WASHINGTON, DC – The Climate Leadership Council is pleased to announce the addition of two distinguished members to its board of directors: Charlene Barshefsky, former United States Trade Representative under President Bill Clinton, and Véronique Bardach, managing director and co-founder of Four Seasons Ventures.
Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky has served as co-chair of the Council’s Center for Climate and Trade since its launch in 2022. She joins the Council board with more than 30 years of experience as a central thought leader and practitioner in the fields of international business and international economic and trade issues. Ambassador Barshefsky is known for her influential role in shaping historic agreements from Europe to Asia, Africa to Latin America, and the Middle East. She led the negotiation of hundreds of complex arrangements that significantly opened markets, removed regulatory barriers, and cemented protections for U.S. investment. Her negotiations are the subject of several Harvard Business School case studies, and she has received many honors for lifetime achievement. Ambassador Barshefsky serves on several corporate boards, and is a Trustee of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a non-resident Senior Fellow at Yale’s Paul Tsai China Center.
Véronique Bardach joins the board after previously serving as an honorary member. As the wife of the Council’s late founder and CEO Ted Halstead, she has provided strategic advice since the Council’s inception. Ms. Bardach is a seasoned expert in business planning, modeling, structuring, and negotiating, having successfully grown and sold several early-stage companies. Prior to co-founding Four Seasons Ventures, she was Executive Vice President Corporate Finance at Westminster Securities, a former New York Stock Exchange member firm. She is licensed as both an attorney and an investment banker. Ms. Bardach is an active member of the venture capital community, serves on several boards, and has published in various journals.
“It is an honor to have two esteemed leaders join the Council board in Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky and Véronique Bardach,” said Greg Bertelsen, CEO of the Climate Leadership Council. “Ambassador Barshefsky has been integral in guiding the Council’s work at the Center for Climate and Trade since its launch in 2022. In that time, it has become even more apparent that meaningfully lowering global emissions requires leveraging trade policy. Ambassador Barshefsky’s expertise and guidance as a board director will greatly enhance the Council’s commitment and work in developing solutions at the climate-trade nexus.”
“Véronique Bardach is the Council’s longest serving advisor, having contributed to its development from its earliest conceived days. Véronique has provided counsel on many of the Council’s most important strategic decisions over the years. She brings decades of experience guiding executive leaders and the deepest of commitments to the Council’s mission.”
Ambassador Barshefsky and Ms. Bardach join existing Council board directors, Kathryn Murdoch (co-chair), Robert Litterman (co-chair), Gary Rieschel, Juleanna Glover, and Greg Bertelsen.
The Climate Leadership Council works with a broad set of stakeholders to promote the most cost-effective, equitable and politically-viable climate solutions.
