Sydney McNiff Johnson
Principal
Sydney McNiff Johnson is a principal in SNR Denton’s Global
Energy practice, where she brings years of experience advising
clients on domestic and international energy, environmental,
political, and health solutions within the government relations and
public affairs arena.
Sydney's practice has a particular focus on the energy,
transport and infrastructure, government, nuclear, mining and
renewable energy sectors.
Her current work includes project management for alternative
energy clients in the process of securing Department of Energy
funding; strategic communications strategies to increase client
visibility and direct public opinion within government and
commercial sectors; and advising clients on current energy policy
issues.
Qualifying for federal funding involves myriad steps, and Sydney
consults with CEOs and senior management teams to make long-term
business decisions to help bring products to a larger
marketplace.
Whether taking advantage of production tax credits or working
with a company to help increase its opportunities with venture
capital firms, she is skilled in evaluating the government
relations strategy and public relations efforts of a company to
ultimately increase shareholder value.
Previously, Sydney served as president of Lockhart Strategies
International, LLC, a niche player in Washington, helping companies
create government relations strategies to expand business
capabilities; working with emerging energy technologies and
environmentally friendly products to gain market access; and
developing pilot programs and championing relationships for firms
in the public and private sector.
Ms. Johnson’s experience at Lockhart Strategies included
management consulting for a large-scale green industrial city with
manufacturing, ship-building, deep port development and renewable
energy components in India; working with a multinational
conglomerate as a global health consultant to create a strategy to
deploy an emergency health infrastructure system in various nation
states in Africa; identifying stimulus funding opportunities for
solar clients and other large-scale projects with the Departments
of Energy, Treasury, Defense, Commerce, and Interior as well as the
EPA.
Additionally, Sydney served as managing director of the Carmen
Group’s Energy Practice, where she worked on alternative energy tax
credits, carbon cap and trade tax issues, and aid for refugees in
Iraq.
She served as senior vice president of Government Relations and
Corporate Communications for USEC, Inc., the world's largest
uranium enrichment company (NYSE: USU), where she was liaison
between the $2.1 billion in revenue company and the Department of
Energy.
As managing director at Qorvis Communications, Sydney helped
manage major legislation and crisis communication issues as well as
supervising the communications and government relations programs
for clients including Invensys, XL Capital, the Embassy of Saudi
Arabia, British Nuclear Fuels and USEC, Inc.
A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Sydney came to
Washington to serve as legislative assistant for Energy and the
Environment to Congressman Paul N. "Pete" McCloskey, Jr. (R-CA) and
three years later as Energy legislative assistant to Senator S.I.
Hayakawa (R-CA). Sydney is an active member of the U.S. Nuclear
Infrastructure Council (NIC), which she helped co-found in 2002
under the name of the U.S. Transport Council. The NIC meets
monthly with all major nuclear energy utilities, manufacturers, and
suppliers for discussion on regulatory and licensing issues, supply
chain development and sustainable fuel cycles to ensure long-term
development of nuclear infrastructure in the United States.
Sydney is a member of the Climate Change working committee of
the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), a member-based
organization dedicated to moving renewable energy into the
mainstream of the United States economy. She is also a member
of Women in Nuclear and serves on the Presidential Advisory
Committee for Sustainability at Colorado College.
Her philanthropic interests focus on global sustainability
issues. She is currently a member of the board of directors
of the Wild Salmon Center in Portland, Oregon, working with Pacific
Rim countries such as Russia, Japan, South Korea, Canada and the
Western United States to preserve wild salmon populations.
She sits on the Chairman's Council for Conservation International
(CI) and is one of the co-founders of CI’s Women's Conservation
Forum, now in its fifth year, hosting international conservation,
energy, and biodiversity speakers for Washington’s key female
business leaders.
Sydney received a BA in Political Economics from Colorado
College where she wrote her thesis, "A Cost Comparison of Nuclear
versus Coal for Electrical Generation 1985–2000." She has
completed two executive education courses at Stanford University's
Graduate School of Business: Finance and Accounting for the
non-Financial Executive (April 2003) and Negotiation and Influence
Strategies (April 2004).
Organizations
- Member, Women in Nuclear
- Member American Council on Renewable Energy
- Member United States Nuclear Infrastructure Council
- Member, Chairman’s Council, Conservation International
- Member of the Board of Associates National Rehabilitation
Hospital
- Member Board of Directors, Wild Salmon Center
- Member Board of Directors, National Sailing Hall of Fame
- Member, Advisory Board, Zero to Three.
< Back