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Keystone Welcomes New Trustees to Its Board
Keystone Policy Center welcomed three national business and policy leaders to the organization’s Board of Trustees this week. The new members include:
- Katie McGinty, Vice President of Global Government Relations at Johnson Controls International
- Luis Benitez, Vice President of Government Affairs and Global Impact, VF Corporation
- Terrance D. Carroll, Colorado State Director for Unite America
“Keystone’s Board of Trustees provides strategic vision and support as we work to tackle some of the most complex public policy issues facing our world. I am proud to welcome Katie, Luis, and Terrance to our board,” said Christine Scanlan, President and CEO of Keystone Policy Center. “Their experience and expertise will strengthen Keystone and our ongoing efforts to find collaborative solutions to the seemingly intractable challenges of our time.”
The nominations were approved by the Board of Trustees Wednesday at its Fall 2019 meeting. The board oversees Keystone’s work and supports its mission throughout the year. It meets three times each year in Washington, D.C., and in Colorado.
New Trustee Bios
Katie McGinty: Katie has over 25 years of public and private sector experience and most recently served as senior vice president at the Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. where she led the global oceans program. She is a recognized innovator in clean energy, the environment, and life sciences, and a champion of advanced technology development and currently serves on the boards of the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation (Carnegie Mellon University), the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE, emeritus), the Energy Futures Initiative, and the Delaware River Port Authority. Katie has lived and worked abroad including serving as a Senior Visiting Fellow at a leading energy and environmental research institute in New Delhi, India, as well as directing policy development and participating in the negotiation of various multinational and binational accords.
Katie holds a degree in chemistry from St. Joseph’s University and a law degree from Columbia University. She was a judicial clerk on the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and was later awarded the Congressional Fellowship of the American Chemical Society and went to work for then-Senator Al Gore developing legislation to strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. high tech companies that commercialize basic research.
Her public sector career includes serving as chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and as deputy assistant to the President (1993-1998), as secretary of environmental protection under The Governor of Pennsylvania (2003-2008), and as chair of the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (2004-2008). She was a candidate for U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania in 2016, narrowly losing to the long serving incumbent.
In the private sector, Katie has started her own consulting company and led a $100M business designing and building microgrids and remediating and redeveloping “brownfield” properties. As an operating partner with a private equity fund, she helped build successful growth strategies for mid-stage clean energy, water and efficiency companies, and she led efforts to attract investments in early stage life science companies as a partner in a biotech start up.
Known for both her vision and energy, Katie is the proud recipient of numerous awards and recognitions.
She holds honorary doctorates from Muhlenberg University, Dickinson College, and Clarion State
University. She is the Woman of Conservation Lifetime Achievement Awardee of PennFuture. She also has been named “Global Leader for Tomorrow” (World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland), “Business Leader of the Year” (Woman’s Network for a Sustainable Future), “Woman of the Year” (Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment), and has been awarded prestigious environmental awards including the “Ansel Adams Award” of the National Wildlife Federation.
Katie is married and has and three daughters.
Luis Benitez: Luis Benitez is the Vice President of Government Affairs and Global Impact for VF Corporation, a $12 billion company that owns some of the outdoor industry’s most iconic brands.
Prior to joining the VF Corporation, Luis was appointed by Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper to lead the newly established Outdoor Recreation Industry Office in 2015. In that role, he transformed the outdoor industry into a powerful force for economic development, conservation and stewardship, education and workforce training, and public health and wellness. Under his watch, the state’s outdoor economy ballooned from $28 billion to $65 billion.
Luis spent a decade managing the well-established leadership development school, Outward Bound Professional in Colorado at the start of his career. He also served as the COO and director of operations for Adventure Consultants, a New Zealand-based global expedition firm with a long and storied history of leading trips on Mount Everest that was featured both in the book Into Thin Air and in the movie Everest.
Luis helped create the nonprofit Trekking For Kids, which focuses on service-based expeditions allowing participants to climb and trek while teaching them about local issues like housing and healthcare for disadvantaged youth around the world. He was also a founding partner for Warriors to Summits, a nonprofit focusing on serving veterans by connecting them with the outdoors.
He has also served as an adjunct professor in Ecuador and Chile for the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Luis holds a professional guide accreditation from ASEGUIM in Ecuador and an Executive MBA from the University of Denver with an emphasis certification on behavioral sciences and public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Luis was also one of the recipients of the 2019 Keystone Leadership Award.
Terrance D. Carroll: Terrance D. Carroll was the 54th Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives. He is the only African-American to have served as Speaker of the Colorado House. Terrance served in the legislature from 2003 until being term-limited 2011. Terrance has been listed by 5280 Magazine as one of the “50 Most Influential People in Denver,” Terrance’s entry noted his reputation as a skillful dealmaker, stating that he is a “critical and respected negotiator.” Terrance is the Colorado State Director for Unite America which is a movement of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents working to bridge the partisan divide in order to further a more representative and functional government capable of solving major challenges. He also serves as a reserve police officer.
Additionally, Terrance has been listed as Power Book Industry Leader in Law by the Denver Business Journal. He is an alum of the Marshall Memorial Fellowship of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Terrance serves on the board of directors for the National Western Stock Show.
Terrance is a graduate of the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and holds a Master of Divinity degree from the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. He also an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches-USA and the Progressive National Baptist Church.
Effective March 1, 2025, Thomas J. Vilsack, former United States Secretary of Agriculture and Governor of Iowa, became the first Chief Executive Officer for the World Food Prize Foundation. In this new role, Governor Vilsack is focusing on expanding the Foundation’s global network, and will further position the Foundation as a leader in addressing global food and nutrition insecurity, continuing his lifetime of public service.
Shelby Coffey III is a distinguished journalist, media executive, and thought leader whose career has helped shape the landscape of American news and public discourse. Over several decades, Coffey has held some of the most influential roles in journalism, including serving as editor of the Los Angeles Times, executive vice president of ABC News, and deputy managing editor of The Washington Post. His editorial leadership extended to key roles as president of CNN Financial News, editor of the Dallas Times Herald, and U.S. News & World Report.
Jerry Steiner has spent 40 years involved in agriculture following growing up on a Wisconsin dairy farm. He began his career with Monsanto, in multiple business leadership roles. From 2003-2013 he served as a member of the Executive team, as the company’s Executive Vice President of Sustainability and Corporate Affairs. He led the company’s global Government, Public and Industry Affairs teams across the 70 countries where Monsanto conducts business. This experience got Jerry connected to the Keystones centers work in agriculture. Key among his responsibilities were shaping the company’s public policy and building partnerships aimed at helping farmers around the world produce more food, while conserving valuable resources like water and energy. Two unique partnership that developed under his leadership were drought tolerant corn with 5 African countries, CIMMYT and the Gates foundation, and a building a sustainable business model in Brazil with the value chain leading to significant multi-company investment and soybean varieties that can protected themselves.
Jennifer Morris is the Chief Executive Officer of The Nature Conservancy, leading a team of nearly 6,000 staff working in more than 80 countries and territories tackling the dual crises of the 
Congressman Joe Neguse represents Colorado’s 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected to his first term in November 2018, becoming the first Black Member of Congress in Colorado history. In December 2022, Rep. Neguse was elected by his colleagues to serve as Chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC), becoming the first Coloradan to serve in a senior elected leadership role in the House in over 85 years. He serves on the Natural Resources and Judiciary Committees, and was also appointed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to serve as one of four Democrats on the prestigious Rules Committee. Rep. Neguse serves as Ranking Member on the House Subcommittee on Federal Lands, which he previously Chaired in the 117th Congress.
Llewellyn King was born in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. He went into journalism as soon as he turned 16, stringing for Time magazine and United Press in Africa.
Steven Williams is the Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo North America, overseeing a more than $48 billion business that spans PepsiCo’s Foods and Beverage operating units. His leadership encompasses more than 125,000 associates and over 900 locations across the U.S. and Canada. Steven joined PepsiCo in 2001 as part of PepsiCo’s acquisition of the Quaker Oats Company, which he joined in 1997, and has held leadership positions of increased responsibility since.