Samantha Slater

Samantha Slater was born and raised in Fresno, in the hot Central Valley of California.  Family and school trips to Yosemite and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks were a regular occurrence for Samantha growing up to see the beautiful waterfalls, the historic sequoias, and Half Dome – and snow!  While it was rare for temperatures in Fresno to drop below freezing or for much, if any, precipitation to fall from the sky, trips to Yosemite allowed an opportunity to build snowmen and have snowball fights with her younger brother. And of course, the experience of chains on tires in the snow.

It was fairly shocking for Samantha to move to the East Coast to attend college at American University in Washington, D.C., and hear people mispronounce Yosemite as “Yo-Se-Mite.” Who doesn’t know how to pronounce Yosemite? And why don’t people use chains in the snow on the East Coast? And doesn’t everyone have a picture of their family standing in front of a station wagon driving through a giant sequoia?

National parks on the East Coast are a very different experience, as you can imagine.  More lush, greener, it rains, and there are four seasons. Now a longtime Springfield, Virginia resident, Shenandoah National Park, Skyline Drive, and Old Rag Mountain are the sites of frequent adventures.  

Samantha Slater is the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).  Joining AHRI in January of 2019, Samantha leads AHRI’s policy team, including state and federal legislative policy, state and federal regulatory policy, international policy, building codes, and research. Samantha is responsible for developing and executing AHRI’s advocacy efforts.    

Previously, Samantha Slater served as the Vice President of Government Affairs for the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). She led the RFA’s efforts in advancing the U.S. ethanol industry’s public policy agenda and served as RFA’s lead lobbyist for legislative and regulatory affairs concerning ethanol, energy, agriculture, and climate change.  Samantha successfully represented the U.S. ethanol industry’s interests in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, working to achieve the inclusion of a provision to expand the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).  She also represented the industry’s interests in the 2008 Farm Bill, which included the Energy Title and key renewable energy tax provisions.  

Samantha also held the position of Director of Public Policy for the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA).  Samantha successfully represented the corn growers’ interests in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which included the first RFS. Samantha began her career at the National Independent Energy Producers (NIEP) and the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA), working on state legislative and regulatory policy for the competitive power generation sector.

“It would be the pleasure of a lifetime to serve on the board of the National Park Trust.  I have long admired the work of the National Park Trust to ensure future generations will be able to experience all that National Parks have to offer.”