❌ SF Climate Week is not a conference ❌
It is 100x better than a conference. It's more like the urban-techy Burning Man of climate (think: more networking & clothing, less music & drugs).
An ecosystem of 350 diverse events was built out of nothing, led by Climatebase and grassroots organized by a coalition of over 750 organizations. 15,000 people attended (many from outside the Bay) to frolic around SF and revel in climate solutions. Notably, it was far more accessible than Burning Man, nearly all events were free! A local attendee could have feasibly gotten through the week without exchanging money (in fact, I ate dinner at events all week!).
I was blown away by the quality of all the events I attended– each one was totally unique and embodied the organizers. Despite the massive list of events, most of them were filled to capacity within days of being listed (sign up early and remove yourself if you can't attend!).
It may have been my first SF Climate Week, but I went hard 😎, attending 10 events in 7 days. Here are my highlights: ✨
👟 Started the week with my kind of "happy hour," a 7am run hosted by Streamline Climate and A Runner's Mind. I demoed first-of-a-kind recyclable sneakers by Asics— ⭐⭐⭐⭐ for comfort.
🧠 Got inspired by the potential of AI to positively impact climate solutions in an immersive workshop. In small groups, we brainstormed ways AI will be part of the problem and solution (so much to unpack here).
🚲 Joined the teams of G2 Venture Partners, Union Labs Ventures & Congruent Ventures on a lovely loop through the headlands. Cycling truly is the golf of the West Coast.
✏ In an intimate & artsy Cole Valley home, I watched a panel called "What makes good climate storytelling?" and got insight into the minds of 4 talented women focused on telling climate stories, including esteemed author, Rebecca Solnit 😍. This was my favorite event.
💸 I grew my understanding of the breadth of financing options available to climatetech companies at a TRIPLE panel event hosted by Banyan Infrastructure & Streamline. We heard from folks in equipment financing (Camber Road), venture debt (Mercury) & government grants (Streamline Climate). Elemental Excelerator also shared how they design programs to help their cohorts bridge the gap between venture & project financing.
✅ Lastly, I learned about divesting your 401k from fossil fuels in a talk by Alex Wright-Gladstein. There was a ton of useful info, but the bottom line is that fossil fuels (the "energy sector") have underperformed the rest of the S&P 500 over the past 10 years by >3%. You can invest fossil fuel free through Sphere.
This is only the 2nd SF Climate Week and it will only grow in size, caliber & prestige.
I'm eager to organize something next year— please reach out if you're interested in collaborating on a creative event concept, or have thoughts on what was missing from SFCW. 💌
