Doreen Harris

President and Chief Executive Officer, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority

Ambassador

Doreen M. Harris was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) in April 2021, after serving as Acting President and CEO since June 2020. Harris is leading NYSERDA in advancing the clean energy policy frameworks, technologies, and solutions that help New York advance toward the goals established in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act: reducing greenhouse gas emissions by no less than 85% by 2050 while creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying clean-energy jobs and building an equitable economy. Harris joined NYSERDA in 2010 and served as Vice President of Large-Scale Renewables. In that position, she spearheaded the strategic development of New York’s land-based renewable and offshore wind resource, including the execution of the State’s offshore wind master plan. She was also instrumental in advancing the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefits Act, which is modernizing the siting of large-scale renewable energy projects. President Harris also co-chaired the New York State Climate Action Council, which in December 2022 finalized the State’s Scoping Plan.

Prior to her career in public service, Harris spent more than a decade in the private sector, serving in management and engineering roles at Alcoa Advanced Technologies, Optimation Technologies, and Global Water Technologies, Inc. She serves on the boards of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, Alliance to Save Energy, National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, NY CREATES, and NY BEST. She is also a member of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network Leadership Council.

Harris holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester and an MBA from the University at Albany, State University of New York.