Anna Siefken

Biography

Anna J. Siefken, LEED AP BD+C, has spent her career making the business case for energy efficiency, climatetech innovation, and building performance as a means to address the world’s most pressing energy challenges and the global urgency of climate change. On leave from Carnegie Mellon University, she is currently serving as Senior Advisor to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Technology Transitions, after nearly a year as Commercialization Executive to the same office. In 2023, she was appointed as Delegate for the United States to Mission Innovation’s Technical Advisory Committee with focus on Zero Emission Shipping and the Green Powered Future. She served on DOE’s International Affairs leadership team that brought the Global Clean Energy Action Forum (GCEAF) to Pittsburgh, PA, USA in 2022. In 2020, Anna was appointed as U.S. DOE Ambassador – Clean Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) by the Secretary of Energy.

Anna served as the inaugural Executive Director of The Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at CMU, which was designated among the “Top 10 Energy Elites” by the American Energy Society. She guided the Institute’s efforts to develop breakthrough technologies that will have meaningful impact and accelerate the transition to a sustainable, low carbon energy future. Anna worked extensively to develop Pittsburgh’s regional energy- and cleantech ecosystem. During her six year tenure, the start-ups that she supported captured more than $313M in follow-on funding. She co-created the University Energy Institute Collaborative, which includes leaders from 157 U.S.-based university-based energy institutes in a national collaborative network.

Prior to joining CMU in 2016, Anna was Pittsburgh 2030 District Director and VP of Strategic Engagement for one of the largest chapters of the U.S. Green Building Council and helped to frame their national governance. Prior to that role, she was a Principal at ICF, a global consulting firm with a strategic focus on energy transition, and Global Product Merchant for Energy and the Environment at The Home Depot SSC in Atlanta. Anna is a graduate of Duke University.