Kerry C. Duggan
Kerry C. Duggan is a nationally recognized policy leader, strategist, and corporate board director with over two decades of experience at the intersection of energy, environment, infrastructure, and place-based economic development. She is widely known for translating complex policy into "on-the-ground" reality.
In 2017, she founded ESP, a global strategic advisory firm that helps clients and coalitions navigate complex challenges through solutions that reduce risk and enhance resilience. She specializes in finding the path forward where economic growth and environmental stewardship meet.
Kerry’s career is anchored by service at the highest levels of the U.S. government. She served at the White House as an energy and environmental advisor to then-Vice President Joe Biden and as Deputy Director of President Obama’s Detroit Task Force. At the U.S. Department of Energy, she held several senior roles, including Liaison to the City of Detroit under Secretary Ernest Moniz and as Legislative, Regulatory & Urban affairs, and Stakeholder Engagement Director for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Her influence continued through her work on the Biden-Harris Transition Team and her appointment to the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) under Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
In the private sector, Kerry was a Partner at the firm of Hon. Tom Ridge. She currently serves on the corporate boards of Perma-Fix (NASDAQ: PESI) and BlueGreen Water Technologies, and the advisory boards of Arctaris Impact Investors and Commonweal Ventures. At the University of Michigan, she founded the SEAS Sustainability Clinic in Detroit and the Michigan Business Sustainability Roundtable. She also played a pivotal role in landing the nation’s first Apple Developer Academy in Detroit.
A three-time appointee of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to the Michigan Council on Climate Solutions and the Growing Michigan Together Council, Kerry also serves on the inaugural Detroit Women’s Commission.
A dynamic global speaker and facilitator, she has spoken at the World Economic Forum, the Milken Institute, and Aspen Ideas, and is a member of the U.S. State Department’s Global Speakers Bureau.
Crain’s Detroit Business named her to the prestigious “40 Under 40” in 2018 and their inaugural “Notable Leaders in Sustainability” lists.
Duggan is also a mom, film EP and angel investor.
She grew up in Michigan, played basketball at Detroit Country Day School, earned Division I basketball scholarships at St. John’s University and University of Vermont, where she earned her BS. She earned her M.S. from the University of Michigan’s SEAS, where she now serves on faculty.
She was the one coaches wanted on the court with seconds on the clock.
Not a lot has changed in that regard.
