Bradley (Brad) Grams

Bradley (Brad) Grams (FDCE, 2023; CEED, 2024) is focused on federal level inter-agency sustainability policy development within the infrastructure space, with a career crossing the U.S. Departments of Energy and Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Brad currently is a Regional Environmental Protection Manager at the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration, where they are the responsible official for climate, energy, environment, and sustainability solutions for airports in the Great Lakes Region. Prior to their current role, they were the Acting Director of Strategic Planning at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, leading the Agency’s strategic planning and finance, enterprise risk management, and evidence units. They also held other senior roles at the Agency, including Principal White House Liaison for Environmental Protection Budgeting, where they led the financial implementation of EPA’s climate change, sustainability, and climate and environmental justice initiatives, and Chief of Staff for Chemical and Waste Risk Management under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Program, where they led cross-government chemical and waste policy collaborations for the Agency. Prior to EPA, they also worked at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, leading a team focused on ambient air monitoring and pollution control initiatives in Chicagoland. Outside of their government policy work, Brad is an Adjunct Lecturer at Northwestern University, focusing on strategic communication, logic modeling, and qualitative program evaluation methods in the public sector, and co-leads the institution’s Affinity Leaders and Learners Mentoring Program. They hold degrees in Chemistry and Environmental Studies, both from the University of Chicago (AB/SB, 2005), and a Master of Public Policy and Master of Public Administration (MPP/MPA) degree from Northwestern University (2017), where they focused on global voluntary climate, energy, and environmental policy development.