Fall 2026 Fellow
Claudine Schneider is a former U.S. Congresswoman and a pioneering voice on climate and energy policy, with a career spanning public office, international business, and advocacy. She represented Rhode Island in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 1991, where she introduced the first and only revenue-neutral climate bill, the Global Warming Prevention Act, backed by 140 bipartisan cosponsors. During her decade in Congress, she authored the first Appliance Efficiency Standards (which became the Energy Star Program), passed the Demand-Side Management Act establishing least-cost utility planning, and helped secure the International Treaty on Biological Diversity, signed by President Reagan. She also co-founded the Congressional Competitiveness Caucus alongside former Hewlett-Packard CEO John Young, and was later appointed by President Bill Clinton to his Competitiveness Council.
After leaving Congress, Schneider co-founded and served as Executive Vice President of Energia Global, an international energy efficiency and renewable energy company with a joint venture in Costa Rica, raising capital and executing a successful ten-year exit strategy. She went on to build an extensive career in climate mitigation consulting, serving as Senior Vice President of Econergy, President of the Solar Alliance, and an advisor to National Grid, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, and Phytonix Corporation, among others. She enlisted more than 50 Fortune 500 companies in the EPA’s Climate Leaders Program and helped advance solar policy across ten states.
Schneider’s honors include an Emmy Award for co-producing the ABC series “Capitol to Capitol,” an honorary degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for her energy efficiency work, and recognition as the Climate Institute’s first Leadership Award recipient. She has briefed Margaret Thatcher on climate policy, co-authored Greenhouse Glasnost with Robert Redford, and appeared in a BBC climate documentary alongside Prince Charles. In 2019, the New York Times profiled her decades of climate leadership.
Schneider currently serves on the boards of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Taxpayers for Common Sense, and Oxfam, and helped found Republicans for Integrity, a coalition of former Republican members of Congress. She continues to advise nonprofit and for-profit organizations on preserving democratic institutions and priorities.
Study Group: “Be the Change You Want to See in the World!”
There are 3 kinds of people: those who make things happen; those who let things happen; and those who awaken one day and ask, “Dude, what just happened?” Attendees at this study group will leave clearly part of the first. Whether your focus is politics, governance, business, climate, or communications, you will learn what it means to lead — how to identify opportunities, build coalitions, and translate vision into action. We will focus on what you want and need, rather than what I choose, because this is your singular opportunity to maximize your full potential. The course will involve very little reading, some writing, role-playing exercises, and independent research tailored to each student’s goals.
Study Group Time: Wednesdays, 3PM to 5PM
Study Group Dates:
September 16
September 23
September 30
October 7
October 14
October 21
October 28
November 4
November 18
Note: No class Nov. 11 (Veteran’s Day)