Anna J. Siefken

North America Policy & Markets Lead, The Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) Council

Ambassador

Anna J. Siefken, LEED AP BD+C, has spent her career making the business case for energy efficiency, climatetech innovation, and building performance to address the world’s most pressing energy challenges and the global urgency of climate change. Siefken is the North America Policy & Markets Lead at the Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) Council, where she guides the Secretariat's strategy and policy efforts for marketplace adoption of existing and emerging technologies in long-duration energy storage. Prior to this role, Siefken was Principal Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) within the Office of Infrastructure, overseeing initiatives that leveraged the U.S. federal government’s $630B portfolio-wide purchasing power towards decarbonizing its 350,000 buildings and electrifying over 600,000 fleet vehicles. She forged partnerships with more than 30 federal agencies and led key initiatives, including FEMP’s $290M AFFECT grant program, which represented $4.1B in energy-related investment potential.  

She also served as Senior Advisor and Commercialization Executive to DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), where she championed LDES commercialization by driving industry, manufacturing and start-up engagement towards the goal of cutting grid-scale energy storage costs by 90%. She created an innovative partnership between DOE, Edison Electric Institute, Electric Power Research Institute, and the LDES Council with specific focus on offtake, supply chain, and tech innovation. Siefken concurrently served as the appointed Delegate to represent the United States on Mission Innovation’s Technical Advisory Group (TAG) with oversight on Zero Emission Shipping, Industrial Decarbonization, and the Green Powered Future.

Prior to DOE, Siefken was the inaugural Executive Director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, which the American Energy Society designated as among the “Top 10 Energy Elites” at the end of her tenure. The researchers and start-ups that she supported captured more than $350M in follow-on investment and funding.

Before joining CMU in 2016, Siefken was Pittsburgh 2030 District Director and VP of Strategic Engagement for one of the nation’s largest chapters of the U.S. Green Building Council. She helped create the governance structure to launch the national 2030 Districts Network, which currently includes 24 global cities and 615M square feet of real estate pursuing and reporting against aggressive reduction goals. Prior to that role, she was a Principal and Officer at ICF, a global consulting firm with a strategic focus on decarbonization and the energy transition; and Global Product Merchant, Energy and the Environment at The Home Depot Store Support Center in Atlanta, GA. Siefken is a graduate of Duke University.