WASHINGTON, D.C.-The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that Karen Alderman Harbert will join its senior management team as Executive Vice President and Managing Director for the Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy.  Ms. Harbert will begin her new position on March 3, 2008. 

 

"Karen brings a wealth of knowledge on energy issues critical to American business," said Chamber President and CEO Thomas Donohue. “She will apply her extensive experience, innovative thinking, and creativity to advance the Energy Institute’s mission, which includes achieving a broad-based consensus on both national and international energy policy.”

 

Currently Ms. Harbert is Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she designs and implements energy policy initiatives and oversees budget reviews for fossil, nuclear, and renewable energy and energy efficiency programs.  Her office is the primary policy advisor to the Secretary and the Department.  

 

"Karen will be a great addition to the Institute for 21st Century Energy and we are all pleased she has accepted this critical policy position," said its President and CEO, Gen. James Jones (Ret.). "She has broad national and international experience with regard to energy issues, is passionate about the critical need to find comprehensive solutions to our current challenges, and brings great credibility to our mission. In the near future, we will announce still other high-level additions to our policy and operations teams. Our program of work is aggressive and we are assembling the high quality team necessary to address the challenging issues we collectively face."

 

Among her varied experience, Ms. Harbert served as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Latin American and the Caribbean at the U.S. Agency for International Development.  In the private sector, she worked for a developer of international infrastructure and power projects in countries located in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America

 

Ms. Harbert received a degree in international policy studies and political science from Rice University in Houston, Texas.