Graham Richard is CEO of Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), a fast growing national association of businesses working toward a prosperous future based on secure, clean, affordable energy, and CEO of the Advanced Energy Economy Institute, AEE’s charitable and educational affiliate. He leads AEE’s federal and state policy work, business convenings, and membership development. He also directs the work of AEE’s State Coalition, which consists of 15 state and regional partner organizations active on state energy policy in 23 states across the country. Richard has spoken at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Conference, Future Energy Conference (Seattle), the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit, and the Aspen Institute, among other venues.
Richard served as mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana, from 2000 to 2008, following a 20-year career in business. As mayor he launched a number of initiatives to save energy and create jobs, and received national awards for leadership in high-speed broadband deployment. As a businessman, Richard was an investor in cogeneration and hydropower businesses. He also served in the Indiana State Senate, where he chaired the utilities committee. A former Brookings Institution Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Graham received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Indiana University and earned a B.A. from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.