Briain Deese is a nationally-recognized economic and clean energy expert, who has worked at the center of several historic undertakings, from restructuring the American auto industry to driving the U.S.’s successful effort to combat climate change and secure the Paris Climate Agreement. Most recently, Mr. Deese served as Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama with responsibility for executing the Obama Administration’s energy, climate and conservation strategies, and advising the President on a range of domestic and international issues. Mr. Deese played a central role in negotiating the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and directing the United States’s engagement with China, India, and other major economies on climate issues. Mr. Deese also oversaw the Administration’s domestic energy and climate policies including investments in clean energy, and land and water conservation. Previously, in his role as Acting Director and Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Deese managed the creation of the U.S. Federal Budget and drove reforms to improve the efficacy of government programs and services. He helped lead the White House’s work with Congress to craft the first full, bipartisan omnibus Budget in more than twenty years, and was the principal negotiator of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 which replaced sequestration with a more sustainable framework for defense and nondefense discretionary spending. From 2009 to 2013, Mr. Deese held a number of roles, including Deputy Director, with the National Economic Council that saw him coordinate policy development on economic issues including financial regulation, housing, energy, and manufacturing. In 2009, Mr. Deese was a senior member of the team that led the restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler. Deese helped negotiate with company management, investors, and other industry stakeholders to reach a successful resolution that laid the groundwork for the resurgence of the American automotive industry.Before serving in government, Mr. Deese was a policy analyst at the Center for American Progress, where his work centered on fiscal policy, international trade, and globalization. In 2002, Mr. Deese helped to found the Center for Global Development, where he co-wrote its first major publication, Delivering on Debt Relief and published articles on U.S. foreign assistance, international AIDS policy and economic reform in developing countries. Mr. Deese received a J.D. from Yale Law School, and received his B.A., summa cum laude, from Middlebury College. As a Senior Fellow, his faculty sponsor is Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor of Harvard University.