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During the week of September 8-9, 2020, we wrapped up our first ever virtual GoGreen Conference.  In a time where the conversation of green sustainable initiatives is more important than ever, we are so grateful to all of our attendees, sponsors, presenters and partners whose compounded efforts brought this virtual conference experience to life! We spent two days learning, growing and connecting on how sustainability in the business setting is a powerful and indispensable tool for navigating the tumultuous waters of today’s global economy and solving our climate woes.

The discussions we had around sustainable, green business practices between the public, private and community sectors during this pandemic era were nothing short of inspiring, and we are so grateful for your participation. As large regions of the west coast battle wildfires, we are reminded yet again of the importance of a Green New Deal, greening business operations in both public and private sectors and of the need for thought-leadership and action around sustainable solutions.

If you were unable to attend a session or if you were hoping to revisit your favorites, you will be able to access all conference content through our app for the indefinite future. As a paid attendee, you can return to our GoGreen Socio app to watch and rewatch sessions at your leisure, follow up with connections made during the event, and reach out to our sponsors and partners for collaboration and with any questions you may have for them. If you weren’t able to attend the conference live and want to view our recorded session content, you can purchase a ticket to view program sessions here.

We were thrilled to be able to bring you this year’s conference content virtually and we cannot wait to be back with you in-person and virtually in 2021.

Thank you to all of our attendees and collaborators for sharing your enthusiasm on social media using #GoGreenSEA! You can view a recap of all conference social media postings for #GoGreenSEA here.

We owe a huge thank you to our media partners, community partners, and sponsors for helping build awareness about the event and putting your support toward this year’s virtual GoGreen Conference. Special thank you to Washington Business Alliance and the Low Carbon Prosperity Institute, our 2020 Title and Program Partner, who made the conference possible. From spreading the word via email and social media to sponsoring sessions and sharing in our passion for environmental change, thank you one and all for helping to make GoGreen happen!

We hope you will join us next year for a return to an in-person hybrid event structure in Seattle on April 6, 2021. Register and reserve your spot today!

If you are interested in learning more on how to confirm your support as a sponsor for GoGreen 2021 please contact GoGreen Conference Partnership Manager Savannah via email at savannah@gogreenconference.net. 

In today’s ever-changing world, it seems that there are hundreds of thousands of virtual events and conferences circulating, all offering amazing content, learning experiences and networking opportunities for their attendees. With so much to choose from, we know it can be difficult to nail down which conference will be the best opportunity for you to attend as an individual or an organization — that’s why we’ve gone ahead and compiled our top 5 reasons to attend this year’s Virtual GoGreen Conference!

Keynotes from top industry leaders in green technology, carbon negativity and climate activism including:
Microsoft’s Chief Environmental Officer, Lucas Joppa
Sendle’s Chief Executive Officer, James Chin Moody
Zero Hour’s Founder and Co-Executive Director, Jamie Margolin
Climate Voice’s Founder and Executive Director, Bill Weihl

Breakout sessions & plenaries with ample time for Q&A from industry leaders in both public and private sectors with content on topics of:
-Climate Action
-Bridging Urban Rural Divides
-Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
-Building Decarbonization

Session Highlight | Sustainable and Equitable Communities: How Sustainability Intersects with EquityView the full 2020 program with session descriptions and speaker biographies here!

Virtual Event Format and Ticket Price
This year’s virtual format and ticket price make the conference more accessible than ever! With no travel barriers for interested attendees both within and outside the Pacific Northwest, the GoGreen Conference has the capacity to reach sustainability professionals on a national level. Attend programming and connect with other industry professionals from across the country from your own workspace. We know sitting in front of a Zoom screen all day isn’t always ideal when you have other work to attend to, that’s why we made the transition to a 2-day format with strategically planned content to be done by lunchtime each day!

Content Galore on the 2020 Virtual GoGreen Conference Event App
-All event sessions will be recorded and saved in the app following the conclusion of the event for ticket holders to return to as frequently they please. No more fretting over which breakout session you want to attend most, because you’ll have access to them all following the event!
-In-app networking allows for attendees to make connections and contacts with other industry professionals from around the country – collaborate, share ideas, drive leadership and generate solutions!
-The sponsor hub within the app will have resources, special offers and meeting opportunities for attendees to directly connect with our event sponsors.

It’s affordable!
Attend the virtual conference for just $75 (that’s $200 less than the in-person event) to:
-Receive access to over 17 sessions of content live with Q&A.
-Revisit and rewatch any content you didn’t get to join during the event with recordings of every session available for attendees in the app at the conclusion of the event.
-Participate in networking opportunities in-app and scheduled into the conference programming.
-Receive access to special offers, resources and meeting opportunities provided by our sponsors!

Q: We saw the recent news that Microsoft will be carbon negative by 2030 – that is impressive! How will Microsoft use innovation and ability to scale to make this happen?

Microsoft is proud to have been carbon neutral in our operations since 2012. Now, with our new more ambitious goals and detailed plans we are putting our technology and expertise to the test across our business. This includes our existing expertise in energy finance and research, work with our suppliers, and investments in equipping environmental change-makers with AI and cloud tools through our AI for Earth program. Our commitment also means making use of our role as a major technology company; we will leverage existing and new partner and customer relationships to spur change, as well as invest $1 billion dollars in carbon removal projects and technology.

Q: At the upcoming GoGreen Conference you will share how leading global organizations like Microsoft can use operations, investments and technology to bring down emissions and lessen the impact to our climate. Can you give us a preview of what we will learn by attending?

I’ll be speaking about what Microsoft is doing itself to reduce and remove our carbon footprint. More expansively, I’ll cover the conversations we’re having with customers about how they can meet their own sustainability goals. A key part of that is to understand what your emissions are and the tools at your disposal to address them.

Q: You are clearly a leading climate champion as Microsoft’s first Chief Environmental Officer and in starting Microsoft’s AI for Earth program back in 2017 – a cross-company effort dedicated to delivering technology-enabled solutions to global environmental challenges. What is next on the horizon for you?

For me it is all about continuing to go further faster with sustainability at Microsoft. This is an area where we must be constantly innovating, and one where we can never become complacent. In the short term we are continuing to build the infrastructure to meet our carbon commitments and partnering with innovators and customers to develop the tools and technology to reduce and remove carbon. Beyond that we’re also looking at the additional focus areas of ecosystems, waste, and water.

Founded in 2014, Australian based delivery service Sendle has now launched in the states as America’s first 100% carbon neutral package delivery service and a certified B Corporation. With carbon neutrality at the forefront of their business model, gone are the days when doing good for the environment would cost you extra. Making door-to-door package delivery simple, reliable, and affordable allows customers to choose a delivery service that is both cost-effective and conscious of the environmental toll of package delivery.

We are thrilled to welcome one of Sendle’s founders James Chin Moody to the Seattle GoGreen Conference stage on April 9 to discuss the importance of Decoupling Economic Growth from Resource Consumption. We had a chance to talk with James leading up to the conference and hear his thoughts on the importance of innovation in the effort to separate consumption of resources from economic growth. “Since the industrial revolution, the tide of progress has ebbed and flowed,” he said. “Five distinct waves, each starting with disruptive new technologies and ending with a global depression, have transformed our industries, societies and economies almost beyond recognition.”

“In this next wave, we’re going to see increasing demand for resources, and at the same time, resources are becoming increasingly scarce. This will cause massive shifts in business, where there’s suddenly a price on things that were never priced before (i.e., a ton of carbon, a liter of water, etc.).”

What James predicts though, is that with innovation, economic growth will no longer rely on the over consumption of resources. As new thought leaders and technologies arise, we’ll see business models that thrive by actually using fewer resources, not more.

When it comes to a sustainable future, innovation is critical to changing the way we view and use the earth’s resources. “In a world of limited resources, there’s a limit to what we can consume. It will be the new, innovative business models that can crack the concept of growing while actually reducing their reliance on the environment, that will truly de-risk themselves for the future, and succeed,” James told us.

We cannot wait to welcome James Chin Moody to the GoGreen stage in Seattle, WA alongside other leading voices in the sustainability movement. Join us on April 9th to celebrate ten years of advancing our mission of empowering attendees with the strategies, tools and connections to green their organizations with profitability in mind. http://seattle.gogreenconference.net/

Event Details: The GoGreen Conference will take place Thursday, April 9, 2020 at the Hyatt Regency Elwha Ballroom, located at 808 Howell Street, Seattle, Washington, 98101. Tickets are available at seattle.gogreenconference.net or call 206.459.0595.

The commitment that comes with being a change activist isn’t an experience many of us will have in our lifetime, and to dedicate so much of your life to a cause as a youth is even less likely. As the discussion around the climate expands, some of the leading voices calling for action are from the youth — rallying together for an earth they will have to inhabit long after the current regulatory bodies, politicians and public leaders are gone.

Jamie Margolin is one such youth leader. At 16 years old she founded Zero Hour, a youth-led movement creating entry points, training, and resources for young activists and organizers wanting to take concrete action around climate change. This September she testified in front of Congress with Greta Thunberg in the panel “Voices Leading the Next Generation on the Global Climate Crisis”. A few weeks ago she was awarded the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. And somehow, while balancing school, life and climate activism, she found the time to write a book.

Youth to Power will hit the shelves in June 2020, and is said to offer the essential guide to changemaking for young people. We asked Jamie what youth could expect when reading Youth to Power and she said, “There’s no magic trick, but it gives you an idea of how to navigate the waters.” Each chapter explores a different aspect of changemaking as a youth including managing a strong social media presence, taking care of your mental health, prioritizing time management, balancing school, activism and more. Jamie makes it clear that Youth to Power is not an activist’s autobiography, but a breakdown of the essentials unique to young organizers that she’s learned throughout her own experience. Her first piece of advice to youth: start with something you’re good at, something that comes naturally to you or something that you’re passionate about. Writing has always been Jamie’s outlet, and Youth to Power is certainly not her first or last foray with this medium. 

Jamie will join us at the GoGreen Conference in Seattle April 9, 2020 to address leaders in the business and public sectors. When we asked what insight she hopes they will gain she shared with us a phrase she’s used often “Don’t take pictures of the work I do, listen to the words that I say.” With the wave of youth activism garnering public attention, there’s a huge sect of professionals, business leaders, politicians and more complimenting the drive of the youth, but, in the words of Jamie, “being inspired by us isn’t enough.” What Jamie and all youth activists are after isn’t a pat on the back, but for their words to influence action. Youth activists aren’t talking points for political gain, they are writers, creators, doctors, actors, singers, designers, journalists, students, brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, and everything in between. They are fed up. Jamie and young change activists all over are seeking a drastic change in our society. “The climate crisis didn’t just pop up because we started coal mining,” Jamie notes. For centuries we have been brought up in a world where our planet’s well-being isn’t prioritized, and now we’re seeing the effects of it first hand. As more people wake up to the climate crisis, now more than ever it’s time for action. From Jamie’s perspective, it’s time to change the fabric of our society. Now is the time because there is not much time left.

We are thrilled to welcome Jamie Margolin to the GoGreen stage in Seattle, WA alongside other leading voices in the sustainability movement of all ages. Join us in April to celebrate ten years of advancing our mission of empowering attendees with the strategies, tools and connections to green their organizations with profitability in mind. http://seattle.gogreenconference.net/ 

Event Details: The GoGreen Conference will take place Thursday, April 9, 2020 at the Hyatt Regency Elwha Ballroom located at 808 Howell Street, Seattle, Washington, 98101. Tickets are available at seattle.gogreenconference.net or call 206.459.0595.

Fighting not drowning.
As the seas rise, so do we.

These are just a few of the rally cries that were heard on Friday, September 20^th, 2019 as youth across the globe organized and gathered for the Global Climate Strike. There were 4482 strikes registered globally, with over 1000 of them taking place in the United States. Portland’s strike began Friday morning with a youth-led rally outside City Hall where groups spoke of the destruction to Frontline Communities dealing with the harshest repercussions of climate change despite doing the least to aggravate it, called for the adoption of a Green New Deal phasing out fossil fuel infrastructure and investing in renewable energy, and demanded climate justice.

Youth from all backgrounds, some representing the Pacific Islands and Indigenous tribes, some with plans to run for congress, led the rally. Speaker after speaker stood in front their peers and they shared their call for action – a cry for justice. With these speeches in mind, tens of thousands of Oregonians marched across Hawthorne bridge. At its height, the march spanned nearly a mile, filled with protesters.

With globally known young leaders like Greta Thunberg (16) and Jamie Margolin (17) speaking for the voices of the youth to be heard, the movement for climate action is a largely youth led initiative. Young people across the world are fighting for their right to an inhabitable planet long after those who contributed most to climate change are gone.

Just last Wednesday, Thunberg and Margolin testified in front of congress in the panel: Voices Leading the Next Generation on the Global Climate Crisis. “The reality is, my generation has been committed to a planet that is collapsing” Margolin emphasize in her testimony, “On college applications I keep getting asked what I want to be when I grow up; the media, pop culture, politicians, businesses, and the whole world tells me that I and my whole generation will have something to look forward to that we just don’t.”

Margolin ended her testimony with a call for action on behalf of the youth. Her dialogue came to a close with the declaration of her generation, Generation Z as the era of the Green New Deal, a congressional resolution that lays out a grand plan for tackling climate change.  “People call my generation, Generation Z, as if we are the last generation. But we are not. We are refusing to be the last letter of the alphabet.”

In the wake of the week long Global Climate Strike, we are all the more thrilled to welcome This is Zero Hour founder Jamie Margolin to the podium at our GoGreen Conference in Seattle April 9, 2020.  For ten years, the GoGreen Conference has been the ultimate sustainability learning experience for business and public sector decision-makers in the Pacific Northwest. Featuring regionally targeted content and recognized leaders from the community, GoGreen works across industry silos to foster peer-to-peer learning and collaborative solutions.

http://seattle.gogreenconference.net/

At the 2017 Travel Portland Awards Breakfast this morning, GoGreen Conference was recognized for outstanding work in building programs that enhance Oregon’s exceptional quality of life and strengthening Portland and Oregon’s leadership in sustainability.

Ericka Dickey-Nelson, Founder and President of GoGreen Conference, was on hand to accept the award among government representatives, business leaders and community members working to make Portland a better place and a highly sought after international destination.

“We are thrilled to be recognized for our 10 years of work driving sustainable business practices forward in our regional community”, said Ericka Dickey-Nelson, Founder and President of GoGreen Conference. “Portland, Oregon has long been recognized as a global leader in sustainable practices and our annual conference puts the spotlight on the exciting innovative practices starting here in this city.”

The award comes at a particularly exciting time as this year marks the 10th anniversary GoGreen Conference, which will take place October 17, 2017 at the Gerding Theater (home of Portland Center Stage) in Portland, Oregon. The mission of the conference is to drive sustainable best practices in organizations, and facilitate collaboration with regional innovators, entrepreneurs and sustainability champions who will share their stories and reinforce the ultimate goal of increasing sustainability in business to create a healthier company, economy and climate.

Attend GoGreen Portland 2017

GoGreen Portland 2017, brought to you by the City of Portland and Prosper Portland, will take place on Tuesday, October 17 at the Gerding Theater at the Armory (Portland Center Stage), located at 128 NW 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97209. Tickets are available online at portland.gogreenconference.net or via phone at 503.226.2377.