Mary MacPherson

With over a decade of experience in building energy efficiency and seven years focused on equitable workforce development, Mary joined NEEP in September 2025 as a Senior Manager on the Policy and Programs Team. In this role, she advances state decarbonization strategies with partners across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, manages research projects on energy efficiency and electrification, and helps oversee NEEP’s state energy office working group.

Previously, Mary worked at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she designed and managed national energy efficiency workforce development programs and led her team’s efforts to maximize community benefits for grantees. Before her federal service, she spent eight years at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, conducting research and technical assistance on state policies, inclusive clean energy workforce development, and rural energy efficiency.

Mary holds a B.S. in Public Policy from Georgia Tech and is an alumna of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute fellowship program.  

Q: If you could invite any three people to dinner, who would they be?

A:  My late Grandma (Oma) Sigrid, Leslie Knope, and Yvon Chouinard.

Q: What book is currently on your nightstand?

A: Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility” by Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua

Q: If you weren’t working at NEEP, what other job would you have?

A: In another world, I would manage a refugio for backpackers on the W Trek in Torres del Paine (Patagonia), Chile. I would bake fresh pastries every morning for backpackers and hike with my husband during the day. In the evenings, we would eat dinner with people from around the world while watching the sunset over glacier-capped mountains.