Ivan Urlaub (MPP’04 MEM’04): Policy as Possibility

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For Ivan Urlaub (MPP’04 MEM’04), policy is more than just rules and regulations—it’s possibility. With a Master of Public Policy from the Sanford School and a Master of Environmental Management from the Nicholas School at Duke, Ivan has spent his career shaping the future of clean energy, driving economic development, and ensuring that policy serves as a bridge between ambition and action.

Over more than two decades, he has worked at the intersection of energy policy, regulation, and economics, serving as Executive Director of the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA) for 14 years before starting a business in strategy and innovation leadership. Today, he is Principal at Urlaub Strategies, where he thrives on collaborating with non-profit, investment, and clean technology firms to develop systemic policy strategy and capacity building. As a fractional Director of Energy and Infrastructure at New Energy Economics, he is helping build an econometrics knowledge base and capacity to help regulators and large consumers solve the challenges of an increasingly complex energy landscape. With the team at Clean Energy Works, he is developing financial assurance instruments for electric utility programs that will unlock energy-saving solutions for the roughly one-third of American households who lack sufficient cash or credit to access those solutions.

But his journey didn’t start in a boardroom or on a policymaking committee. It began in his early career and flourished at Duke, where he cultivated the power of interdisciplinary thinking and the importance of building strong networks.

Policy as a Pathway to Change

“Public policy is the root of just about everything,” Ivan says. “If you want to make change at scale, you have to engage with policy and regulation.”

Ivan’s expertise in energy and technology policy emerged early in his career, from conflict resolution over water resources in the Middle East and North Africa to worst-case scenario emergency response planning for oil pipelines in the wake of 9/11 to pioneering market intelligence practices that served as the foundation for national clean energy employment data. At NCSEA, he led the effort to transform North Carolina from a bottom-ranking state by nearly any energy metric into a leader in clean energy policy, market deployment, supply chain investment, and job creation, ensuring that the state’s approach to sustainability was backed by economic rigor and market-driven solutions.

The connection between policy and economics is what Ivan found most compelling about his dual-degree experience at Duke. “Sanford taught me how to frame problems and opportunities with precision,” he explains. “When you define the issue clearly and accurately, you can create policy solutions that actually work.”

For Ivan, policy is both a tool and a responsibility. “For better or worse, public policy orients and aligns people around common goals and sets rules of the road to guide the pathways people choose to pursue and achieve those goals,” he says. That understanding has shaped his career and continues to guide his work today.

Creating a Platform for DIALOGUE: Duke energy week

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Ivan’s commitment to fostering meaningful discussions on energy policy accelerated before graduation. He played a pivotal role in launching Duke Energy Week, an annual event that brings together students, policymakers, and industry leaders to explore the future of energy. “I wanted to create a space where people with different perspectives could come together, challenge each other, and collaborate on solutions,” he says. “Duke was the perfect place to make that happen.”

What started as an energy conference organized by six students from across Duke’s policy, business, environment, and law schools has now evolved into a signature event. “That was the beginning of Duke Energy Week,” Ivan recalls. “Now, Duke is producing energy leaders across every vantage point.”

In hindsight, Ivan’s experiences at Duke presaged his current strategy work. In 2003, he facilitated a strategic planning process for the Duke University Greening Initiative, helping DUGI set a plan and path to engage university leadership to hire Duke’s first environmental sustainability coordinator.

Mentorship and the Power of Sharing Knowledge

One of Ivan’s greatest joys is engaging with students and early-career professionals. He frequently guest lectures at universities, including Duke, Appalachian State University, NC State, and others. “I love connecting with students at their career exploration stage—helping them find what really makes them tick,” he says. As a strategic analyst, Ivan learns with clients and students alike by soaking up information, sharing knowledge, and his talent to see systemic connections where others often do not ideate and prioritize challenges and solutions. Many of Ivan’s past interns and employees have gone on to roles as CEOs, senior counsel, executive directors, and senior government advisors.

Recently, after a lecture at Appalachian State, a student messaged him saying, “You really inspired me with the model you showed of how policy analysis works in a market like energy or tech innovation. That’s got me rethinking what I want to do after graduation.”

For Ivan, that kind of feedback is validation. “All I did was convey my experience and put it into a useful format. If that helps someone clarify their path, that’s a win.”

Beyond the classroom, he remains dedicated to mentorship, frequently connecting students with industry professionals and offering career guidance. His network has helped young professionals find meaningful roles in the energy and sustainability sectors.

A Shift Toward Balance

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For much of his career, Ivan considered himself a workaholic, constantly taking on new challenges, over-committing, and striving to make an impact. But in 2020, he took a step back. “I realized I didn’t want to be an executive director anymore,” he says. “I wanted to support great work, but I also wanted a better work-life balance.”

His transition to consulting allowed him to stay engaged in the energy policy and economics space while also prioritizing time with his family. “For all its challenges, COVID gave me the space to reassess,” he reflects. “Now, I’m present in my family’s life in a way I never was before, and I’m still doing work that matters.” With his new-found free time, he coaches Little League, where he gets to combine his passion for baseball, parenting, and supporting kids’ learning and confidence. One of his favorite Duke memories was when baseball and policy came together in a pick-up game with his fellow MPP classmates in 2004.

His experience has also led him to advocate for better work-life balance across industries, recognizing the toll that overcommitment can take on personal well-being. “If we want to build a sustainable future, we also need sustainable careers,” he says. “Finding that balance is key.”

Standing for Something: A Just and Sustainable Future

When asked what he stands for, Ivan’s answer is clear: “I really want people to have a full opportunity at a just and peaceful life—on their terms.”

To him, sustainability and stability go hand in hand. “Stability doesn’t mean standing still; it means ensuring we have a foundation for peaceful coexistence, even as we innovate and push forward.” His early career in conflict resolution in the MENA region and time as an Energy Security Fellow in 2021 helped keep Ivan grounded in how tenuous the balance of sustainability and stability can be.

Transparency, honesty, and access to information are central to his approach. “Things just go better when we’re honest and open,” he says. “We define problems accurately, meet people where they are, and create policies that enable rather than restrict.”

His guiding philosophy? “Policy is possibility,” he says. “It’s capable, it’s malleable, and it’s only limited by how we choose to practice it.”

Looking Ahead

As the world continues to grapple with the evolving demands of energy and policy, Ivan remains committed to advancing fact-based, inclusive decision-making. Whether through regulatory reform, economic modeling, or mentorship, he sees policy as a powerful force for good.

“We can’t afford to make energy decisions based on ideology alone,” he says. “If we get it right, we create sustainable opportunity. If we get it wrong, we leave potential untapped.”

With a career defined by impact, innovation, and the power of policy, Ivan Urlaub continues to shape the future and all its possibilities.