Date: 12/03/2009 Description: Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley © White House Image
Nancy Sutley
Office of the President
White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair

Nancy Sutley is the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). In her role as Chair, she serves as the principal environmental policy adviser to the President.

Prior to her appointment, Sutley was the Deputy Mayor for Energy and Environment for the city of Los Angeles, California. She represented Los Angeles on the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and served on the California State Water Resources Control Board from 2003- 2005. Sutley also worked for California Governor Gray Davis as Energy Advisor, managing state and federal regulations, legislative affairs, finances and press relations. She served as Deputy Secretary for policy and intergovernmental relations in the California EPA from 1999-2003. She advised on water and air pollution policy, and established budget and legislative priorities. During the administration of President William J. Clinton, Sutley worked for the EPA as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Regional Administrator in San Francisco and special assistant to the Administrator in Washington, D.C.

Sutley received her Bachelors degree from Cornell University and her Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University.