April Salas
Executive Director, Revers Center for Energy
Inspiring and shaping tomorrow’s leaders in energy while engaging in today’s energy community.
April brings nearly 15 years of public and private sector experience in global and domestic energy and international development. Just prior to joining Tuck, Mrs. Salas directed the White House’s Quadrennial Energy Review Task Force Secretariat, a Task Force established under a 2014 Presidential Memorandum directing the Administration to conduct a thorough analysis of US energy systems for the purpose of translating policy goals into a set of analytically based, integrated actions – executive, legislative and budgetary – to inform proposed investments over a multi-year planning horizon. In conjunction with the Secretary of Energy, and the White House’s Domestic Policy Council and Office of Science and Technology Policy, April spearheaded external coordination of 22 federal agencies, seven regional public stakeholder meetings, various technical workshops, and internal analytical teams to review, analyze, synthesize and publish analysis and recommendations for action, within the second installment of the QER, “Transforming the Nation’s Electricity System.”
Mrs. Salas has held other senior positions within the US Department of Energy, to include Director of the State Energy Assurance Program, where she worked with industry, state and local energy officials, regulated utility commissioners, and state emergency management directors, as well as, Chief of Planning and Analysis for all federal energy emergency response with FEMA. Globally, April established and led a global energy security advisory program, energy security and systems analysis for DOE’s country-to-country engagements, as well as, US government support to international energy emergency response. April has spoken at NATO, led engagements in Colombia, Haiti, Iraq, and with the EU, and represented the government on countless other initiatives in partnership with the Departments of State, Defense, US Agency for International Development, and international/regional financial institutions. With experience rooted in energy systems analysis, Mrs. Salas' broad industry knowledge covers a range of topics including electric power, liquid fuels, natural gas, cyber security, renewable energy and technology integration.
Before joining DOE, Mrs. Salas lived in Paris, France working at the European headquarters of a US energy finance-consulting firm as an analyst and consultant in downstream oil and gas. April worked on consulting projects across Africa, as well as, analysis of energy markets in Europe and Latin America. She has also held positions at UNESCO on post-conflict reconstruction in Africa, as well as, the United Nations Headquarters' Department of Peacekeeping Operations Africa Desk on the Sudan/Darfur and Ethiopia/Eritrea conflicts.
Mrs. Salas serves as Chairwoman of the Board of Directors, at Powered for Patients, a Washington DC-based non-profit, working to advance collaboration and information sharing across hospitals, utilities, and government agencies for emergency power, and power restoration. She also serves as an expert on other projects, most recently including the Boston Planning & Development Agency’s Smart Utilities Vision.
April holds an MBA from Cornell University; two Masters degrees, in International Affairs, Conflict Resolution and Civil Society Development, and International Security and Economics, with a focus on energy poverty and development, from the American University of Paris and L'Institut Catholique de Paris, respectively; and a BA in International Relations/Pre-Law from the College of William and Mary. Mrs. Salas speaks French, Spanish and Arabic, and has worked in and/or visited over 64 countries. She lives in Hanover, NH, with her husband, retired Naval Aviator, and Dartmouth Medical School student, Zach Salas, and their three children, Jai, Adrian, and Natalia.