Photos courtesy of Bloomberg

Last month, POW Alliance Director Graham Zimmerman put POW at the forefront of climate action by attending The Bloomberg Green Festival in Seattle. The event brought together global leaders and activists to tackle the climate crisis, offering POW the opportunity to expand its reach beyond the outdoor community and inspire a broader audience to collaborate on creating a sustainable future.

Here are our top takeaways from the festival:

1. The Power of Storytelling

Personal anecdotes and stories about the impacts of climate change resonated strongly with the audience. Sharing firsthand experiences helped to create a connection and build credibility, making the issue of climate change more relatable and urgent.

“There was a robust scrum of folks who wanted to discuss stories from the outdoors and how we can leverage those experiences into climate action,” Graham said. “The stories we have from the outdoors–the landscapes we love to spend time in— are a really powerful tool and that message resonated.”

2. Climate Change is Everyone’s Problem

Graham talked about how climate change is no longer confined to remote mountain regions. By highlighting the impacts of extreme weather events like wildfires and heat waves, it’s clear that climate change is impacting communities everywhere.

“People love hearing stories from these big, wild places, but we aren’t just seeing the impacts of climate change in these higher latitudes anymore. It’s now showing up at our front door,” Graham emphasized. “I used examples like how my home of Bend, Oregon is currently being pummeled by smoke. Climate change is affecting everyone on this planet and is having massive community health and economic impacts.”

3. The Outdoor Community as a Force for Change

By empowering outdoor enthusiasts to use their voices, POW demonstrated the potential of this community to drive significant change.

“I shared how POW is empowering the Outdoor State™—the 175 million people who love the outdoors—to use their voice to drive change,” Graham said. “Our stories are such a powerful tool because the outdoor community is a really important stakeholder in this work.”

By showing up at the Bloomberg Green Festival, POW connected with other heavy-hitting organizations in the climate space. Together, we’re poised to collaborate on this critical work and drive a real impact.