By Jennifer Monahan
In a political climate often defined by division, Abby Smith (MSPPM ‘08) has built her career on a different principle: collaboration. As president and CEO of Team Pennsylvania, Smith leads the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that serves as a neutral convener among leaders in government, business, and academia, working together to strengthen Pennsylvania's economy.
That collaborative approach is essential in the energy sector, where Pennsylvania sits at the center of America's power grid and the nation's energy transformation. The state currently ranks as the second-largest net supplier of energy in the nation. Pennsylvania is also a major producer of natural gas, nuclear power, and coal.
“We are a crucial energy supplier to our region, to the nation, and to the world in a lot of different respects,” Smith said. “Right now, we're at an inflection point with energy and thinking about our energy economy.”
Team PA is a statewide entity co-chaired by the sitting governor and a private sector leader.
“Our nonpartisan role allows us to think about how we move from one administration to the other, to play the long game when the system isn’t always set up to incentivize that. We’re the long-term stewards of Pennsylvania’s economy, and at our core, it’s all about collaboration,” Smith said.
As the nation transitions to newer, cleaner forms of energy, Smith said Team PA is optimistic about nuclear energy. The state is a longstanding leader in nuclear power, with deep expertise and potential across the full value chain—from research and development to skilled workforce and physical infrastructure. Smith sees “ample upside potential” for Pennsylvania to maintain and expand that leadership, particularly as the next generation of nuclear technologies begins to take shape.
Team PA is coordinating a nuclear supply chain analysis, bringing together partners from government, academia, and industry to identify vulnerabilities and opportunities in the state. This analysis, Smith said, is intended to help Pennsylvania stake its claim as a leader in the future of nuclear energy. The goal is to generate reliable, actionable intelligence, allowing stakeholders to build what Smith calls “a coalition of the willing” to move forward together.
“Our hope is to start with the sharpened intel, so that we're really well-informed on exactly how Pennsylvania should show up and be a leader in this space,” Smith said. “That requires us all to get on the same page and take that big leap forward together.”
Smith's job allows her to visit industry experts and job sites across Pennsylvania.
Team PA is also convening conversations about the intersection of AI, data centers, and energy. The issue is complex and can spark strong reactions, including concern about the environmental impact of these centers. Smith said thorny and divisive issues such as this one are exactly where collaboration is most needed.
“We can’t just talk about siting individual projects, or whether data centers are good or bad,” Smith said. “We need to have the conversation in a much more holistic way, and also in a nonpartisan way.”
Every decision has trade-offs, so understanding what those trade-offs are can help leaders make better decisions.
“We're going to be so much better equipped to take on these topics if we're well informed, if we're talking to one another, if we're learning from other parts of the state, and if we're also identifying some of the best practices nationally and globally,” Smith said.
Given the complexity of the issues and the oftentimes competing perspectives and interests of, say, a coal company working alongside an environmental nonprofit, Team PA’s work might seem daunting. Smith’s experience has led her to a different conclusion.
“There's way more common ground on a broad spectrum of topics than many people realize,” Smith said.
The goal isn’t always consensus. Sometimes it’s about building shared understanding, about creating space for people to identify key issues and to discuss what the long-term future might look like.
“There might be diametrically opposed paths that are being proposed for how we get there, but I think that there are way more points of agreement,” Smith said. “I’d like to think that a more connected energy economy and energy leaders are leading us toward better solutions.”
Team PA recently completed a project creating various energy scenarios, imagining alternative futures through the year 2050.
“That project is a good example of how there’s work to be done where it’s not about what we do or don’t agree on, but rather what we’re grappling with,” Smith said. “At the end of the day, we have to figure out how to lead with ‘yes’ rather than ‘no’ – how to lead with, ‘I want to work with you,’ as opposed to ‘I don’t want to work with you.’"
Smith acknowledges that it can be difficult for people with opposing viewpoints to work together but believes facilitating connection can eliminate some of the division.
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U.S. Senator David McCormick is hosting a national AI and Energy Summit on the Carnegie Mellon campus in July, bringing together leaders from government, industry and academia for a day of conversations on technology, innovation and national strategy. Smith is optimistic about the event and how it will highlight Pennsylvania’s energy economy on the national and even global stage.
“I wouldn't be surprised if there are a lot of similarities between where President Trump and Gov. Shapiro want to take Pennsylvania’s energy economy,” Smith said. “Both administrations want growth and prosperity, and they want to see energy be something that Pennsylvania, that the nation, is known for. Those long-term goals don't look that far apart.”
Smith, an alumna of Heinz College’s public policy and management program, said she taps into the skills she learned in graduate school on a daily basis.
“The professors, lecturers, and adjunct faculty I got to work with brought real-world experience and real-world connections,” Smith said.
As an undergraduate history major, Smith was accustomed to having to hit a specific word count on her papers. For an early graduate school assignment, Smith remembers Professor Silvia Borzutzky returning her carefully crafted paper and telling her to cut it down to a single page.
“I thought, ‘I can’t do this!’ But in policy work, you have to be succinct,” Smith said. “She taught me that in the best possible way. And it really illustrates how Heinz College prepares us to go out and work within the real world.”
The program’s emphasis on quantitative analysis provided practical and helpful preparation for Smith’s career, and she especially valued her courses in management and negotiations and geographic information systems (GIS).
There was deep intellectual thought and all of the prowess that CMU brings, but with this eye toward what it looks like in real world applications.Abby Smith
“There was deep intellectual thought and all of the prowess that CMU brings, but with this eye toward what it looks like in real world applications,” Smith said. She appreciated gaining a network of fellow alumni who work in leadership roles in both public and private arenas and said the range of career paths demonstrates how the skills are applicable across many different sectors.
“I feel like I walked out of Heinz College with a very full toolbox,” Smith said. “When I talk to other people about their grad school experiences, it is a chapter in their lives. For me, it's been consistently informing every single stage of my career. And I'm so much better for it.”
Interested in doing policy work? Explore Carnegie Mellon's graduate programs in policy, technology, and analytics.