Award to be conferred at RPA’s annual Celebrate the Tri-State Gala October 17th, 2024
NEW YORK, NY — August 5, 2024 — Each fall Regional Plan Association (RPA) hosts the Celebrate the Tri-State benefit, bringing together civic, business, public and elected leaders to recognize three outstanding contributors to the region’s public realm and support RPA’s work. The Making It Happen award is presented to a dynamic public servant and leader who is driving change to build a brighter future for our region. This year’s recipient is Doreen M. Harris, President and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), for her relentless leadership in driving the state’s clean energy evolution.
Honoring Doreen M. Harris, President and CEO, NYSERDA
Doreen M. Harris, President and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is one of the most important leaders of the clean energy transition. President Harris has been instrumental in helping to implement programs and projects in support of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, or Climate Act. She is widely recognized as having laid the groundwork for the launch of the offshore wind industry in New York State.
Doreen M. Harris, President and CEO of NYSERDA, will receive this year’s Making It Happen award at RPA’s Celebrate the Tri-State benefit.
Provided.
President Harris joined NYSERDA in 2010 and served as Vice President of Large-Scale Renewables, where she spearheaded the strategic development of New York’s land based renewable and offshore wind resource, including the execution of the State’s offshore wind master plan. Prior to her career in public service, President Harris spent more than a decade in the private sector, serving in management and engineering roles.
President Harris co-chaired the New York State Climate Action Council, which in December 2022 finalized the State’s Scoping Plan. She serves on the boards of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC), Alliance to Save Energy, National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, and NY BEST; and is a member of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network Leadership Council and an ambassador for the Clean Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) Initiative.
Leading the State’s Clean Energy Evolution
NYSERDA is leading New York’s efforts to achieve the aggressive goals of the Climate Act, for example, by charting the course to scale electrification of transportation and buildings while maximizing benefits for disadvantaged communities. To achieve these goals, President Harris is leading NYSERDA’s role to advance the policy frameworks, clean energy technologies and solutions that help New York advance toward the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by no less than 85 percent by 2050 while creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying clean-energy jobs and building an equitable economy.
Under President Harris’s direction, NYSERDA is making significant progress toward New York’s clean energy initiatives including advancing infrastructure and innovation, large-scale and distributed renewables, building decarbonization, energy storage, transportation electrification, clean fuels, transmission and resiliency.
RPA is honoring President Harris for her outstanding leadership of New York State’s clean energy transition and her commitment to advancing equity and inclusivity, jobs and economic development, public health, and community resilience while developing a cleaner, more reliable, and affordable energy system for all New Yorkers.
To hear more about President Harris and NYSERDA’s work earning her RPA’s Making It Happen award, please join us at our gala, Celebrating the Tri-State on October 17th, 2024. Tickets and as well as more information can be found here.
Past recipients of the RPA Making It Happen award include:
- Janno Lieber, CEO & Chair, MTA, presented by Tom Wright, President and CEO, RPA
- Hope Knight, Empire Development Corporation, presented by Carla Harris, Vice Chair of Wealth Management, Morgan Stanley
- Polly Trottenberg, New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner
- Nancy Rauch Douzinas, Rauch Foundation President, presented by Pat Foye, CEO & Chair, MTA
- Janette Sadik-Khan, Principal, Bloomberg Associates, presented by Michael Kimmelman, Architecture Critic, New York Times
