Kyu Lee is director of marketing and communications at the Center on Global Energy Policy where he leads efforts to showcase and advance the center’s work around the world’s most pressing energy issues.
Kyu has been working for more than 20 years in strategic communications. Prior he was an associate director of communications and marketing for the Earth Institute at Columbia University. There he helped lead outreach efforts across a range of areas including media relations, partnership development, social media, and digital strategy. Kyu joined the Earth Institute in 2007 to bring attention to the work of the Millennium Villages, a project that spanned 10 different countries in sub-Saharan Africa focused on demonstrating the Millennium Development Goals could be achieved. Since then he's developed core strategies and campaigns to promote Columbia's work in the fields of sustainable development, poverty alleviation, and climate change.
He first worked on climate change issues in 1992 when he traveled to the Rio Earth Summit as an intern for a newspaper. After graduating, he traveled to all the major UN global conferences during the 90s as a photographer, operations manager, editor, and writer. He's visited more than 30 countries and written on sustainable development issues throughout the world.
He lives on the Upper West Side with his wife and daughter. He is an avid birder and you can find him early in the morning during the spring and fall in Central Park. He is a member of the Board of Directors for NYC Bird Alliance (formerly NYC Audubon). He graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in English Literature.