Catherine Zingg serves as the Tribal Program Policy Director for GRID Alternatives  and oversees best practices, strategic development and campaign oversight for Tribal, state, and federal-level policies and initiatives. As a proud member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, Catherine centers Indigenous place-keeping in policymaking spaces. In her role, she protects and preserves the political autonomy that Tribal Nations have as sovereign nations. With over five years of working within nonprofits and policy work, Catherine brings a diverse range of skills rooted in writing good solar policy that actively includes Tribal Nations and elected Tribal leadership, building diverse coalitions across lines of power and led by Tribal advocates, and setting best practices for community engagement strategies.

Driven by a commitment to Tribal self-determination and sovereignty, she has worked with several different Tribal Nations in the Midwest and Southwest regions focused on strengthening Tribal-state relations, intervening within rate cases on behalf of Tribal ratepayer assistance, engaging in regulatory arenas defending the value of solar, and lending her expertise to statewide solar programs with Tribal-specific incentives for state-based Tribal Nations. The magnitude of Tribal participation in state-level policy change is clear: the stakes are high for Tribal communities in the energy transition and there is an urgent need for every state to uplift solar adoption and accessibility for Tribal Nations. She has completed her Bachelor’s of Arts from Arizona State University. In her free time, she loves to read, write, and blog about baking while spending time with her dog, friends and family.