Preston Cory is the Founder of 45 North Strategies and has over a decade of experience in international energy, environmental, and macro economic policy. 45 North Strategies provides bespoke policy analysis and intelligence to clients ranging from institutional investors to climate-tech startups who want to make more strategic decisions. 

Preston’s background includes working at the highest levels of the U.S. government and advising investment managers and global corporations on public policy. Her expertise ranges from energy/climate global regulatory policy to tariffs, sanctions, and international tax, with area expertise in Russia and the EU.

She has extensive experience in U.S. Legislative and the Executive Branches of government having worked as a legislative assistant in the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, and in the Office of Air and Radiation at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, one of the government’s most active regulatory bodies. Additionally, she spent three years at Meridian Research Group in Washington, D.C. and London, U.K., providing policy due diligence to global asset managers, corporations, and EU climate tech start-ups.  In addition to advising clients on U.S. government policy, she has engaged clients in international climate accords including the UN Montreal Protocol and the meeting of parties in Nairobi, Kenya.

Most recently, she worked as the Senior Director of Government Affairs for TotalEnergies, one of the world’s largest integrated energy companies, where she furthered TotalEnergies’ relationships across the U.S. government, diplomatic missions, industry associations, and advised  their gas, renewables, refining & chemicals, and U.S. commodities trading floor on policy risks and tailwinds.

Preston holds an M.Sc. in Russian and Eurasian Political Economy and Energy from King’s College London and a B.A. in Global Politics from Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. In her spare time, she serves as an Advisory Board Member for the National Park Trust, a land conservancy and environmental education nonprofit. She also dabbles in film photography, which is featured on this site. Preston speaks Spanish and is conversational in French and Italian. 

45 North Strategies is a nod to the 45th parallel which delineates the halfway point between the equator and the North Pole. This latitude circle embodies a brand ethos of bipartisan, global reach, inclusive of the 45th parallel’s crossing through northern Michigan, the founder’s home. The 45th parallel also runs through parts of Europe where Preston has spent significant time and serviced clients, including in France and Italy, and through Russia and Eurasia in which she has geopolitical expertise.