Common Cause: Business Power for Climate Action – The Why

About the event

Note:  This is a three part workshop and networking series. 

On Purpose Oregon and Oregon Business for Climate are joining forces to accelerate their collective impact in the policy arena by equipping purpose-driven businesses with the knowledge, relationships, and practical tools to engage directly in Oregon’s legislative and regulatory processes around climate solutions. Through a three-part workshop series, participants will build capacity for stakeholder collaboration and public policy engagement—whether they’re looking to advance their own impact goals, fulfill B Corp governance requirements, or both. This project is strictly education and outreach; none of these funds will be used for lobbying of any kind.

The format for each session is a one-hour interactive workshop followed by happy hour (first drink is on them)—creating space for peer learning and relationship building around shared commitment to climate action.

Series Structure

• Session 1 – The Why: Contextualize how policy and advocacy engagement accelerates business impact on climate and environmental issues. Cover recent successes driven by collective action, the opposition we face, and why purpose-driven businesses are uniquely positioned to shape the conversation and outcomes.
• Session 2 – The What: Unpack the legislative and regulatory processes—how businesses participate, where engagement points exist, and how to identify which issues align with your company’s values and impact goals. Introduce the multi-stakeholder ecosystem in Oregon (environmental councils, climate organizations, business groups, community leaders) and how to build meaningful relationships across these sectors.
• Session 3 – The How: Walk through concrete tools for policy engagement (direct testimony, sign-on letters, op-eds, coalition participation) using recent examples from Oregon climate policy work (clean electric grid, building efficiency, clean fuels, renewable energy, vehicle emissions standards). Participants will either commit to a specific engagement action during the series or co-create a post-series action plan for their business.

The program leverages ongoing partnerships and expertise from Oregon Environmental Council, Climate Solutions, Oregon Just Transition Alliance, Oregon Solar + Storage Industries Association, Renewable Northwest, and other leading policy, climate, equity, and business organizations—modeling the multi-stakeholder collaboration that drives systemic change.

Registration is for all 3 installments of this 3-part series (Sept 17, Oct 20, and Nov 17 — all from 4pm-6pm). After you sign up, they’ll send you calendar invites for the full series!