Patty O’Keefe

Regional Director, Midwest

Patty O’Keefe serves as the Midwest Regional Director at Vote Solar. In this role, she leads efforts to advance legislative and public-facing campaigns for solar policy in Minnesota and Michigan, with a deep focus on equity and justice in the clean energy transition. She brings over a decade of experience in community organizing and campaign management within the climate justice movement, where she has successfully developed strategies that integrate equity, coalition building, and grassroots mobilization.Before joining Vote Solar, Patty worked at the Sierra Club, where she led a statewide campaign to transition from fossil gas to electrification. She also played a key role in contributing to the first modeling on distributed solar ever done at the organization. Her leadership spans multiple issue areas, including regulatory advocacy, lobbying, media strategy, and technical assistance.Patty’s broader experience in the climate movement includes opposing oil pipeline expansion in Minnesota and supporting fossil fuel divestment campaigns across the state. She has a proven track record of creating impactful partnerships with grassroots leaders, public officials, and coalitions, and she is passionate about ensuring that communities benefit from a clean and equitable energy system.Her approach to her work is deeply rooted in the belief that to win the fight for a sustainable future, we need systems change that shifts power and wealth-building opportunities away from corporations and toward communities.In her spare time, Patty loves slacklining and hanging out with her sweet cats.