Didem Nisanci, Senior Fellow for Climate and Geoeconomics, The Global Climate Policy Project at Harvard and MIT
Through high-level roles in government and the private sector, Didem Nisanci’s 25-year career has thus far been defined by navigating the intersection of financial stability, public policy, and the global economy. Most recently, as Chief of Staff to US Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, she helped lead Treasury’s domestic and international agenda and establish the Department’s first Climate Hub. The Global Climate Policy Project (GCPP) at Harvard and MIT—a flagship project of the MIT Climate Policy Center—offered her the distinct opportunity to apply all her experience to one of the most pressing challenges of our time.
Appointed Senior Fellow for Climate and Geoeconomics in December 2025, Nisanci is working to advance the GCPP’s research on multilateral climate coalitions centered on carbon pricing and trade measures.
“Having seen the power of global coalitions, both from my time at the Financial Stability Board's Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) to the Treasury Department, I’m eager to work with renowned experts to contribute to the design of frameworks and coalitions that will allow countries to come together to harmonize their economic and environmental ambitions.”
The GCPP’s mission to bridge the gap between academic innovation and actionable policy at global level is what drew Nisanci to the job. Drawing on her experience building the TCFD, her goal is to help establish the next generation of policy tools and create a roadmap that turns the GCPP's flagship recommendations into globally adopted framework for decarbonization.
“I also hope to examine the ongoing shifts in global order and geopolitics that are shaping climate transition, affecting supply chains, capital flows and international cooperation and policy,” she says, “and what additional levers can be harnessed to accelerate transition.”
During the Obama-Biden Administration, Nisanci served as chief of staff to the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where she helped guide the agency through a pivotal period of post-financial-crisis reform. She worked closely with the Chair and senior leadership to advance the Commission’s regulatory agenda, coordinate complex rulemakings, and implement key provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act affecting capital markets and financial institutions.
Earlier, on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, Nisanci served as staff director for the Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment under Senator Jack Reed. During the height of the financial crisis, she worked on major legislative and oversight initiatives to stabilize financial markets and strengthen regulatory oversight, including authoring the warrants provision of the Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.
Today, Nisanci is excited about the opportunity to go deep on a range of topics and developments with world class experts and researchers at MIT and Harvard.
“In the highest levels of government, the sheer volume of daily crises often precludes one from the ability to focus intensely on a single challenge. Moving from the rapid-fire pace of the Treasury Department to this level of deep collaborative research to contribute to the creation of durable global change is very exciting.”
Related Posts
