Helaina R. Matza is the Deputy Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy. In this role, she supports the implementation of the President’s signature G7+ initiative, the Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII). She formerly served as the Director of Energy Transformation in the Bureau of Energy Resources at the Department of State, where she led strategic engagement on clean energy and power sector issues, including the Department’s multilateral effort focused on securing clean energy supply chains. Helaina has also served as Director of Climate and Energy at the National Security Council in the White House.
Helaina has spent the past ten years at the Department of State developing and managing multi-million-dollar innovative initiatives related to energy, climate change and environmental issues. She has served in a diverse set of roles, including as a lead sustainability advisor developing the Department’s global air quality monitoring program, leading several Bureau of Energy Resources’ policy priorities overseas on clean energy supply chains, and as a lead negotiator on the U.S. delegation at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Before joining the Department of State, she held positions focused on philanthropic engagement and trade promotion. Helaina holds an M.P.A. focused on global energy management and a B.A. in International Affairs, both from The George Washington University.