed bilateral and multilateral agreements with other countries and also served as vice chairman of the International Energy Agency, which advises its 28 member nations on energy policy issues and orchestrates international responses to energy supply disruptions.

Prior to joining the DOE, Harbert was deputy assistant administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She had 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 international infrastructure and power projects valued at more than $9 billion in countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.

Harbert gained experience on issues associated with economic reform and privatization through earlier positions at the USAID, the Organization of American States, and the International Republican Institute. She received a degree in international policy studies and political science from Rice University in Houston, Texas.

Harbert resides in Washington, D.C., with her husband and two children.

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