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Advocating for Climate Policy in the Workplace

A four-week course in partnership with ClimateVoice (founded by Bill Weihl, former Google Green Energy Czar) that outlines the pivotal role of employees in advocating for strong climate policies within their companies and teaches strategies to leverage influence and advance climate action in the workplace.

The course starts May 15, 2024. Enrollments close May 14, 2024.

Live sessions: Wednesdays 8:00-9:15am PT

Course level: Introductory

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Taught by

Deborah McNamara

Executive Director, ClimateVoice

Jennifer Allyn

Director of Programs and Campaigns, ClimateVoice

Drew Wilkinson

Founder, Climate Leadership Collective; Co-founder, Microsoft 10K member sustainability community

  • 4 weeks/4 hours per week
  • Real-world case study
  • Conduct a company climate policy audit
  • Class recording available
  • Completion certificate
  • 100% online

About this course

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To decarbonize at the speed and scale required, companies must lead on broad systemic
change, which requires them to be all in on climate and supportive of public policy. As an employee, you have influence within your company and can play a key role in driving this change and urging employers to wield their influence through lobbying, trade association memberships, and public statements to advocate for bold climate policies everywhere they operate.

 

The course draws on the expertise of ClimateVoice–a non-profit that leverages the power of corporate influence from climate-positive companies to win crucial power battles–to outline the importance of strong climate policy advocacy at work, regardless of your role.

 

Participants will learn about climate policy priorities in 2024, the role of trade association memberships in obstructing climate policy progress, and how employees and companies can wield their influence for positive change. Learn how to research your company’s positions on climate policy, ways to engage your co-workers, which questions to ask regarding trade association memberships and climate policy advocacy underway, and how to start advocating for action.

Who is this program for?

Green team and employee resource group members and leads

Organizing your current ERG or green team around climate policy advocacy

Sustainability professionals

Amplify and integrate climate policy advocacy into your work

Working professional employees

Elevate climate policy issues at work

Business students

Advocate for policy action in your future role

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What climate skills you'll learn

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Master climate policy priorities

Grasp the significance of climate policy as a transformative lever for change

Recognize the role of corporations

Understand how the private sector can do more to advance climate policy progress

Identify obstructionists

Recognize the role trade associations play in hindering climate policy progress

Advocacy techniques for the workplace

Build compelling narratives and understand the importance of relationship-building and persuasion to influence change

free event

Transforming Climate Anxiety into Workplace Action

  • May 8, 2024
  • 8:00am PT
Companies wield enormous influence, and they have an important role to play in reducing emissions and advocating for climate policy. When employees speak, companies act. Join ClimateVoice for a dynamic conversation about how employees can speak up to raise the bar on corporate climate advocacy.
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The Terra.do difference

Live lab groups

You will meet weekly with the instructor and fellow learners to share perspectives

Skills-based learning

You will engage in individual real-world assignments to immediately apply the skills you’ve learned

Personalized attention

Meet with the instructor 1-on-1 and get individualized feedback on your assignments

Asynchronous and synchronous learning

Flexible learning options to fit your learning style

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Meet the course creators

Deborah McNamara

Co-Executive Director of ClimateVoice

Deborah McNamara is the Co-Executive Director of ClimateVoice, having worked for social change, environmental, and climate justice-focused nonprofits for over 20 years. Her most recent work includes leading climate-focused campaigns targeting fossil fuel finance, promoting climate solutions and a just transition away from fossil fuels, and enacting strong local climate policy. She studied Environmental Policy and Philosophy at Boston University and received a Master’s degree in Environmental Leadership from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado.

Jennifer Allyn

Director of Programs and Campaigns, ClimateVoice

Jennifer leads campaigns for ClimateVoice to mobilize companies to lobby for bold and equitable climate policy. In 2023, she earned a Master’s degree from Columbia University’s new Climate School with a focus on climatology, public policy, and environmental justice. Jennifer started her career leading diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, most recently as a Managing Director at PwC.

Drew Wilkinson

Founder, Climate Leadership Collective; Co-founder, Microsoft 10K member sustainability community

Drew is a climate activist, community organizer, and co-founder of Microsoft’s 10k member employee sustainability community. He works for Planet Earth but provides consulting services for employee engagement, helping organizations make sustainability part of everybody’s job.

Course schedule

Week One: Connect the dots: companies + influence + climate policy
  • Readings/viewing: Venn Diagram of corporate lobbying and climate change, Every job is a climate job: Why corporate transformation needs climate literacy (KiteInsight), Global standard on responsible climate lobbying, Lobbyists Aiding and Abetting the Climate Crisis (Guardian)
  • Assignment: Conduct an internal audit of your employer’s (or an employer’s) climate policy engagement (spans the whole four weeks)
  • Readings/viewing: Climate Action at Work: A Guide for Employee Advocates, Guide for Corporate Engagement in Climate Policy
  • Readings/viewings: Escape the Chamber: Bill McKibben Breaks it Down, The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Climate Policy (InfluenceMap), AAA Climate Policy Priorities, Guuilt by Trade Association (GreenBiz)
  • Assignment: Find a share the resources for your employer climate policy engagement audit
  • Readings/viewings: The Complicity of Corporate Sustainability (Stanford Social Innovation Review), How Companies become allies for environmental justice (GreenBiz)
  • Assignment: Present your employer climate policy engagement audit

Pricing and expected commitment

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Enroll now
Four-week (4 hours per week) online learning experience
The program will be offered from May 15 to Jun 5
Enrollment closes on May 14 2024
Get reimbursed: Interested in receiving reimbursement for this course? Learn more

Frequently asked questions

The course is four weeks long and will be offered from May 15 to June 5, 2024. Live sessions will run on Wednesdays from 8am-9:15am PT Attendance is strongly encouraged, but recordings will also be made available.

All employees who want to learn how to elevate climate policy issues at work, including green team and employee resource group members, sustainability professionals, and those looking to integrate sustainability and climate action into their role. Students and future employees will also benefit from gaining an understanding of the critical role that the private sector plays in both climate policy progress and obstruction, and be prepared to advocate for policy action in your future role.

Yes. No prerequisites are required for this course, and we welcome participants from all backgrounds and regions worldwide to participate.

Several organizations have learning or professional development budgets for their employees. We encourage you to enquire about and utilize this budget to attend the course. Terra.do will help you get reimbursed for the course by providing an invoice, a certificate, and any other documentation you need. If you have approval from your company, we can also arrange for your company to pay directly.

We expect to run more cohorts given ongoing demand for this course.

Financial aid is not available for this course.

If you’re unsatisfied for any reason after the first session, we’ll refund you 100%. We only request that you give us feedback so we can improve.

You can defer your enrollment up until 14 days after the course starts.

If you have a question about this course that isn’t covered in the FAQ, please email us at climatepolicyatwork@terra.do.

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