About Us

Ms. Laura Gillam has over twenty years of legislative and executive branch experience
shaping U.S. laws and policies that support clean air, clean energy, and climate solutions.
 

From 2023 to January 2025, Ms. Gillam was the Associate Director for Climate, Energy, Environment, and Science Programs at the Office of Management and Budget within the White House. She directed a team of 60+ experts managing policy, budget formulation, and implementation across 20+ federal agencies, including DOE, EPA, USDA, Interior, NASA, Army Corps of Engineers, and NSF. Overseeing a $350 billion portfolio, she helped advance landmark laws such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and CHIPS and Science Act, delivering billions in loans, grants, and other support critical for domestic economic development, job creation, clean energy, and climate action. She led the execution of the President’s Budget chapter on fiscal risks from climate change. Ms. Gillam also co-led the team responsible for carrying out the national effort for an integrated Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Measurement, Monitoring, and Information System, enhancing GHG monitoring efficiency. Her interagency leadership was also instrumental in co-leading the implementation of the President's Justice40 Initiative and spearheading efforts to advance resilient, affordable housing for 15,000+ federal employees. She also represented OMB in senior forums on nuclear, fusion, hydrogen, methane, and climate resilience.

 

​Prior to her White House role, Ms. Gillam spent over 15 years in the U.S. Senate as senior staff to Senator Tom Carper (D-DE). On the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee—where Senator Carper served as Ranking Member and Chairman—she managed the climate, clean air, and energy portfolio. Ms. Gillam was also responsible for advancing Senator Carper’s clean energy tax initiatives before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. Her expertise in policy negotiation and coalition-building contributed to the passage of landmark climate, clean energy, and energy tax laws, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and American Innovation and Manufacturing Act. Through her work, Ms. Gillam helped shape critical EPA climate and clean air programs such as the phase down of HFCs, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, the Methane Emissions Reduction Program, the Clean School Bus Program, and Diesel Emissions Reduction Act to name a few. She also played a key role in shaping energy tax policy, including credits for clean hydrogen, EV infrastructure, offshore wind, waste heat to power, geothermal energy and direct pay.

 

Before joining the Senate, Ms. Gillam served as a Presidential Management Fellow at the Department of Agriculture, with additional roles at the State Department’s Office of Global Change and the EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards. She began her federal career working for the people of Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

 

She has her Master of Science in Public Health from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and B.S. from University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Ms. Gillam is a military spouse and mother of two.