Rainey Center Names Nora Retana Vice President of Communications, Promotes Lucas Overby to Director of Policy Research

As the Senate advances bipartisan permitting reform, Rainey strengthens its team for the serious work ahead on energy, infrastructure and affordability

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, November 10, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy today named former congressional strategist Nora Retana Vice President of Communications and promoted Lucas Overby to Director of Policy Research, expanding its leadership as Washington confronts consequential decisions on permitting
reform, energy costs and the strain on America’s electric grid.

“Washington has no shortage of ideas. What matters is whether those ideas deliver real progress for the American people,” said Sarah E. Hunt, President and CEO of the Rainey Center. “When good policy is held back by gridlock or red tape, that’s not a Washington problem, it’s a family budget problem. It shouldn’t matter where you live, where you come from or which party you belong to. Our leaders have an important
decision to make, we can create the conditions for American growth, or keep standing
in its way.”

Retana brings more than two decades of experience in national communications, public affairs and executive advising. She previously served as Strategic Director for Rep. Tom Reed of New York, directing communications for his office and his role as co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.

“Nora understands how policy gets made and how it gets heard,” Hunt said. “That combination is exactly what Rainey needs as these debates intensify.”

“Energy is the new center of gravity in Washington,” said Retana. “The loudest voices in politics want a fight but most Americans just want solutions,” said Retana. “Rainey stands with the leaders willing to debate in good faith and get things done.”

Overby’s work spans energy infrastructure, technology, cybersecurity and economic development, including recent analysis of the rise of data centers, advanced climate systems, and voter sentiment mapping. As Director of Policy Research, he will set the Center’s research agenda. “It’s in the vital national interest that we govern responsibly in this moment where the potential good of so many new technologies is right there for us” Overby said.

“Lucas has a gift for finding the policy questions that matter before Washington does,” Hunt said. Among Rainey’s recent publications is her paper, When Permits Aren’t Permanent, which finds that federal approvals that can be reversed after investors commit raise financing risk and, ultimately, costs for ratepayers, taxpayers and retirement savers.

The appointments come ahead of the Rainey Center National Summit, December 7–9, 2026, at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando, Florida, which will convene policy experts and elected officials from across the country.

About the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy
The Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy is a nonpartisan 501(c)3 public policy research institute and a national leadership community of state, local, and federal policymakers. Named for Joseph H. Rainey, the first Black American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Center produces original policy and public opinion research in energy and climate, technology, national security, economic opportunity, and free and fair elections, and it trains and convenes a rising generation of leaders who work across political divides on difficult issues. The Center is the preeminent home for big-tent and nontraditional conservatives committed to a future of opportunity for all Americans.

Media Contact:
Megan Sibley
megan.sibley@raineycenter.org
(480) 261-5927

Megan Sibley
Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy
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