Michael Shellenberger, President
Email: michael(at)thebreakthrough(dot)org
Michael is president and co-founder of Breakthrough Institute. He is co-author with Ted Nordhaus of Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility (Houghton Mifflin 2007). Time magazine called Break Through "prescient" for its prediction that pollution regulations could not transform the global energy economy, and Wired magazine said the book "could be the most important thing to happen to environmentalism since Silent Spring." The book received the 2007 Green Book Award and a starred review from Publishers' Weekly, which called the book "Convincing, resonant, and hopeful." In 2004, Shellenberger and Nordhaus generated a national debate in the pages of the New York Times and around the country when they published "The Death of Environmentalism," which argued against apocalyptic climate rhetoric and the regulation-centered policy approach in favor of an aspirational discourse and an investment and innovation-focused agenda. For their work, Shellenberger and Nordhaus were named Time magazine "Heroes of the Environment 2008". Breakthrough Institute's strategy to "Make Clean Energy Cheap" was the recent subject of a profile on NPR's "Morning Edition." In 2002, Michael co-founded the Apollo Alliance. Michael has written for The New York Times, the the Washington Post, The New Republic, the American Prospect, Salon, Harvard Law and Policy Review (pdf), Democracy, Glamour Magazine and other publications.

Ted Nordhaus, Chairman
Email: ted(at)thebreakthrough(dot)org
Ted Nordhaus is an author, researcher, and political strategist. He is a widely recognized authority on climate and energy policy and his work has deeply influenced a new generation of clean energy advocates. With co-author Michael Shellenberger, he published the seminal essay "The Death of Environmentalism" in 2004 and the controversial and critically acclaimed Break Through, Why We Can't Leave Saving The Planet To Environmentalists in 2007. Time Magazine named Ted a "Hero of the Environment" in 2008, and dubbed his work "prescient." His writings have appeared widely in magazines, newspapers, and journals including The New Republic, The American Prospect, Salon, and The New York Times among many others. Ted is a founder and chairman of the Breakthrough Institute, a political think tank based in Oakland, California that works at the nexus of climate, energy, and economic policy. He is also managing partner of American Environics, a research and consulting firm that brings cutting edge research and methodologies used to understand the evolution of American social values to progressive political projects.

Jesse Jenkins, Director of Energy and Climate Policy
Email: jesse(at)thebreakthrough(dot)org
Jesse is one of the country's leading energy and climate policy analysts and advocates, managing the Institute's analytical and policy development programs. Jesse is the lead author or co-author of: the Breakthrough policy framework, "Make Clean Energy Cheap;" the reports "Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant: Asian Nations Set to Dominate Clean Energy Race by Out-Investing United States" and "Jumpstarting a Clean Energy Revolution with a National Institutes of Energy"; the "National Energy Education Act" policy proposal; and widely cited analysis of the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act. Jesse has written for the San Francisco Chronicle, Baltimore Sun, Yale Environment 360, Forbes.com Grist.org, and HuffingtonPost.com. His research and analysis has been cited by Time, Newsweek, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Times, New York Times and other major media outlets. Jesse previously co-directed Breakthrough Generation, the Institute's youth leaders initiative, and prior to joining Breakthrough in June 2008, worked at the Renewable Northwest Project to advance the development of the Pacific Northwest's abundant renewable energy potential. He is founder and chief editor of WattHead - Energy News and Commentary and is a featured writer at theEnergyCollective.com. Jesse is a graduate of the Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon (magna cum laude), where he completed an interdisciplinary course of study in computer science, philosophy, political science & energy studies. Follow Jesse on Twitter: @JesseJenkins.

Nick Adams, Director of National Security and Counterterrorism Policy
Email: nick(at)thebreakthrough(dot)org
Nick Adams is Director of National Security and Counterterrorism Policy at the Breakthrough Institute and brings a distinctly social scientific approach to this role. He is currently working on his Ph.D. dissertation in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley -- a dissertation that will focus on effective responses to terrorist threats. In the course of his academic career, he has used a mix of comparative-historical, survey, and experimental methods to study topics ranging from the effects of state-level health policy on the failure of the Clintons' health initiative to the potential social psychological effect of a terrorist threat on the latest presidential election. Working with Breakthrough principals Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, Nick has also been instrumental in the design and analysis of experimental survey studies covering a range of topics from American attitudes toward immigration to their feelings about the use of extralegal security methods when the framing of those methods focuses on either their ineffectiveness or their immorality. In addition to this research, Nick has also taught courses in classical social theory, contemporary sociological theory, and introduction to sociology during his time at Berkeley. Coming from a family with a military background, Nick has lived in nearly a dozen U.S. states throughout his life, including SC, CO, FL, LA, TX, TN, ME, MO, GA, IL, and CA. He earned his B.A. (magna cum laude) in Philosophy and Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis.

Devon Swezey, Project Director
Email: devon(at)thebreakthrough(dot)org
Devon Swezey is Project Director for Breakthrough Institute where he works as an energy and climate policy analyst. Devon is a lead author of "Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant," a joint Breakthrough Institute-Information Technology and Innovation Foundation on international clean energy competitiveness in the U.S. and Asia, and "Strengthening Clean Energy Competitiveness: Opportunitie for America COMPETES Reauthorization." Devon wrote one of the first journal articles on the call for a new Apollo project on energy in 2005 for the inaugural issue of the Roosevelt Review, and his writing has appeared in Businessweek, Forbes.com, and the Huffington Post, among other outlets. In 2008, Devon worked as a field organizer for the Obama for America campaign, and he was a Breakthrough Generation Fellow in 2009. He received his bachelor's degree in international relations with a concentration in international political economy from Stanford University. He can be followed on twitter: @DevonSwezey.

Yael Borofsky, Staff Writer
Email: yael(at)thebreakthrough(dot)org
Yael is a Staff Writer at the Breakthrough Institute, contributing research, analysis, and commentary to the Breakthrough blog and Breakthrough Institute policy reports. She is a co-author of "Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant," a joint Breakthrough Institute-Information Technology and Innovation Foundation report. She has written for Forbes, Huffington Post, Grist, WattHead - Energy News and Commentary, The Energy Collective and CleanTechnica. In 2008 Yael completed a public policy program in Washington D.C. where she conducted research on the impact of political documentary on the agenda-setting of political elites and in 2009, she was a Breakthrough Generation fellow. Yael received her bachelor's degree in human development from Cornell University where she was a columnist for the Cornell Daily Sun. Follow Yael on twitter: @YaelBorofsky

Tyler Burton, Office Manager and IT Director
Email: tyler(at)thebreakthrough(dot)org
Tyler is the swiss army knife of the Breakthrough staff. He began in basic office management and has most recently moved into the larger role of managing the Breakthrough's web presence and blogging needs. He is an avid believer in the need for large public investment in clean energy tech. Tyler received his Bachelor of Arts in English from Ohio State in 2000, with coursework focused on International Relations and Urban Planning. He studied for one year as an Erasmus Fellow at the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands. Tyler also speaks Dutch, German, and can order passably in French. He is currently working on polishing his first novel with hopes for publication in the coming year.