Melanie Kenderdine is a principal of Energy Futures Initiative (EFI) and a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. She is also currently a Visiting Fellow at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC). Kenderdine served at the Department of Energy from May 2013–January 2017, as the Energy Counselor to the Secretary and concurrently as the Director of DOE’s Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis. She was responsible for analysis and policy development in DOE’s annual review of the Renewable Fuel Standard Program requirements, energy innovation, and climate change. She produced two installments of the Quadrennial Energy Review and helped conceive of and develop the Energy Security Principles adopted by G-7 leaders in 2014. As Energy Counselor to the Secretary, Kenderdine provided key strategic advice on a range of issues, including Mission Innovation, a 22-country+ EU initiative that supports transformational clean energy RD&D; North American grid integration and security; and the modernization of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
Prior to her service at DOE, Kenderdine helped to establish the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) and served as its Executive Director for six years. Kenderdine also started the C3E Symposium series, a joint MIT-DOE program to support the careers of women in clean energy with cash prizes; she still serves as a DOE C3E Ambassador. Before joining MITEI, Kenderdine served as the Vice President of Washington Operations for the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) from 2001 to 2007. From 1993 to 2001, Kenderdine was a political appointee in President Bill Clinton’s administration, where she served in several key posts at DOE, including Senior Policy Advisor to the Secretary, Director of the Office of Policy, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs.