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Kristen McKenzie (she/her/hers)

Senior Director of Government and External Affairs
Pine Gate Renewables
Columbia, South Carolina, United States

Kristen Beckham is the results-driven legislative strategist for Pine Gate Renewables priority states. She serves as primary liaison for influential business and trade organizations and leads the company’s policy and project media relations efforts. With a deep bench of expertise in developing and managing internal and external stakeholder relationships, Kristen has accomplished noteworthy milestones such as earning consequential national, regional, and local media coverage, inclusive of securing the company’s first quote in the New York Times, serving as a key policy panelist for industry events, and receiving Pine Gate’s Creativity Award (2022) a notable colleague-driven distinction.

Boasting a 15+ year career at the intersection of energy and policy, Kristen has directed multifaceted campaigns for constituent engagement, capital projects, corporate acquisitions and economic development initiatives. Recognizing the opportunity to accomplish more with impact-driven organizations, Kristen serves as Recruitment Chair for the Leadership South Carolina Board of Trustees, and is a current Board Member for the USO South Carolina. Prior to joining Pine Gate Renewables, Kristen served as a Co-Chair of the BHE GT&S Community Council, sat on the South Carolina Philharmonic advisory committee, and was a member of the Central SC Board of Directors for the American Red Cross.

A graduate of the College of Charleston and the University of Georgia (MBA), Kristen has also participated in Leadership South Carolina, as well as Dominion Energy’s Emerging Leaders Program. In 2017, she was named one of Columbia Business Monthly’s Best & Brightest 35 and Under, as a 2017 Woman of Influence, and as a 2019 Phenom on the Icons and Phenoms list. In 2022 Kristen received the Pine Gate Renewables Creativity Award.

Disclosure information not submitted.

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