Ali Zaidi: Distinguished Public Policy Lecture

Ali Zaidi is a leading expert in energy and climate policy, innovation, and investment. From 2022 to 2025, he served as assistant to the president and U.S. national climate advisor, heading the White House Climate Policy Office and serving as former President Biden's top advisor on domestic climate policy. Playing a key role in designing, negotiating, and implementing major energy and climate laws—including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act—Zaidi led the United States' efforts to expand clean energy and manufacturing, reduce pollution, and support communities most impacted by climate change. Zaidi also served in the Obama administration as head of the natural resources, energy, and science divisions of the Office of Management and Budget and deputy director at the Domestic Policy Council. In these roles, he shaped a wide range of policies, including development of the president's Climate Action Plan and the Paris Climate Agreement. As New York’s chairman of climate policy and finance, he led the state's climate initiatives. He has also advised nonprofits; counseled the private sector as an attorney focused on fund formation, mergers and acquisitions, and governance; and co-founded Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy, a Stanford-coordinated initiative that equips sustainability-focused startups with pro bono legal services. Zaidi is currently a professor of practice, focused on innovation and applied science, at the University of Pennsylvania.

Registration is required to attend. Seating is limited, first come, first served. This is an in-person only event.

This event is jointly sponsored by Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research and the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy, with support from Kellogg's Abrams Climate Academy.

For more information about the event, please email [email protected] or call 847-491-3395. Information about Global Hub access can be found .

Host or Publisher Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University