Full Name
Mike Catanzaro
Job Title
CEO
Company
CGCN Group
Speaker Bio
Mike Catanzaro has more than two decades of experience working in senior positions in energy and environmental policy, as a strategic advisor to Fortune 500 companies, trade associations, and private equity firms, and in the federal government, including for the Speaker of the House, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Environmental Protection Agency, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and the White House National Economic Council. He also formally served on two Presidential transition teams, and as a senior policy official on the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign.
Before working in energy and environmental policy, Mike began his professional career as a writer and reporter for nationally syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak. In that role, he edited the “Evans-Novak Political Report” and helped draft weekly columns that appeared in major newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Times, and the New York Post.
Mike got his start in environmental policy in 2003, when he was named Communications Director for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW). In that role, he managed a team responsible for message development, speechwriting, and handling media inquiries and stakeholder outreach. Mike took a leave of absence from the committee in 2004, when he joined the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, as Deputy Policy Director. Mike helped develop, defend, and disseminate the administration’s energy and environmental agenda.
After the 2004 election, Mike moved on to service in the George W. Bush Administration, first as the Associate Director for Policy at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, focusing on climate, air, and water policies, and special projects. Mike was later tapped to serve as the Associate Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, putting him a leadership position responsible for overseeing the agency’s day-to-day regulatory process.
As the Bush Administration came to an end, Mike moved to PPL Corporation, a leading utility, where he worked as Director of Federal Government Relations. Mike led the company’s efforts on Capitol Hill and regulatory agencies pertaining to climate change legislation, nuclear power, and clean air and water.
In 2009, Mike was asked by then-Ranking Member James Inhofe (R-OK) to return to the Senate EPW Committee, this time as Deputy Staff Director. There he managed the committee staff, while leading the committee’s policy, legislative, and communications activities. In 2011, after Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) named Mike as Senior Policy Advisor. Mike advised the Speaker on energy markets and the legislative agendas of several House committees, including Energy and Commerce, Natural Resources, and Science, Space and Technology.
While serving in this role, Mike was hired by the Romney for President Transition Team in 2012, as the lead staffer for EPA. This involved detailed planning at the agency, such as staffing needs and policy implementation. In 2013, Mike left government service and joined FTI Consulting as Managing Director in the firm’s Strategic Communications division. In that role, Mike led several successful public policy and communications campaigns, most notably the effort to overturn the four-decade-old ban on crude oil exports, a crucial change in policy that helped the United States become an energy powerhouse.
Mike returned to government in 2016, first handling energy and environmental policy for the Trump Transition Team. Then, after the election, President Trump appointed Mike as Special Assistant to President for Domestic Energy and Environmental Policy, at the White House National Economic Council. In that role, he advised the President on a wide range of issues, and managed energy and environmental policy across several federal agencies and departments.
In June of 2018, Mike returned to the private sector, where he became the President and Chief Policy Officer of the CGCN Group, one of Washington, D.C.’s top integrated strategic communications, policy consulting, and advocacy firms. In this role, Mike advises senior executives at Fortune 500 companies, leading trade associations, and private equity firms, on legislation, regulation, and the courts.
Mike is also a Non-resident Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Chairman of the Policy and Digital Advisory Board of the Energy Consumer Market Alignment Project; and a former Visiting Policy Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute.
Mike has been named by Washingtonian Magazine as one of “Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People.” He received his B.A. from Fordham University in political science and philosophy, and an M.A. in Government from John Hopkins University.
Before working in energy and environmental policy, Mike began his professional career as a writer and reporter for nationally syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak. In that role, he edited the “Evans-Novak Political Report” and helped draft weekly columns that appeared in major newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Times, and the New York Post.
Mike got his start in environmental policy in 2003, when he was named Communications Director for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW). In that role, he managed a team responsible for message development, speechwriting, and handling media inquiries and stakeholder outreach. Mike took a leave of absence from the committee in 2004, when he joined the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, as Deputy Policy Director. Mike helped develop, defend, and disseminate the administration’s energy and environmental agenda.
After the 2004 election, Mike moved on to service in the George W. Bush Administration, first as the Associate Director for Policy at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, focusing on climate, air, and water policies, and special projects. Mike was later tapped to serve as the Associate Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, putting him a leadership position responsible for overseeing the agency’s day-to-day regulatory process.
As the Bush Administration came to an end, Mike moved to PPL Corporation, a leading utility, where he worked as Director of Federal Government Relations. Mike led the company’s efforts on Capitol Hill and regulatory agencies pertaining to climate change legislation, nuclear power, and clean air and water.
In 2009, Mike was asked by then-Ranking Member James Inhofe (R-OK) to return to the Senate EPW Committee, this time as Deputy Staff Director. There he managed the committee staff, while leading the committee’s policy, legislative, and communications activities. In 2011, after Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) named Mike as Senior Policy Advisor. Mike advised the Speaker on energy markets and the legislative agendas of several House committees, including Energy and Commerce, Natural Resources, and Science, Space and Technology.
While serving in this role, Mike was hired by the Romney for President Transition Team in 2012, as the lead staffer for EPA. This involved detailed planning at the agency, such as staffing needs and policy implementation. In 2013, Mike left government service and joined FTI Consulting as Managing Director in the firm’s Strategic Communications division. In that role, Mike led several successful public policy and communications campaigns, most notably the effort to overturn the four-decade-old ban on crude oil exports, a crucial change in policy that helped the United States become an energy powerhouse.
Mike returned to government in 2016, first handling energy and environmental policy for the Trump Transition Team. Then, after the election, President Trump appointed Mike as Special Assistant to President for Domestic Energy and Environmental Policy, at the White House National Economic Council. In that role, he advised the President on a wide range of issues, and managed energy and environmental policy across several federal agencies and departments.
In June of 2018, Mike returned to the private sector, where he became the President and Chief Policy Officer of the CGCN Group, one of Washington, D.C.’s top integrated strategic communications, policy consulting, and advocacy firms. In this role, Mike advises senior executives at Fortune 500 companies, leading trade associations, and private equity firms, on legislation, regulation, and the courts.
Mike is also a Non-resident Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Chairman of the Policy and Digital Advisory Board of the Energy Consumer Market Alignment Project; and a former Visiting Policy Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute.
Mike has been named by Washingtonian Magazine as one of “Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People.” He received his B.A. from Fordham University in political science and philosophy, and an M.A. in Government from John Hopkins University.
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