As the Senior Director at the United States Energy Association, Mr. Polen manages a staff of 11 supporting cooperative programs with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of Energy.

He has 30 years of experience in the domestic and international energy sectors, where he has excelled in project design, technical delivery, human and institutional capacity development, field operations oversight, partnership management, and business development efforts.

In cooperation with USAID, he directs the Just and Secure Energy Transition Program, which is accelerating the clean energy transition across 10 countries in the Europe and Eurasia region by integrating energy network infrastructure and markets to stimulate investment in renewable energy; reforming network management business practices to fast-track renewable energy project development; supporting the transfer of cutting edge U.S. technology to increase the clean energy absorptive capacity of the regional power grid; improving energy security by hardening network infrastructure; and educating the public of the benefits of, and requirements for, a clean energy future.

In cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, he directs the CONSENSUS Project, which educates the public, policy makers and other stakeholders on advanced technologies to support the office’s goal of minimizing the environmental impacts of fossil fuels while working towards net-zero emissions.

Mr. Polen holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Delaware and a Master of Arts in International Development from The American University.