ABOUT US

WHO WE ARE

The Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition Institute, or SEEC Institute, convenes the private sector, Congress, leading climate and environmental advocates, and other experts to facilitate more formal and regular connections between interested parties and stakeholders to secure the biggest climate and clean energy solutions possible.

OUR HISTORY

The Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) was founded in 2009 and has since grown to a group of over 95 members of the House of Representatives that fight for climate and clean energy policies. Like many of its peer organizations on the Hill, supporters of SEEC noticed limits in the group’s abilities to convene and advance priorities. As a result, in late 2023, SEEC Institute was established as a nonprofit organization.

meet our team

Max Frankel

Executive Director

Max Frankel is Executive Director of SEEC Institute. Max brings a decade of experience in energy and environmental policy to SEEC Institute, working both within and outside of government to advance climate solutions that meet the scale of the challenges we face.

Prior to leading SEEC Institute, Max was Deputy Director of Americans for a Clean Energy Grid, a broad-based interest organization working on expanding, improving, and modernizing America’s high-voltage energy system. Before joining ACEG, Max served as a Director in the Energy practice at Invariant, where he leveraged his policy expertise to help businesses and policymakers understand one another at the intersection of the environment and economy. Prior to Invariant, he spent more than five years in Rep. Mike Quigley’s (D-IL) office, where he served as policy advisor and legislative director, working on energy, environment, transportation, housing, infrastructure, and appropriations issues. Before working on Capitol Hill, Max was part of the climate and energy team at the World Resources Institute and was also a fifth and sixth grade science and social studies teacher with the Teach for America program in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Max received his BA from Vassar College in New York and lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Karla, and their two cats, Sunny and Cleo.

Pearson Croney-Clark

Director of External Affairs

Pearson Croney-Clark is Director of External Affairs at SEEC Institute. She has a breadth of international policy and advocacy experience, having worked in Europe, Canada, and the US on climate, food systems and agriculture, foreign affairs, and global business issues.

Prior to joining SEEC Institute, Pearson served as Public Affairs Manager at the oatmilk company Oatly, where she worked at the intersection of food systems and climate issues. Previously, she served as Policy Advisor to the Canadian Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and prior to that as Government Relations Specialist for the American Chamber of Commerce in France. She holds a Masters from Sciences Po’s School of Public Affairs and an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and American Studies from the University of Toronto. 

Pearson is a native of Paris, Kentucky and now lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Pierre.

our partners

THANK YOU TO OUR MANY ANONYMOUS SUPPORTERS

SEEC Institute partners with our allies on four primary goals and activities

  • Convene stakeholders, allies, partners, and supporters for an annual marquee conference, and smaller policy events, to bolster relationships between Members, staff, and supporters.

  • Conduct original research, informed by supporter collaboration, and publish policy papers/issue briefs and reports on key issues pending before Congress and the Administration.

  • Provide congressional staff and other policy professionals a better understanding of policies, politics, and processes surrounding the advancement of climate and clean energy at the federal level and give them the tools they need to make well-crafted, durable policy.

  • Educate allies through travel with elected officials and staff, witnessing the impacts and solutions of climate change and clean energy first-hand.

BECOME A FOUNDING MEMBER 

Be a part of securing the biggest climate and clean energy solutions possible.