Why I Work on Climate

I don’t remember ever not caring about climate change . Since learning about it in fourth grade, I’ve been deeply troubled by it. What could one person possibly do about a problem that threatens all of humanity?
I figured I’d leave the big problems to those who could do something about it, the scientists and politicians. And I’d do what I could in my own zone.
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I ate vegetarian and local foods often. I cut down on plastic use and disposables wherever I could. I composted. I rode my bike. I even washed and reused my (very few) Ziploc bags.
But let’s be real. Doing this stuff made a trace amount of climate impact . I wanted to do more, but I was scared. The more I looked at the problem, the more I felt helpless. In my lifetime, I would see even more wildfires, more floods, and more drought than we’ve seen in the last ten years. More food shortages. Mass migrations. Scary stuff.
Every company I’d ever worked for had not been a climate solution and had no sustainability promise. How would I find a company or a client that, at the very least, gave a shit about climate change?
I had no answers.
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The image above is from Ayana Elizabeth Johnson from the podcast, How To Save a Planet. It got me thinking. My skills are in storytelling, design, and brand strategy . Surely, there’s someone out there (maybe one of those smart scientists or politicians) with brilliant climate solutions, who doesn’t have this brand strategy skill that I have. How can I help them get what we both want? I had no idea where these people were, but I started to poke around.
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Pursuit of this knowledge has led me to multiple communities of brilliant, inspiring people who are actively working to solve climate change. Shoutout to Work on Climate Clean Creatives and Climate Designers! And there I found the answer to my question...how could I make an impact with the skills I have? Do some brand strategy to GET THEM MONEY TO DO THE SMART SHIT I DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO.
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This goal—getting climate solutions funded—has changed everything in my professional life. I’m meeting with people every day who are brave enough to stare this very scary reality in the face. I’m giving them the tools to get funded. And as a result, I feel a lot less helpless. And...I even get paid to do it.
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I do not have all the answers, but I have way more answers than I started with. The climate space is a wonderful place to explore curiosity. There are so many great people there who want you there, too!

So I encourage you to ask yourself: What brings you joy? What are you good at? And what is the work that needs doing?