Matt Sonnesyn is a Vice President at the Business Roundtable.  In this role, he oversees the work of the Committee on Infrastructure, promoting policies that develop and maintain a world-class infrastructure for the United States, including transportation and water systems.  He is also the staff lead for the Committee on Energy and Environment, promoting access to reliable, affordable energy as well as policies supporting a clean, healthy environment.  He previously led the Roundtable’s efforts on immigration for five years.

Throughout his career, Sonnesyn has focused on developing the best policy ideas and advancing them with bipartisan support.  He has worked on a wide range of issues from in-sourcing brainpower to grow the U.S. economy to promoting nuclear power as part of a balanced energy policy to streamlining the confirmation of lower-tier executive nominations.

Prior to joining the Roundtable, Sonnesyn spent a decade working for U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander in a number of roles, including as his Chief of Staff.  He led work on the Senator’s signature America COMPETES Act, bipartisan legislation focused on improving the country’s competitive edge in science and technology.  Sonnesyn also managed the day-to-day operations of the Senate Republican Conference, when it was chaired by Alexander, and led the Senator's work as Chairman of the Subcommittee on African Affairs. 

Sonnesyn also served as policy director for two statewide campaigns in Tennessee – for Alexander in 2002 and for U.S. Senator Bob Corker in 2006.  Both campaigns were successful.

Before attending graduate school, Sonnesyn worked at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington D.C. think tank.  Sonnesyn holds a B.A. in international relations and Spanish from Principia College and a Master’s of public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where he was a Kennedy Fellow.  He and his wife, Allison, reside in Washington, D.C.