Julia Eagles joined McKnight as a senior program officer with the Midwest Climate & Energy program in March 2025. In this role, Julia works to shape and guide the trajectory of the Foundation’s work to advance clean energy and decarbonize buildings. She oversees and develops grant portfolios that support efforts to build power through partnership, aligning McKnight’s climate and equity goals.
Prior to joining McKnight, Julia served as associate director of utility & regulatory strategy at the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT), where she supported local governments and community-based organizations across the country in utility regulatory engagement to advance equitable building decarbonization. She previously worked at Xcel Energy as public policy and strategy manager, producing a nation-leading carbon reduction vision and pathway to carbon-free electricity by 2050. Earlier in her career, she managed low-income energy efficiency programs at the Phillips Community Energy Cooperative in Minneapolis and coordinated clean energy projects across the Twin Cities with the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs). Throughout these roles she has focused on shifting power and building community wealth through the clean energy transition.
Julia holds a Master of Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Macalester College. She is a founding Board member of the Twin Cities Young Professionals in Energy group and was named to the Midwest Energy News 40 Under 40.
Originally from Maine, she has called Minneapolis home for the last two decades. In her free time, she enjoys biking and skiing the city’s abundant trails, taking train trips, growing and eating good food, and spending time with her partner and their dog.
