Margaret Garascia
U.S. Buildings Initiative Director
Margaret directs grantmaking to electrify and decarbonize the buildings sector. She has more than a decade of experience in building energy efficiency, sustainability, and occupant health.
She joined Climate Imperative from Elevate Energy, where she was the Associate Director of Research and Innovation. She led a team in conducting some of the first whole-building electrification retrofits in Chicago, Madison, and Detroit, working with tenants and owners of affordable housing, electric utilities, and engineers to maximize carbon savings and tenant benefits.
Margaret also led advocacy and research to underscore the importance of heat pumps in meeting climate targets, which led to a policy change allowing Illinois electric utilities to use ratepayer funds for fuel switching, a key step to scaling building decarbonization. Margaret started her career at Environment America, where she supported campaigns on federal cap and trade policy and defense of California’s Global Warming Solutions Act.
Margaret holds a B.A. from Wellesley College and a Masters of Public Affairs from the LBJ School at the University of Texas. She lives in Chicago with her wife and two kids, where she volunteers for her local community garden.
