Gina McCarthy brings 40+ years of service at the local, state, and federal levels of government on critical environmental issues, shaping policies on air quality, economic growth, equity, energy, transportation, and climate change among others. She most recently served as the nation’s first National Climate Advisor, advising President Joe Biden on domestic climate policy. She served his administration from January 2021 to September 2022, leading a whole-of-government strategy to integrate climate into all policies, practices, and rulemaking, and supporting the development and passage of the congressional action including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.
Prior to her White House appointment, Gina was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Natural Resources Defense Council, where she led more than 700 attorneys, scientists, advocates, and policy experts. She also served as a professor of the practice of public health in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment. In this capacity, Gina led the development of the school’s strategy to turn climate and health science into actions that promote a more sustainable and just world.
Earlier, Gina was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator from July 2013 to January 2017. She had previously served President Obama as Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, from 2009 to 2013.
Prior to her EPA appointment, Gina served as the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection after working in state government in a variety of environmental leadership roles in her home state of Massachusetts.