Mary Anne Hitt

Mary Anne is the Senior Director of Climate Imperative at Energy Innovation. Previously she was the Sierra Club’s National Director of Campaigns and directed Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, which has been recognized as one of the most successful environmental campaigns in history. Working with partners across the nation, the campaign blocked the construction of 200 proposed US coal plants, secured retirement of over half of existing U.S. coal plants, and helped usher in the clean energy era. Mary Anne was listed in 2015 as one of the POLITICO 50, POLITICO’s list of the top thinkers, doers and visionaries transforming American politics. She has made numerous media appearances ranging from Good Morning America to National Public Radio, and was featured in the National Geographic film From the Ashes and their Emmy-winning series Years of Living Dangerously. She is also co-host of the climate storytelling podcast No Place Like Home.

Mary Anne previously served as the executive director of several grassroots organizations, including Appalachian Voices. She received her Master’s of Science from the University of Montana and her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee, where she later received the 2008 Notable UT Woman Award. She grew up in the mountains of east Tennessee and now lives in West Virginia with her family.