Stephanie Epner

Stephanie Epner is the Senior Director for Global Initiatives at the Climate Imperative Foundation and a member of the Advisory Board for the Center for Climate and Security, an institute of the Council on Strategic Risks.

Most recently, she served on the White House National Security Council (NSC) staff, where
Epner led the directorate responsible for coordinating the Biden Administration’s international climate and energy policy. Prior to that, she served as senior advisor to Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and as the climate and energy lead on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff. Epner also served as the co-lead for international climate and energy policy on the Biden-Harris Transition Team.

Before joining the Biden Administration, Epner was the founder and director of the Climate in Foreign Policy Project at the United Nations Foundation and a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She also held political appointments in the Obama Administration, serving in senior roles at the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Epner has a B.A. from Vanderbilt University and an M.A. from Princeton University.