About Dan Cass
Energy Transition Leader & Comms Specialist
Dan Cass brings more than 25 years’ senior experience as a founder, chief executive, advisor, and strategist. His distinctive contribution sits at the intersection of clean energy and strategic communications. He began his career as an environmentalist and is now a nationally recognised leader in the energy transition.
Until February 2025, Dan was CEO of Rewiring Australia, where he helped shift the national debate on household electrification and energy affordability. During this time, he was selected as a mentee in the Kilfinan Leaders Program. He remains an advisor to Rewiring Australia, is a Research Affiliate at the Sydney Environment Institute, sits on the Advisory Board of The Energy, and mentors climate tech startups through EnergyLab.
Dan has published research on large-scale and consumer energy, contributes to The Conversation, and has written policy for clean energy investors. He was one of a small group selected to advise the Energy Security Board on coal phase‑out and led the energy reform work of The Australia Institute.
A compelling advocate for the economic and political opportunities of electrification and renewable energy, Dan has shifted public debate through dozens of opinion pieces and extensive television, radio, and talkback media appearances. He has media‑trained politicians and community spokespeople, managed international and Australian public‑relations crises, and negotiated an unprecedented collaboration between Greenpeace and News Corporation to jointly advocate on whaling.
Dan has worked closely with energy ministers and convened corporate, government, and community stakeholders including the Australian Industry Group and Tesla. Internationally, he has worked with President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives and President Anote Tong of Kiribati. He has trained citizen lobbyists, run political campaigns, and organised Republican Congressman Bob Inglis’s lobbying tour of Australia.
He has helped found and build not‑for‑profit organisations that collectively raised more than $21 million. He served on the board of Hepburn Energy during its capital raise and construction of Australia’s first community‑owned wind farm. He has been chief of staff to a party leader, managed teams across multiple countries, and volunteered for environmental causes since high school.
Earlier in his career as a science historian, Dan was the youngest curator appointed to Museum Victoria. He founded its science and society program and delivered a volunteer-run museum at the Kew Lunatic Asylum.
Dan holds a first‑class Bachelor of Science (Honours) in the history of neo‑Darwinism from the University of Melbourne, where he won a Lorna Stirling Fund International Scholarship and was admitted to the Science Dean’s Honour List. He also holds a first‑class Graduate Diploma in Energy and Resources Law from Melbourne Law School, where he won the Raynes Dickson Exhibition for Project Finance, and has completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors – Governance Foundations for Non‑Profit Directors.