Clay Nesler is a Senior Fellow in the Energy Program at WRI. In this role, he contributes technology and policy expertise in the areas of energy efficiency, electrification, digitalization and distributed energy systems for buildings, industry, and infrastructure. He is currently a part-time contractor to the U.S. Department of Energy and serves on GSA's Green Building Advisory Committee, ASHRAE’s Task Force for Building Decarbonization, and the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Clean Electrification.

Clay previously worked for almost four decades at Johnson Controls where he held a variety of senior leadership positions - including most recently as Vice President, Global Energy and Sustainability - in both the United States and Europe. He also served as interim president for the Alliance to Save Energy.

Clay received BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a co-inventor on fifteen patents and a winner of a 2015 Distinguished Alumnus Award, a 2017 leadership award from the U.S. Green Building Council, a 2020 R&D100 award and the 2022 ACEEE Champion of Energy Efficiency in Buildings Lifetime Achievement Award.

Clay is past board president of the Florentine Opera Company and enjoys playing tuba in music ensembles throughout Southwest Florida.