Jennifer Granholm is an American lawyer, educator, author and politician who served most recently as the 16th United States Secretary of Energy, and previously as the two-term governor of Michigan.
As governor, she spearheaded Michigan’s economic recovery after the Great Recession by diversifying the state’s economy to focus on clean energy and revitalizing the auto industry to build electric vehicles.
As Secretary of Energy (2021-2025), Granholm restructured the U.S. Department of Energy to focus on research and development of advanced clean energy solutions and, importantly, deployment of zero-carbon technologies. She oversaw $200 billion of U.S. DOE investments into companies and projects to accelerate the clean energy transition. During her tenure as Secretary, thanks to the policies and laws that she helped to shape, the country saw record deployment of clean energy — adding the equivalent of nearly 30 Hoover Dams of zero-carbon energy to the nation’s electricity grid in 2024, more than twice as much solar power deployed as ever before.
During her tenure as Secretary, DOE with its 110,000 employees was ranked among the Top 10 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government. Granholm was named in 2024 to the Time 100 Most Influential People list, and Forbes’ list of Top Climate Leaders.
As the CEO of Granholm Energy, LLC she currently serves on the board of Edison International, and as a Senior Advisor to The DGA Group working with businesses and organizations on clean energy solutions.