by Franklin Holley At the Keystone Policy Center, we work with a steady hand through difficult issues, tough conversations, and with diverse, and sometimes divergent, stakeholders. It is our job to help our partners reach consensus on controversial and complex topics in agriculture, the environment, health and education. We don't often toot our own horn, [...]
Michael S. Regan was sworn in as the 16th Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency on March 11, 2021, becoming the first Black man and second person of color to lead the U.S. EPA.
Administrator Regan is a native of Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he developed a passion for the environment while hunting and fishing with his father and grandfather, and exploring the vast lands, waters, and inner Coastal Plain of North Carolina.
As the son of two public servants – his mother, a nurse for nearly 30 years, and his father, a retired Colonel with the North Carolina National Guard, Vietnam veteran, and former agricultural extension agent – Michael Regan went on to follow in his parents’ footsteps and pursue a life of public service.
Prior to his nomination as EPA Administrator, Michael Regan served as the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
As Secretary, he spearheaded the development and implementation of North Carolina’s seminal plan to address climate change and transition the state to a clean energy economy. Under his leadership, he secured the largest coal ash clean-up in United States history. He led complex negotiations regarding the clean-up of the Cape Fear River, which had been contaminated for years by the toxic chemicals per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS). In addition, he established North Carolina’s first-of-its-kind Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory board to better align social inequities, environmental protection, and community empowerment.
Previously, Administrator Regan served as Associate Vice President of U.S. Climate and Energy, and as Southeast Regional Director of the Environmental Defense Fund where he convened energy companies, business leaders, environmental and industry groups, and elected officials across the country to achieve pragmatic solutions to the climate crisis.
He began his career with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, eventually becoming a national program manager responsible for designing strategic solutions with industry and corporate stakeholders to reduce air pollution, improve energy efficiency and address climate change.
Throughout his career, he has been guided by a belief in forming consensus, fostering an open dialogue rooted in respect for science and the law, and an understanding that environmental protection and economic prosperity go hand in hand.
Administrator Regan is a graduate of the North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, making him the first EPA Administrator to have graduated from a Historically Black College and University. He earned a master’s degree in Public Administration from The George Washington University.
He and his wife Melvina are proud parents to their son, Matthew.
Jennifer Griffin currently serves as the Chief National Security correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). She joined FNC in October 1999 as a Jerusalem-based correspondent. Prior to that she reported for 3 years from Moscow for FNC.
Since 2007, Griffin has reported daily from the Pentagon where she questions senior military leaders, travels to war zones with the Joint Chiefs and Secretaries of Defense, and reports on all aspects of the military and the current wars against ISIS and Al Qaeda.
Most recently, Griffin reported on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war live from the Pentagon. She extensively covered the Russian invasion of Ukraine, reporting live from Lviv and Kyiv, Ukraine, where she presented an exclusive sit-down interview with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. In April of 2022, she secured an exclusive interview with United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, which took place at Ramstein Air Base in Germany following his meeting with dozens of defense ministers on the war in Ukraine. Prior to traveling to Europe, Griffin spearheaded FNC’s Ukrainian war coverage stateside with around the clock updates from the Pentagon. In 2021, she led reporting surrounding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, notably grilling Pentagon Officials over their handling of the evacuation. Additionally, she covered the terror attack at Abbey Gate, including securing an interview with chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley.
Additionally, Griffin covered the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012, and the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011. She has secured major interviews with former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in Baghdad on the day the Iraq War ended in December 2011, an exclusive interview with General David Petraeus in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2010 when he took over as the top US commander there. Griffin also traveled with former Defense Secretary Robert Gates on multiple trips overseas from 2007 – 2011. She began her work at the Pentagon at the start of the “surge.”
During Griffin’s tenure at FNC, she has provided coverage from Israel. She provided on scene coverage of the Palestinian Intifada from 2000 – 2007 and was among the first reporters to arrive in the wake of the South-East Asia tsunami tragedy, reporting from Phuket and Khao Lak, Thailand. While based in Jerusalem, she reported on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, countless suicide bombings, military incursions, and failed peace deals. In 2000, she provided on-site coverage of Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, its withdrawal from the Gaza strip in 2005 and Yasser Arafat’s funeral. Also, Griffin is credited with conducting a rare and extensive interview with former Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon on his farm in 2009 before he lapsed into a coma.
Prior to joining FNC, Griffin covered the Middle East region for several American media organizations including National Public Radio and U.S. News & World Report. Previously, she reported for The Sowetan newspaper in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she covered Nelson Mandela’s prison release and numerous other historic moments in South Africa’s transition away from the apartheid regime.
A graduate of Harvard University in 1992, Griffin received a B.A. in comparative politics. Griffin played an integral role in the rescue of FNC’s state department correspondent Benjamin Hall. Her efforts were documented in Hall’s New York Times bestseller “Saved: A Reporter’s Mission to Make it Home.” In September 2022, Griffin received the Transatlantic Leadership Network’s “Freedom of the Media” Gold Medal for Public Service award. She is the co-author of the book, “This Burning Land: Lessons from the Frontlines of the Transformed Israeli- Palestinian Conflict,” which she wrote with her husband, Greg Myre, regarding their experience in Israel.
Jonathan Pershing is the Program Director of Environment at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. He leads a team of grantmakers focused on climate change in the United States, China, India, Europe, and Latin America, and conserving the North American West. Jonathan served as Hewlett’s Environment Program director from 2017 to 2021 and returned to lead the program in 2022.
From 2021 to 2022, Pershing supported Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry in advancing various international commitments over the past year. These include the conclusion of the Glasgow Climate Pact at the UN Climate Convention, adoption of a Global Methane Pledge by over 100 countries, a joint declaration between China and the U.S. on enhancing climate action, and a commitment by nations representing over half of the world’s economy to reduce their emissions to levels that will keep the warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius over the next decade.
Previously, Jonathan served as Special Envoy for Climate Change at the U.S. Department of State and lead U.S. negotiator to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. Jonathan played a key role in successfully negotiating landmark climate change deals with nations such as China, India, the European Union, Canada and Mexico. In this capacity—as well as in his earlier capacity as Deputy Special Envoy—he was instrumental in securing the 2015 Paris climate agreement, and subsequently, as senior international climate advisor to the White House and Secretary of State, was charged with overseeing its early implementation.
Prior to that, Jonathan served as the Senior Climate Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy and the Principal Deputy Director of the Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis at the Department of Energy. He was a key architect of the “Mission Innovation” commitment to double climate and clean energy research and development budgets around the world, and a major contributor to the first ever “Quadrennial Energy Review,” a deep assessment of U.S. energy policy.
Jonathan spent six years as the director of the Climate, Energy and Pollution Program at the World Resources Institute; five years as the Head of the Environment Division at the International Energy Agency in Paris; and for nearly a decade in the 1990s, he served the Science Advisor and Deputy Director of the Office of Global Change in the U.S. Department of State.
He holds a Ph.D. in geology and geophysics from the University of Minnesota. A scientist by training, he served as a lead author, review editor and contributor for reports of the Nobel-prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He has taught at the University of Minnesota and at American University, and he has published and lectured widely on climate and energy issues. In addition, he lived and worked for several years in Alaska in the energy and mining industry.
As a career executive focused on leading business transformation, Rob has played a critical role in strategically reshaping Anterix into a leader in private wireless broadband communications for critical infrastructure.
Rob joined Anterix’s predecessor, pdvWireless, as Chief Strategy Officer in 2015, where, together with Executive Chairman Morgan O’Brien, he helped to conceive and lead the execution of Anterix’s vision of transformative broadband connectivity for the modern grid. Throughout his tenure with the company—becoming Chief Operating Officer and later President, CEO, and Director in 2020—Rob has progressively shaped Anterix into a creator of utility-first solutions for the industry’s most pressing energy challenges, leveraging 900 MHz private wireless broadband networks.
At Anterix, Rob, with his team, has created a track record of strategic achievements. These include securing the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to enable broadband development in the 900 MHz band; developing Anterix’s innovative, scalable business model; building industry-wide partnerships and harnessing momentum to bring together pioneering utilities and more than 100 leading technology companies driving solutions that leverage 900 MHz broadband; and developing a game-winning leadership team to accomplish the company’s transformative broadband mission. Rob also pioneered the founding of the Utility Broadband Alliance, the industry-leading utility-led organization championing private broadband networks as a key enabler of the energy transformation.
Prior to joining Anterix, Rob served in key leadership roles where he helped to build breakthrough telecommunications and technology companies, including Unison Site Management, IDT Telecom, The Associated Group, and Nextel. Rob serves as a board member of the Keystone Energy Board and the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater MetroWest NJ. He is a native of Philadelphia and a graduate of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and The George Washington University School of Government & Business Administration.
Among his honors, Rob was shortlisted for the New Jersey Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2023 and is a recipient of the 2022 New Jersey Biz Digi-Tech Innovator Award.
Willie L. Phillips was named by President Biden to be Acting Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on January 3, 2023 and is serving a Commission term that ends June 30, 2026.
He most recently served as the Chairman of the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia, named to that role in 2018. He served on the Commission since 2014. He is an experienced regulatory attorney combining nearly 20 years of legal expertise in public and private practice. He has an extensive background in the areas of public utility regulation, bulk power system reliability, and corporate governance.
Prior to being appointed to the DCPSC, Mr. Phillips served as Assistant General Counsel for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), in Washington, D.C. Before joining NERC, he also worked for two law firms, where he advised clients on energy regulatory compliance and policy matters.
Mr. Phillips has also served on the boards of several organizations, including the board of directors for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and the Organization of PJM States (OPSI). He also has served as president of the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (MACRUC), and he has held leadership roles on several advisory councils, including the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Advisory Council.
Mr. Phillips has a Juris Doctor from Howard University School of Law, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Montevallo. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and two children.
Norah O’Donnell is the anchor and managing editor of the “CBS Evening News,” anchor of CBS News Election Specials, including primary, debate and election nights, and a “60 Minutes” contributing correspondent. O’Donnell is a multiple Emmy Award-winning journalist with more than two decades of experience covering the biggest stories in the world and conducting impactful, newsmaking interviews. She has covered six presidential elections and traveled around the globe to interview some of the world’s most important leaders, including six U.S. presidents.
Named anchor and managing editor of the “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell” in 2019, O’Donnell leads CBS News’ flagship broadcast from Washington, D.C., becoming the only network evening news anchor based in the nation’s capital. Previously, O’Donnell was co-host of “CBS This Morning” and a contributor to 60 Minutes. O’Donnell joined “CBS This Morning” as a co-host in July 2012. Prior to that, she served as CBS News’ chief White House correspondent covering the administration of President Barack Obama.
As the anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” O’Donnell has conducted interviews with newsmakers in Washington and beyond, including President Joe Biden’s first interview since taking office; an exclusive sit-down with Vice President Mike Pence on the killing of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani; an exclusive 60 Minutes interview with Dr. Rick Bright, the former top federal scientist following his whistleblower complaint about the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus; a live interview House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy during the insurrection of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021; an exclusive interview with a former staffer for New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo who alleged sexual harassment by the then-governor, and more. As anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” O’Donnell also covered the historic first summit between President Joe Biden and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Switzerland; anchored live from Surfside, Fla., hours after a deadly beachfront condo building collapse; and interviewed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and reported live from the Kennedy Space Center for the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch.
At CBS News, O’Donnell has sat down with some of the world’s most influential leaders. In September 2019, O’Donnell spent a week reporting in Saudi Arabia for 60 MINUTES where she interviewed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his first interview following the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. She also interviewed MBS in 2018. O’Donnell is the only western television journalist to have interviewed the Saudi Crown Prince twice. She has also interviewed South Korean President Moon Jae-in; the Duke of Sussex Prince Harry; Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai; and the Dalai Lama. She also covered the historic election of Pope Francis in Vatican City, as well as his first Apostolic Voyage to the United States. She has reported from the scenes of Hurricanes Dorian and Harvey; reported and anchored from the country’s largest migrant processing facility on the southern border; George Floyd’s memorial services in Minneapolis and Texas; mass shootings in Las Vegas, Annapolis, Maryland, and El Paso, Texas; and the Boston Marathon bombing.
O’Donnell led CBS News’ political coverage throughout the 2020 presidential election, the transition of presidential power, the new administration, and beyond. Over the course of the year, O’Donnell anchored CBS News’ top-rated coverage of the impeachment proceedings against then-president Donald Trump, moderated CBS News’ Democratic debate in Charleston, S.C., led CBS News’ 2020 Election Day coverage until a winner was named, and more. O’Donnell has reported extensively on the U.S. military, including launching “Profiles in Service,” a “CBS Evening News” series highlighting stories of veterans, members of the military and Americans from coast to coast who are giving back to their communities.
O’Donnell was awarded a prestigious 2022 duPont-Columbia Award and the Scripps Howard Award for Excellence in Broadcast National/International Coverage in 2021 for an exclusive, year-and-a-half long investigation into sexual assault in the U.S. military. This followed her Emmy-award winning reporting in 2018 on sexual assaults at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Her reporting on sexual assault at the Air Force Academy was also recognized by the prestigious White House Correspondents’ Association.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, O’Donnell spearheaded dogged reporting and offered compelling, newsmaking stories. Her work was recognized with two Headliner Awards. One in the Pandemic Coverage category for her exclusive interview with Dr. Rick Bright on the urgency of the unfolding COVID-19 crisis and how it was at odds with the administration’s view that the contagion was far less serious. O’Donnell also received the Headliner Award in Business and Consumer Reporting for her 60 MINUTES report on the front lines of automotive industry factories for Ford and GM as they pivot from making cars to COVID-19 PPE and ventilators in a rapid changeover not seen since World War II.
O’Donnell and the “CBS Evening News” was recognized with an Edward R. Murrow Award for ‘Best Newscast’ for its on-the-ground and exclusive coverage from the U.S.-Mexico border, including O’Donnell gaining first access inside migrant detention centers and her interview with Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan.
O’Donnell received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Breaking News Coverage for her contributions to CBS News’ coverage of George Floyd and the forces of change. O’Donnell was part of the CBS News team that received an Alfred I. DuPont Award for the Network’s coverage of the 2012 Newtown massacre. She has earned several Gracie Awards including being named Outstanding News Anchor in 2020 and Best National News On-Air Talent for the year 2018 and 2016. O’Donnell is a 2019 New York Women in Communications Matrix Award honoree. She also received the Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast of 2017 and was named Broadcaster of the Year by the New York State Broadcasters Association in 2014. Additionally, O’Donnell was awarded the Merriman Smith Memorial Award for excellence in presidential news coverage for her exclusive 60 MINUTES interview with then-Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, on his decision not to run for president in 2016.
Prior to joining CBS News, O’Donnell worked for more than a decade at NBC News, where she covered the Pentagon, Congress, and the White House. At NBC, she reported from the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, and received a second Sigma Delta Chi Award for Breaking News Coverage for a Dateline NBC story titled “D.C. In Crisis.” In the months following the attacks, she traveled extensively with then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, including on his first trip to Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks.
O’Donnell has covered every presidential election since 2000, including as NBC News’ White House correspondent in 2004 when she covered the campaigns of then-President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry. Prior to covering the White House, O’Donnell was NBC News congressional correspondent, reporting on the lead-up to the Iraq War. She began her career as a print reporter for Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, for which she covered the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and traveled the country covering congressional elections.
A firm believer in empowering women, O’Donnell sits on the board of directors of the International Women’s Media Foundation. At the “CBS Evening News,” O’Donnell also created and led a series of original reports called “Women and the Pandemic,” which offered an in-depth look at COVID-19’s long-lasting and disproportionate effect on women.
Born into a military family, O’Donnell grew up in San Antonio, Texas; Landstuhl, Germany; Seoul, South Korea and Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of Georgetown University and received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy as well as a Master of Arts in liberal studies. She is married to Geoff Tracy, a restaurateur in Washington, D.C. They have three children.
Jay Faison founded ClearPath in 2013. Prior to founding ClearPath, Jay was the founder, CEO and Chairman of SnapAV, the largest supplier in the custom audio video industry. SnapAV’s explosive growth won Jay the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award for the Southeast region. Jay sold SnapAV in order to pursue his passion for philanthropy.
Jay currently serves as the Chairman of the American Flood Coalition, is a member of the Nuclear Energy Advisory Council, and the American Energy Innovation Council. Jay was named by Politico Magazine as one of the top “Politico 50” ideas changing politics and the people behind them.
Duane Highley serves as CEO of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a not-for-profit power supply cooperative of 45 members, including 42 electric distribution cooperative and public power district members in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming. Tri-State and its members deliver reliable, affordable and responsible power to more than a million electricity consumers across nearly 200,000 square miles of the West.
Highley has served the electric cooperative movement for nearly four decades, and currently serves as co-chair of the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC), coordinating security efforts between electric utility CEOs and cabinet-level officials of the U.S. Government. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Keystone Policy Center, an independent, not-for-profit organization focused on finding lasting solutions to significant policy issues in energy, environment, education, health, and agriculture.
In addition to his service at ESCC and the Keystone Policy Center, Highley is engaged throughout the industry, and is well known for working tirelessly to bring together leaders with different backgrounds, views and opinions. He understands and appreciates the dynamics of competing forces and strives for win-win solutions, especially in times of great change.
Since joining Tri-State as CEO, Highley has driven real change at the cooperative through his ability to collaborate and innovate. With governance and direction provided by the Tri-State member-comprised Board of Directors, he is advancing a remarkably rapid clean energy transition to the benefit of Tri-State’s members and their communities across the West, while also demonstrating a path forward for other electric utilities.
Growing up and working on a farm in Illinois, Congressman Don Bacon learned first-hand how the value of hard work and commitment contributes to the success of a small business. He moved from the family farm to attend Northern Illinois University, from which he graduated with a Bachelors of Political Science in 1984, the same year he married Angie, the love of his life. They have three sons, one daughter, and six grandchildren. One year later, he began his military career by joining the U.S. Air Force and serving nearly 30 years, ultimately retiring as a Brigadier General.
During his career in the Air Force, Congressman Bacon specialized in electronic warfare, intelligence and reconnaissance. His career highlights include two tours as a Wing Commander, at Ramstein Airbase in Germany and Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska; group command at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona; squadron command in Arizona, and expeditionary squadron command in Iraq. In total, Rep. Bacon served 16 assignments including four deployments in the Middle East to include Iraq in 2007 to 2008 during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.
Congressman Bacon’s military decorations include the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, two Bronze Stars, two Legion of Merits, five Meritorious Service Medals, and the Aerial Achievement Medal. Additionally, he was selected as Europe’s top Air Force Wing Commander for his time at Ramstein Airbase, as well as recognized as a distinguished graduate of the Air Command and Staff College, Navigator-Electronic Warfare School, and Officer Intelligence School. Further, Congressman Bacon has earned two Masters Degrees, from the University of Phoenix in Arizona and the National War College in Washington D.C.
Upon his retirement from the Air Force in 2014, Congressman Bacon served as the military advisor to Congressman Jeff Fortenberry (NE-01), where he specialized in military affairs focusing on Offutt Air Force Base and the Nebraska National Guard. He also was an Assistant Professor at Bellevue University where he taught Undergraduate Leadership along with American Vision and Values (The Kirkpatrick Signature Series), until his 2016 election to Congress, representing Nebraska’s Second Congressional District.
Presently, Congressman Bacon serves on two committees within the House of Representatives: the House Armed Services Committee, and the House Agricultural Committee.