About 

Zachery Michael is the former chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, one of the largest agencies within the Department. As a principal member of the senior leadership team, he led strategic planning, policy, communications, external and legislative affairs, and the immediate office supporting the Assistant Secretary. 

In May 2020, the Secretary of Energy nominated Zachery to serve as an agency representative to serve on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Good Neighbor Environmental Board, an independent federal advisory committee that advises the President and Congress on good neighbor and environmental infrastructure practices along the U.S. – Mexico border. 

Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Energy, Zachery served as Associate Director of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Executive Office of the President at The White House. His role was to advance collaborative partnerships with state, local and tribal officials on shared priorities, such as community and workforce development, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, solutions to combat the opioid crisis, achieving energy independence, and the bipartisan passage of criminal justice reform. In 2017, he was appointed as chief speechwriter and special advisor to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Professionally, Zachery has worked on more than two dozen political campaigns, most recently as a regional political director on Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign under the leadership of Susan Summerall Wiles. Following the win in the nation’s largest swing state, Zachery then worked on the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee where he helped organize public events. Prior to the Trump campaign, Zachery worked on Rick Scott’s 2014 gubernatorial reelection and served as deputy campaign manager for Congressman Jeff Miller, chairman of the Veteran Affairs committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Prior to entering public service, Zachery managed community and external affairs for The Michael Companies, a conglomerate of more than twenty enterprises based in the southeast. For more than a decade, Zachery has been supporting international initiatives to improve the public health, education and welfare of East Africa and Latin America’s rural communities. His work includes vital infrastructure improvements, water purification projects, educational programs and other initiatives to distressed populations.

Presently, Zachery works in energy and community development in the southeast and is a go-to source for public affairs and advisory services to Fortune 500 companies. While not in Florida or Washington, DC, Zachery spends his spare time in his home state of South Carolina. He holds a bachelor of science degree in interdisciplinary studies with a cognate in history and public administration.