Julie Cerqueira

Julie Cerqueira joined NRDC as chief program officer in May 2025 at a pivotal moment for the environmental movement and for NRDC’s leadership role as the largest, most influential environmental organization in the country. As a member of the leadership team, Cerqueira will help drive strategy, fundraise, and manage the organization’s key programs, namely: Climate & Energy, Environmental Health, Nature, Green Finance, and International.

Cerqueira has served in three Democratic and Republican administrations, most recently as principal deputy assistant secretary of international affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy.  In this role, she advised the secretary of energy and oversaw much of the department’s international collaborations.Cerqueira has chaired numerous initiatives, most notably the 24-country mission innovation, where she delivered a new strategic vision, the first joint ministerial statement, and a revamped institutional framework to fast-track clean energy innovation. 

Among other achievements, Cerqueira mobilized $94 billion for clean energy technology demonstrations, executed a 4,000-person ministerial conference, and led the adoption of gender equity mandates in the International Energy Agency. She also oversaw the secretary's flagship global initiative that has delivered 20-plus climate policies in emerging markets and was on track to mobilize $10 billion in financing.

A scientist by training, Cerqueira served as senior advisor to the special envoy for climate change at the U.S. Department of State. In this role, she established strategic partnerships such as the U.S.–Brazil Climate Change Working Group, steered the 50-country Climate and Clean Air Coalition, and led the climate pillar of the U.S. chairmanship of the Arctic Council, delivering several first efforts including a regional black carbon pollution goal.

In between her federal service, Cerqueira was the inaugural executive director of the U.S. Climate Alliance, building the nascent organization into a bipartisan coalition of 25 governors working together to advance the most ambitious state climate agenda at the time. Under her leadership, the alliance grew to 35 climate experts in the secretariat and working in governors’ offices. Cerqueira helped establish several work streams under which more than 500 state officials collaborated and was responsible for a 20-fold increase in fundraising—establishing the alliance as a powerful, nationally renowned coalition.

Cerqueira's earlier environmental roles include the Center for Clean Air Policy, the American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia, and as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines, among others. She holds a master’s degree in international political economy from Fordham University and bachelor’s degrees in biotechnology and environmental policy from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She is based in NRDC's Washington, D.C., office.