Alan Yu is the senior vice president for National Security and International Policy at American Progress. Yu has three decades of experience working on some of the world’s biggest global challenges, from energy and environment to human rights to international trade to nonproliferation.
Yu previously served at the U.S. Department of State as an adviser to Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. He was responsible for diplomatic engagement on climate policy with countries across the Indo-Pacific and spearheaded efforts at the State Department to elevate and integrate climate policy into U.S. diplomacy.
Yu had a previous stint at American Progress from 2019 to 2021, as a senior fellow and director for international climate policy with the Energy and Environment department.
Yu served from 2014 to 2018 as the U.S. Department of Energy’s director for Asian affairs, where he coordinated department efforts to execute a unified strategy in U.S. energy policy and technical engagement with countries in East, Southeast, and South Asia.
Prior to the Department of Energy, Yu served for more than two decades as a U.S. diplomat, with postings in Washington, China, Japan, and Afghanistan. Earlier, Yu was a middle school teacher in the Central African Republic as a Peace Corps volunteer.