Award Finalists

Former Director of the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Amanda Lefton is the 2023 recipient for the Heronemus Award for Outstanding Achievement in Offshore Wind for her ambitious leadership that catapulted the development of the U.S. offshore wind industry.  

During her tenure as the Director of BOEM (2021-2023), Lefton led the development and implementation of the Biden-Harris administration’s ambitious offshore wind goals of 30 GW by 2030 and 15 GW of floating wind energy by 2035. She increased industry momentum with her contributions to BOEM’s leasing path forward strategy to identify new lease areas and by supporting the establishment of the administration’s Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership. Additionally, under her leadership, BOEM issued environmental approval to the first two utility-scale offshore wind projects in the U.S., conducted three lease auctions (New York Bight, North Carolina, and California) and advanced four others, and moved more than a dozen additional offshore wind projects through the federal review process.   

Lefton continues to advocate for offshore wind as the vice president of development, U.S. East at RWE, one of the world’s largest offshore wind energy producers, where she leads their offshore wind development along the East Coast.