P.J. Simmons

CEF Chair Emeritus; Executive Director Rivian Foundation

P.J. Simmons is founding executive director of the Rivian Foundation. From 2008-2022, P.J. served as CEF’s cofounder and Chair. Prior to CEF, he held senior positions at the the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and founded the Environmental Change & Security Program (ECSP) at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.  P.J. also served twice as the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Deputy Chair for Energy & Climate Change and led the energy and environmental team for the inaugural CGI-University. P.J. is author (with Dan Esty) of The Green to Gold Business Playbook: How to Implement Sustainability Practices for Bottom-Line Results in Every Business Function (2011). He received his B.A. in political science (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Tufts University, his M.A. from Johns Hopkins SAIS, was a Fulbright scholar, and holds a Certificate in Conservation Biology from Columbia University. P.J. is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.