Zachary Schafer

Zachary Schafer is a Senior Policy Director at the Council on Competitiveness. Zach brings experience from government, consulting, and academia to bare on several of the Council’s signature initiatives, including the US Manufacturing Competitiveness Initiative and the American Energy and Manufacturing Competitiveness Partnership. In this capacity, Zach leads the development and implementation of dialogues and research to bring together experts from industry, academia, labor, and the government community to collaboratively address critical issues impacting national economic competitiveness, technology innovation, and job creation.

Prior to joining the Council, Zach worked as a Senior Consultant in Navigant Consulting’s energy practice, administering and implementing Federal energy efficiency programs for appliances and equipment. Zach also served at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, working primarily on national climate adaptation strategies and Federal water policy. Prior to returning to Washington, DC., Zach worked as a Policy Analyst at the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy, where his extensive research and publications focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy finance, energy resource and sustainability planning, federal energy management,  and the climate-energy-water nexus. In this capacity, Zach was instrumental in expanding the scope of the Sustainable Energy Utility model for energy services delivery.

Zach earned a Master’s degree in Energy and Environmental Policy, magna cum laude, from the University of Delaware, as well as a B.A. in Economics, History, and International Relations, also from the University of Delaware. Zach is a native of both the U.S. Virgin Islands and Maryland’s Eastern Shore.