Katie Harkless

Senior Fellow

Katie Harkless is a senior fellow at the Kleinman Center where she focuses on advancing clean energy deployment, carbon management, and industrial decarbonization. Prior to this role, Katie served as a senior leader at the U.S. Department of Energy, overseeing the $6.3 billion Industrial Demonstrations Program under the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations. Her portfolio spanned major investments in first-of-a-kind clean hydrogen, carbon capture, and low-carbon manufacturing projects.

Katie brings two decades of experience across utilities, clean energy, and public service, including leadership roles in project and operations management, commercial strategy, and climate technology. She is committed to delivering measurable impact on the energy transition by systematically assessing risks and crafting enterprise-scale strategies that turn insight into action. In addition to her federal work, Katie has been a dedicated advocate for clean infrastructure development and policy innovation at the state and local level. She holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland and an MBA from Marymount University, and resides in the Washington, DC area.