Carla Frisch is the Executive Director of Energy Innovation, where she guides the organization’s policy, modeling, and communications programs.
Carla previously served as head of policy at the United States Department of Energy during the Biden and Trump administrations, where she reported directly to the Secretary of Energy and managed a team of 80. There she led the Office of Policy and shaped major decisions on a $100 billion investment portfolio, including research, demonstration projects, loans, tax credits, and more. While at the DOE Carla regularly briefed the highest-level U.S. and global officials, for example in the White House Situation room. During her tenure she served in various DOE leadership roles across five administrations, both as a policymaker and an advisor to policymakers. Carla remains involved with federal issues, currently serving on the board of the DOE Alumni Network.
She received the Secretary of Energy’s Achievement Award and has been recognized as a GreenBiz Climate Hero. Carla also led the U.S program at RMI, with a focus on state, city, and business energy opportunities. She is a recognized expert in energy technologies and systems, and she shares that knowledge through board service. Carla also has extensive experience in tax credit design and implementation, energy manufacturing and supply chain issues, and pathways for emissions reductions. She has been an author on the U.S. National Climate Assessment, the Quadrennial Energy Review, and journal articles. Carla also has extensive experience advising policymakers at all levels of government, across multiple nations, including through testimony to the U.S. Congress and keynote speeches on the global stage.
She taught graduate coursework as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University. She holds a master’s from Duke University’s Nicholas School, specializing in energy economics, and a bachelor’s from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.