Fresh Tofu for December 2025

Tofu Slack is abuzz. Check out some of our favs.

💚Amalia tapped into one of our favorite experts, Emily Kramer, to build off her framework and explore what the new Gen Z marketer looks like in the climate tech space. Love this!

👂Women make up almost half of podcast listeners but only 29% of creators. Claudia decided to change that. She launched Voices for Climate Action, an EU-co-funded program helping women entrepreneurs across Europe tell their climate stories through podcasting. So rad.

👀 Kristen is looking for any speakers or session ideas for the upcoming Circular San Antonio event in late January 2026. Ideas should highlight innovative circular solutions, from food systems to design, manufacturing and the built environment. Ideas needed by 12/12!

📣 Alder is hosting a webinar, Inside the Climate Marketer’s Mind, on Dec. 4, noon - 1 p.m. ET, and 9 - 10 a.m. PT. Register here.

Glad you’re here

Join our upcoming webinar to hear what’s working, what’s changing, and how to stay visible when the market feels unpredictable.

Stay connected, lean into the Tofu community, and keep showing up for each other and the planet.

With 💓,

The Alder Team

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AI has become foundational to modern go-to-market strategy, shifting from a productivity tool to core analytical infrastructure. For climate-technology companies navigating the Four Valleys of Death, AI reduces early uncertainty through faster research synthesis and clearer positioning, and later strengthens commercial scalability through campaign analysis, account scoring, and improved sales execution. These capabilities influence the metrics investors rely on to judge viability. In this context, Alder’s Brand to Scale® methodology ensures AI amplifies strategic clarity rather than noise, supporting progress through each valley with greater precision and evidence.

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“Are we measuring what matters?”

It’s time to admit that many traditional KPIs were built for a simpler time. But before we toss them out, let’s separate what’s still useful from what’s become noise.

Traditional KPIs still have value if they connect to outcomes

Classic metrics like customer acquisition cost (CAC), conversion rate, and marketing-attributed revenue still have a place when they directly link to business growth.

According to a recent Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study, marketers who align their KPIs with clear business outcomes and build integrated measurement frameworks deliver up to 70% higher revenue growth than their peers. These aren’t just “marketing numbers”; they’re performance indicators that leadership understands and invests in.

The takeaway: Traditional KPIs still matter when they help connect marketing activity to business impact.

But the world has changed and your KPIs should too

Today’s marketing landscape is fragmented and fast-moving. “Vanity” metrics like raw impressions or post frequency tell us little about resonance or impact. The focus has shifted toward signals of engagement, trust, and long-term value.

A few examples:

• Instead of tracking page views, look at engaged sessions (visits with meaningful interaction)

• Swap email sends for qualified responses or content-assisted conversions

• Track customer lifetime value alongside cost to retain to balance efficiency with loyalty

• The goal isn’t to measure more, it’s to measure better.

Ok, so what’s worth measuring now?

The best modern KPI frameworks share a few common threads:

• They tie directly to outcomes. Every metric should roll up to revenue, retention, or reputation

• They measure depth, not just reach. Track how people move through your ecosystem, i.e., who engages, who acts, and who advocates

• They balance short-term and long-term value. Pair immediate results (e.g., conversions) with long-view indicators (e.g., brand sentiment, customer trust)

In short: data should tell a story, not just fill a spreadsheet.

What to stop obsessing over?

Some old habits need breaking when they just reward activity instead of actual progress like counting posts, emails, or clicks as proof of productivity, reporting on reach without relevance or treating traffic as success without knowing intent or conversion.

A modern approach to measurement

Here’s how forward-thinking teams are reframing their KPI strategy:

1. Start with business goals. Define what success really means growth, retention, advocacy.

2. Choose your North Star. Pick one or two metrics that reflect your mission (e.g., revenue influenced, cost to retain).

3. Add supporting metrics that ladder up. Include engagement, awareness, and conversion measures that tell the fuller story.

4. Balance performance with brand health. BCG’s research shows top marketers measure both simultaneously.

5. Review and adapt quarterly. Measurement should evolve alongside your audience and tech stack.

The smarter way forward (and what MKT1 gets right)

Emily Kramer and the team at MKT1, a leading marketing advisory group, summarizes this perfectly: “KPIs alone don’t make a marketing plan.” Great marketers pair KPI goals with project and operational goals—the work that actually builds future performance. In other words, it’s not just what you measure, it’s what you do about it.

The bottom line

Traditional KPIs aren’t dead, they’ve just outgrown their old job descriptions. The marketers who win in 2026 will stop chasing dashboards and start measuring what matters: outcomes, relationships, and resonance.

Because in a world overflowing with data, your real advantage isn’t the amount you track, it’s the clarity of what you choose to measure.

What else should we measure? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

We first published this piece back in 2021 on connecting your brand to market trends. The core insight still holds—but what counts as relevant in 2025 has definitely shifted.

In today’s current administration, where talk of American jobs, energy independence, economic growth, and U.S. global dominance tend to override climate-focused messaging, brands have an opportunity to adapt.

Reframe your story around strength, strategic advantage, and national relevance. You can still lead with values—just make sure they’re tuned to the moment. Want some inspiration? Check out a great example of this brought to life by Benji Backer, founder of Nature is Nonpartisan.

Revisit the original

Seattle & Portland Tofus, Assemble! PNW Climate Week Is On!

PNW Climate Week is heating up with awesome events this month. Below are a few we’re especially excited about. Come hang with your fellow Tofuttis for tasty bites, good vibes, and even better convos. Here’s a link to the full calendar of events.

SEATTLE | July 18 | “Pitch Smarter, Grow Faster, Build Together”
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM PDT
9Zero Climate Innovation Hub
Seattle, WA
Register for Event Here

SEATTLE | July 19 | “Seattle Hike and Network”
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT
Snoqualmie Falls Free Parking Lot
Fall City, WA
Register for Hike Here

PORTLAND | July 22 | “AI in the Built Environment: Build Faster, Fail Less: The AI Revolution in Construction”
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM PDT
PAE Living Building, 151 SW 1st Avenue
Portland, OR
Register for Event Here

PORTLAND | July 23 | “Force of Water: Women Leading Climate Solutions”
5:30 PM - 8:00 PM PDT
McMenamins Mission Theater
1624 NW Glisan St
Portland, OR
Register for Event Here

Updates from the Tofu universe

Tofu Slack has been buzzing with networking, strategy swaps, and a healthy dose of moral support. Got questions about tech stacks, career moves, or just need a place to vent about the BBB? Come hang with us!

🚉Micheal touted the great work of Michael Liebreich, founder of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, on the Climate Swings podcast episode. In this latest episode, Michael digs into how Liebreich’s ideas have influenced everyone from the International Energy Agency (IEA) to folks managing the London Underground-cool stuff, have a listen.

✍️Alex shared how she’s taken to writing poetry to help her manage through worries related to the current administration and the state of the planet. Her latest poem, Heat Wave is part of her larger climate poetry collection, Emissions & Emotions. Take a beat and read.

🎨 Birgitte is hoping to connect with art buyers who focus on environmental, climate, and social justice themes for their clients.

🚲Katherine shared an upcoming event in California focused on supporting bike lanes. Check out the event and definitely attend if you’re in the El Cerrito area.

Stay cool. Stay connected.

We’re keeping it light and breezy this summer, but we know the climate convo doesn’t take a vacation. Stay connected, tap into the Tofu community, and keep showing up for each other and the planet.

With 💓,

The Alder Team

The next generation of climate and energy leaders isn’t just participating in the conversation—they’re redefining how conferences drive real action. With a greater focus on impact, engagement, and inclusivity, student-led conferences are shifting from traditional speaker-driven formats to dynamic, solution-oriented experiences.

To explore this transformation, we spoke with Andrew Grabowski and Mallory Furlong, two leaders who are realizing the value of student perspectives in shaping the future of climate and energy events in North America.

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Building Meaningful Connections: 3 Questions with Tofu Community Manager, PJ Forgione

In the world of digital communities, fostering genuine engagement and driving meaningful conversations is both an art and a science. We sat down with PJ to talk about best practices for digital community-building, the evolving role of online spaces, and what it means to create a truly engaged network.

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What’s Up with Tofus

✍️ Katharine is showcasing an article she wrote on Fossil Free 529 plans

🔌 Dylan shared a big announcement about deploying 100 bidirectional chargers in MA and is looking for people in MA to share the news. Great coverage in Utility Dive and Mobility House!

🎓 Elisabeth shares an article on how to start a course or program

Let’s Meet Up!

In April, we’re bound to run into each other. 🤞🏼 If you see Mel, she has Tofu pins you can wear so we can easily ID each other. 😍

Spring is packed with Climate Week events across the country! 🌍💡 The Tofu team needs your help for a Climate Weeks wrap-up in May. If you’d like to send us notes, blogs, essays or pics on your Climate Week experience, we’d love to publish your thoughts. DM us on Slack and let us know.

Let’s stay connected in the Tofu Slack—drop a note about which conferences you’ll be attending, and let’s make plans to meet up in person.

With 💓,

The Alder Team

In the world of digital communities, fostering genuine engagement and driving meaningful conversations is both an art and a science. PJ Forgione, Community Manager at Tofu, has deep experience in building and nurturing online communities, having previously worked at Xbox (Microsoft) and Prime Gaming (Amazon). Now, he’s applying his expertise to the climate and climate tech space. We sat down with PJ to talk about best practices for digital community-building, the evolving role of online spaces, and what it means to create a truly engaged network.

1. You’ve built communities in gaming and now in climate tech. What strategies have you found most effective in fostering engagement and connection?

"At the end of the day, community is about people looking to connect with others who share their passions—whether that’s gaming, climate tech, or any other space. The most engaged communities are those that are built with their members, not just for them."

"In my previous roles, I’ve always pushed to ensure that the community isn’t just an afterthought in product development—it’s the foundation. When communities help shape the direction of a product or movement, engagement skyrockets. That means asking: What challenges are people trying to solve? What excites them? What will get them talking?"

"It’s also crucial to create consistent opportunities for engagement—a place for discussion is great, but what keeps people coming back? Maybe it’s a weekly conversation prompt or a compelling headline that sparks dialogue. Keeping things interactive and making sure there’s a two-way exchange is key."

"This all translates directly to climate and climate tech communities. People in this space share a deep passion for addressing climate change, and the need to connect is stronger than ever."

2. How do you define “community” in this context?

"Community is one of those words that can mean something different to everyone. Ask 10 people, and you’ll get 10 different answers—especially in the climate space, where ‘community’ often has a more local or regional connotation."

"But in the broadest sense, I define community as: Motivated people connecting around a shared passion in a two-way dialogue. A true community isn’t just a one-sided conversation—it’s about mutual exchange, learning, and collective action."

3. What trends are shaping online communities today, and how can brands or organizations adapt?

"Right now, social media platforms are in flux. Each of the major platforms is going through a massive shift—users are re-evaluating where they spend their time, questioning platform ownership, and searching for more refreshing, authentic spaces."

"For brands and organizations looking to connect with a community, it’s critical to stay aware of these shifts and meet people where they are. Pay attention to the platforms gaining traction, especially among your target audience. Right now, I’m particularly interested in how Bluesky is evolving, especially among climate, climate tech, and sustainability-focused users."

"The key takeaway? Online communities are always evolving—what worked five years ago won’t necessarily work today. Stay adaptable, listen to your audience, and focus on building real, meaningful connections."

Final Thoughts

The foundation of great community-building is deep engagement, co-creation, and meeting people where they are. As the climate sector continues to grow, digital communities will play an essential role in connecting changemakers, sparking innovation, and driving real impact.

Let’s lean into our Tofu community and keep the conversation going!

The next generation of climate and energy leaders isn’t just participating in the conversation—they’re redefining how conferences drive real action. With a greater focus on impact, engagement, and inclusivity, student-led conferences are shifting from traditional speaker-driven formats to dynamic, solution-oriented experiences.

To explore this transformation, we spoke with Andrew Grabowski and Mallory Furlong, two leaders who are realizing the value of student perspectives in shaping the future of climate and energy events in North America.

Meet the Changemakers

• Andrew Grabowski is an MIT SDM Fellow specializing in sustainable aviation and climate tech. He is actively involved in game-theoretic models for environmental attribute trading and is a key organizer of the MIT Energy Conference and the Zero Impact Aviation Alliance. His work bridges academic research and real-world deployment to advance clean technology solutions.

• Mallory Furlong is an environmental scientist and sustainability researcher at the University of Toronto, with a focus on eco-anxiety and social sustainability. She has worked in environmental science, communications, and film and television, giving her a unique interdisciplinary perspective. Through her research and initiatives like Climate Crisis Café, she’s helping students process the emotional toll of the climate crisis and engage in collective action.

Together, Mallory and Andrew offer valuable perspectives on how climate conferences led by students are evolving to turn ideas into action.

From Passive Listening to Active Engagement

One of the most significant shifts in student-led conferences is the move away from passive panel discussions toward interactive, solution-driven formats. Mallory has noticed this shift firsthand:

“I find that there are more workshops and activities at student-centered conferences that encourage brainstorming and idea-sharing, rather than just listening to a select few experts. This approach gives everyone an equal voice in hard conversations about the uncertainty of our future, climate justice, and mental health. It also empowers students to be part of these conversations, rather than simply observing them.”

Andrew echoes this sentiment, describing how the MIT Energy Conference embodies MIT’s "Mind and Hand" philosophy, integrating experiential learning:

“While we continue to offer a robust lineup of panels and keynotes, we’ve expanded hands-on experiences such as the Startup Showcase, MIT Lab Tours, and Climate Workshops. These experiences allow attendees to directly engage with early-stage startups, explore cutting-edge research facilities, and contribute to shaping MIT’s technology investment strategies.”

These shifts deepen engagement, encourage collaboration, and provide attendees with actionable takeaways—a stark contrast to traditional conferences where attendees may leave feeling inspired but uncertain about their next steps.

New Priorities: Mental Health, Climate Justice & Deployment of Solutions

Beyond format changes, the themes and priorities of student-led conferences are also evolving. Mental health and climate anxiety have become increasingly important, according to Mallory:

“Younger generations carry the burden of knowing that the future isn’t looking good for us, yet we’re expected to fix it. At the same time, we often feel powerless as we watch corporations and governments exacerbate the problem. This creates a sense of climate anxiety that needs to be discussed.”

She also emphasizes that today’s student leaders view the climate crisis as not just an environmental issue, but a social, economic, and political issue:

“Gen Z sees climate justice and equality as non-negotiable. We can’t believe that past generations haven’t actively changed the systems that created these problems. Some see us as radical, but really, we’re just empathetic—we want a better future for everyone.”

For Andrew, the MIT Energy Conference takes a different but equally critical approach—focusing on deployment rather than just innovation:

“Our theme for this year’s conference was ‘Breakthrough to Deployment.’ We focused on the journey of advancing climate tech from the lab to large-scale implementation. One key topic was how companies can effectively communicate their climate attributes to investors and customers. This is an area we’ve seen evolve significantly.”

Making Conferences More Inclusive & Accessible

Despite some recent Administration headwinds, diversity, equity, and inclusion have become core principles in student-led events, not an afterthought. Andrew highlights how MIT uses technology to increase audience participation, ensuring that everyone—not just those comfortable speaking up—has a voice:

“We’ve implemented a mobile app that allows audience members to submit questions in real-time, making Q&A sessions more inclusive. This fosters deeper engagement, not only between panelists but also among attendees.”

Mallory explains that students are more intentional about accessibility in their event planning:

“We prioritize diverse panels, hybrid attendance options, event spaces that accommodate all bodies, and opening remarks from Indigenous elders—not just a quick land acknowledgment. Even details like having food options for different diets and volunteers assisting with waste recycling matter.”

These initiatives break down barriers and create space for new voices, making conferences more collaborative, equitable, and impactful.

What’s Next for Student-Led Climate & Energy Conferences?

The evolution of student-led conferences reflects a broader shift in climate leadership. The next generation isn’t just attending events—they’re actively reshaping them to be more inclusive, action-oriented, and solutions-driven.

Mallory’s work in eco-anxiety and social sustainability and Andrew’s focus on bridging research with real-world deployment are testaments to the depth and diversity of thought leadership emerging from student communities.

The question now is: How can professional conferences adopt these same approaches? The future of climate and energy leadership may depend on it.

We’d love to hear your comments! 👇🏼

2025’s Most Important Climate Marketing Topics? You Tell Us!

We want to know what you, our Tofus, want to hear more about in 2025. Take our five-question poll below so we know what hot, crispy tofu topics and content to serve up this year:

Fresh Tofu for 2025

With the holidays behind us, things are starting to heat up in the Tofuniverse. Here’s a bit of what’s been going on in the Tofu Slack this past month.

🎓 Raysa has been looking for recommendations on climate-focused educational programs.

🔝 Michael just shared the latest episode of the Climate Swings podcast, focused on helping people  reach the next level in their sustainability-focused career.

🧙‍♀️ Both Hillary and Katharine are seeking strategy support. Hillary is looking for Attio experts. And Katharine wants to connect with a Google AdWords/SEM pro.

Kicking Off Conference Season

With everyone gearing up for a new year of climate-focused conferences and other events, we’ve got a great opportunity to connect with the Tofu community! Let us know in the Tofu slack which conferences you’ll be attending this year so we can figure out ways to connect in person. We’d love to meet more of you face-to-face in 2025.

With 💓,

The Alder Team

Unlike large language models (LLM) such as ChatGPT, which require human input for every output, agentic AI can work autonomously in pursuit of specific goals. That’s because they’re not just focused on writing content or generating images, but making decisions. Once a goal is defined, AI agents can pursue multiple tasks in sequence, choosing the optimal pathway to the desired outcome. 

Agentic AI’s ability to pursue complex, multi-step objectives based on simple commands makes them far more capable than existing generative AI models. A recent piece in the Wall Street Journal outlines five ways that companies are already using these systems. Reading it got us wondering – how could these agents play a role in climate tech?

Agents of Discovery

One fascinating example from the Journal piece is Deutsche Telekom, which is using an AI agent as a knowledge hub for their team’s questions. According to the article, about 10,000 employees use the Agent each week, asking it to track down information about benefits and internal policies, or details on specific products and services. They’ve even begun a trial where the agent can perform simple tasks for their staff, like submitting PTO requests via HR software.

There’s an obvious use case here for marketers, and for climate tech marketers especially. While we tend to develop a deep understanding of the products and services we’re selling, we’re still not engineers or technical experts. Having a responsive source or information about complex product features is invaluable. It’s easy to imagine asking an agent for specific ways a product feature supports a key benefit, for one example. 

There’s also a clear opportunity to take things a step further and empower AI agents to handle small marketing tasks themselves. Think of them as the next evolution of CRM automations. Instead of just checking tasks off a list, agents could analyze multiple data points to create specific account-based marketing opportunities. There’s even the potential for them to uncover new ways of segmenting an audience entirely by noticing atypical patterns a human operator might not look for.

Optimizing Outreach

Another sector where AI streamlining could deliver major benefits is home energy efficiency. Currently, efficiency upgrades like heat pumps are mostly driven by consumer outreach or contractor recommendations. AI agents could change that by working through sales, utility, and property data to identify homes well-suited for upgrades. 

By tracking down information like date of last HVAC install, electrical panel capacity, and usage patterns, they’d be able to pinpoint homes that are ready for new equipment, have the ability to go electric, and would reap savings by doing so. Finding, cross-referencing, and analyzing this much data with human labor would be cost-prohibitive. It’s simply too much work. Turning it over to AI, especially AI agents that can write their own code to simplify the process, cuts costs dramatically, making it a potentially viable channel for customer acquisition. 

An Agent Will See You Now

It’s important to remember that AI agents are still a new technology. The companies mentioned in the Journal article are explicitly cited as early adopters. These potential implementations are exciting, but there’s no guarantee that they’ll pan out. Remember, everything agents do and say is still powered by LLMs. That means that, just like ChatGPT, AI agents are prone to hallucinations, misunderstandings, and other errors. Their work needs to be supervised and checked by a human employee.

It’s also worth pointing out the generative AI’s impact on the environment. The data centers that power generative AI use massive amounts of energy. If the expansion of data centers and AI slows or prevents the transition away from fossil fuels, they could still prove detrimental to the fight against climate change as a whole.

If the numbers and the technology work out, however, they could provide a massive boost to the development and adoption of climate-smart solutions. Do you have any ideas for how climate tech companies could implement AI agents? How do you feel about generative AI’s ability to support the climate movement? Reply to this email, let us know in the comments, or join the conversation in the Tofu Slack–we’d love to hear from you.

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From the Community

🌱 Jacqueline introduced herself to the Tofu community and gave us some background on her work. She’s a queer, vegan feminist from Brazil with a focus on amplifying degrowth and post-growth narratives in the climate space as a way to push for systemic change and a more equitable future.

🎓 Katherine shared an action opportunity for those interested in decarbonizing investment plans. California offers 529 plans, but all the offerings include fossil fuel assets. There’s a petition for them to invest in businesses that support the future those college accounts will pay for, which you can sign here.

🔌 Catalina invited everyone to attend the annual MIT Energy Conference on March 3-4. 2025’s event theme is Breakthrough to Deployment, and will feature more than 60 thought leaders and experts at the forefront of the energy transition. Hear new ideas, explore new technologies, and get early bird pricing if you register at this link before 12/31.

Happy Holidays Tofus

It’s been quite the year, and this community has been a bright spot through all the ups and downs. We hope your holiday celebrations are restful and rejuvenating, full of light and joy and the ones you love. We’ll see you in 2025.

With 💓,

The Alder Team

Despite being owned by the world’s most successful electric car maker, X is, to put it mildly, not the best platform to use for climate tech marketing these days. Between the increasingly conservative userbase and an opaque algorithm that deprioritizes non-verified posts, there’s an obvious need for an alternative. Which is what makes Bluesky’s rapid growth such an intriguing opportunity.

At first glance, the upstart social network seems insignificant, lacking both the name recognition of X or the impressive scale of Meta’s Threads. On closer examination, however, it’s an ideal environment for both climate tech brands and marketers. To understand why, we need to zoom in further and look at some unique features of the platform’s structure and user base. 

Escape from the Algorithm

There’s a reason people keep comparing Bluesky to the early days of Twitter—the feed is strictly chronological and populated with nothing but posts and reposts from the users you’ve followed. This has two key advantages for marketers. First and foremost, it frees you from algorithmic whims that can destroy your reach at the drop of a hat. That means you can keep posts aligned with your content strategy or brand guidelines without needing to chase recently prioritized formats or topics. Your posts show up in your followers’ feeds, no matter what.

Of course, you’ll still need to build an audience. Fortunately, the lack of algorithmic filtering and the platform’s relatively small scale makes that much easier on Bluesky than its competitors. If you’re not seeing the follower growth or engagement you want, troubleshooting is fairly straightforward—you need to change some combination of when you post, what you’re posting, and how often you post it. Poor results mean what you’re doing isn’t resonating with your audience, not that you haven’t hit the specific combination of keywords and post length that appeals to a computer program. The clarity is refreshing.

The Right Kind of Crowded

Perhaps even more importantly if you’re trying to grow your network or audience, there is simply less competition on Bluesky than its rival platforms. With 26 million users, Bluesky is about half the size of X and a full order of magnitude smaller than the 275 million-strong Threads. Being in a smaller crowd makes it easier to stand out.

There’s an obvious rejoinder to this, of course. Isn’t having a high profile on Bluesky just being a big fish in a small pond? It’s a fair critique, but this particular pool has quite a few sharks for its size. The Bluesky userbase is full of early adopters and thought leaders, with a solid progressive skew. 

There’s a vibrant community of climate scientists, climate tech professionals, and movement activists, with regular discussion of new ideas and innovations. Add in a healthy population of journalists covering the category and it’s clear that the supposedly tiny pond is more like a deep lake, stocked with lunkers. Go ahead and dive in—Bluesky has another smart design feature that makes sure the water’s just right.

The trick is to find the right starter pack. There are multiple user-curated lists of accounts that make it easy to ensure you log on for the first time to a skyline that’s full of interesting people. In fact, why not get started with this Tofu-approved collection of climate and climate tech specialists?

Check Out Our Starter Pack

While that sounds straightforward, there are a few key roadblocks. First and foremost, the report finds that access to green skill training programs is limited, with only 41% of Gen Z workers able to engage in these programs. Given the generation’s deep connection to the climate movement, this is a serious issue. Fortunately, the report also describes some solutions.

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Meet PJ, Tofu’s New Community Manager 👋

PJ is joining the team with 15 years experience building communities primarily in big tech and gaming companies. He's pivoting his community and marketing background to the intersection of the outdoors and climate/climate tech industries. This move was inspired in part when he was living in Lake Tahoe in 2021. Being evacuated in the face of one of the largest California wildfires really kicked his climate passion into high gear.

He's currently a Climatebase fellow and an active member of several climate and climate tech communities. Outside of work, he’s dog dad to his black lab, Major, a huge fan of music and pop culture, and a Seattle local either on some outdoor PNW adventure or waiting for ski season.

He's thrilled to jam with the team to create opportunities for engaging with and growing the Tofu community!

From the Community

This month in the Tofu slack was a mix of networking, strategic brainstorms, and moral support. If you’ve got questions about technology choices, professional development opportunities, or simply need somewhere to commiserate about the recent election, join the community! 

🤖 Jenna is organizing a conference on the future of AI in the energy industry for Latitude Media. Held on December 3 in Washington D.C., the event will feature speakers from Google, Meta, Dominion Energy, National Grid, AES, DOE and more in conversation about what lies ahead for AI in energy. She even offered up discounted tickets for Tofu slack members!

👩‍🎓 Leslie shared details about an incredible opportunity to join the Women in Cleantech & Sustainability Mentorship Program’s 2025 cohort. The program runs January–April 2025 with both monthly group sessions and 1 on 1 mentor/mentee meetings. Unfortunately, if you’re reading this, it’s too late–applications closed on 11/4. The good news is that opportunities like this pop up in the Tofu slack all the time, so you can still catch the next one by joining now!

☀️ Birgitte shared an upcoming free session on innovation in solar technology, hosted by NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) one of Japan’s national research and development agencies. This in-person event will be held on Monday, December 2 in Sunnyvale, CA, and while it’s free, registration is required. It is the 14th event in NEDO’s Silicon Valley Foresight Seminar Series.

Thanks for Being Here

With the results of the recent U.S. Presidential elections, there’s no denying that the climate movement faces new headwinds. That’s yet another reason we’re grateful to this community–standing together and working toward a better future is more important than ever. 

With love,

Mel & the Alder team 🤸🏽‍♀️

There’s a lot that’s compelling about the argument. The word “climate” itself can be quite polarizing. Some associate it primarily with over-zealous activists who want to deny everyday people the right to eat cheeseburgers or drive a car. Fortunately, Brigham’s piece offers some alternative phrasings that might be a better fit for the new political landscape, ranging from “resilient cities” to “critical infrastructure” or even “energy dominance.” But what’s the throughline between all of these terms?

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Here at Alder, we value this approach by taking the last Fridays of the month off for creative regeneration. It’s during these creative regen days that I get most of the inspiration for the brands we develop.

I find that nature is my most powerful ally in these moments. Stepping away from my desk and immersing myself in natural landscapes replenishes my mind and sharpens my creativity. The textures of moss, the rhythm of waves, every interaction with nature can spark new perspectives. And those insights have had a profound influence on my work.

Nature-inspired branding doesn’t have to lean on stereotypical green and blue hues, or rely on trees and leaves to be successful. You can capture the essence of nature through earthy tones, organic shapes, and storytelling that evokes natural themes, creating a unique identity that stands out while still being rooted in the natural world. 

While developing the rebrand of Evergreen Energy Partners, I hiked the Eagle Creek Trail in the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon, and was inspired by the contrasting foliage–the saturated reds and golds against the backdrop of evergreen and rocky terrain. I sampled the colors from those photos and pulled the closest Pantones, creating a one-of-a-kind brand palette for the trailblazer B-corp full-service energy efficiency program implementer, serving utilities and energy organizations across the U.S.

Incorporating rest into our creative process not only enhances personal well-being but also fosters a deeper respect for our planet. When we take time to recharge and reconnect, we’re not just benefiting ourselves; we’re encouraging a culture that values peace and renewal for both humanity and the earth.

Rest isn't just essential for human beings–it’s crucial for the environment. Just as we need breaks to sustain our creative energy, nature requires downtime to recoup and rejuvenate. Practices such as wildlife and wetland restoration, controlled burns and forest regrowth, crop rotation and fallowed fields, and even the changes in the seasons reflect the earth’s own need for regenerative cycles.

What does it mean for a brand to lie fallow? How can slowing down serve as an accelerant to your marketing efforts? Consider the potential impact of a thoughtful pause between campaigns, or changing the pace of your communications. You could find yourself creating better, more impactful work. 

You could also outsource your marketing efforts and spend your new free time on some well-deserved rest. Get in touch and let’s talk about how Alder can lighten your load and ensure your team has time for the creative regeneration that will fuel your next great idea.

From the Community

Quite a few exciting events and newly launched projects showed up in the Tofu Slack this month. If you’re seeking guidance, have new work to promote, or just want to chat about climate tech with like-minded marketers, join us! We’d love to see what you have to contribute.

🖊️ MJ is leading workshops on how to put pen to paper and turn a great idea into a great book! It’s a great opportunity for climate-tech marketers who have big ideas they need help expressing, or anyone looking to get over a creative block. The next session is 10/27, and you can sign up here.

📈 Emily is hosting Scaling Smart, a panel discussion and happy hour for climate tech marketers. This official Side Event for TechCrunch Disrupt promises to deliver the “hard-won insights and specific strategies” of an all-woman panel of climate-tech leaders. If you’re a founder or tech leader, this in-person event is designed especially for you!

🎧 Michael just launched a new podcast called Climate Swings! It’s focused on a topic close to all our hearts–taking your passion for fighting climate change and turning it into a career. Tune in for interviews and advice on how you can make some money where your mouth is as part of the climate movement.

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Thanks for Being You!

As always, we have to express our gratitude; we’re inspired by how this passionate community supports each other—and the climate tech movement.

With love,

Mel & the Alder team 🤸🏽‍♀️

A recent report published by Content Marketing Institute uncovered some of the core truths of our daily grind. While the report covers both challenges and successes, we’ve highlighted what’s working in B2B marketing. 

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Stand Out with your Brand Out

Climate tech is a unique market, simultaneously crowded and complex. The basic insight for every brand is straightforward–enter a high-emission business with a low-emission alternative at an attractive price. But this simple principle applies across every sector of the fossil-fueled economy, and there are multiple approaches to each sector. And because climate tech is inherently a new way of doing things, all those approaches have to introduce novel ideas to relatively unsophisticated consumers. 

So how do you gain an edge in a tech-forward category that has to change behaviors? You give your customer something the behavior can stick to, a differentiated brand that stands out in the category. Thanks to the consistent imagery and dense, technical copy, so common in climate tech, a distinctive brand makes a company more recognizable and attractive—a welcome sight in a sea of sameness. 

If your customer can’t remember you, they’re not going to buy from you. Data shows that branding–or lack thereof–has a significant impact on competitive advantage. Trying to scale a business without a brand is a bit like trying to paddle a canoe with your hands—you’re just not going to get very far. 

Paying Attention, with Interest

It’s not just that putting off brand development costs you attention–a.k.a. the single most valuable resource there is–in the present. It costs you attention in the future, too–when everyone who knows your business but isn’t already in your CRM audience, misses your rebrand. Best case scenario you get a great agency, nail the PR campaign, and gain far more brand awareness than you lost. But it’s also possible to alienate current customers who love the old brand, or just take a hit to brand loyalty. The sooner you get your brand buttoned up, the sooner you’re ready for the spotlight.

There’s also the simple question of scale–a more established business often needs a more complex, more expensive rebrand. Think about it–the more white papers you’ve published, the more built out your site is, the more there is to re-do. In essence, you’re paying to have the same design work done a second time. If you take care of branding early on, you can build out your entire customer experience more confidently, with the knowledge that it’s grounded in a solid foundation that was made to last.

While the Iron’s Hot

So how do you know if this is the right time to invest in your brand? It seems like a complex question, but there’s a simple formula that makes it easy to calculate the opportunity cost of delay. First, you determine the potential return from investing in the best choice you’re not moving forward with, a.k.a. the Foregone Option (FO). Then figure out the likely return from the scenario you did select, a.k.a. the Chosen Option (CO). When you subtract CO from FO, the difference is your opportunity cost!  

Here’s an example of how that plays out with nice round numbers. You do the math and determine that with brand totally dialed in, your business is likely to deliver $100K in revenue–which means FO is $100k. Without a great brand, you’re looking at more like $70k–so we set CO to $70K. That gives us the equation $100K - $70K = an opportunity cost of $30K. It’s that easy! And it tells you that if you can nail branding for less than that opportunity cost, it’s a great investment.

Calculating your FO and CO

Nice round numbers make it look easy, but the realities of business are obviously much more complex than that. The exact math will differ for every company, but there are two important factors to keep in mind as you’re doing these calculations. First, make sure you’re considering both tangible and intangible costs. Specific deals and hard numbers don’t tell the whole story—you need to include less concrete assets like your overall brand equity and how customers’ perceive the brand.

You also need to evaluate how both options play out in the long-term, not just the immediate future. As mentioned above, the returns on a smart brand investment compound over time; if you only look at the short-term implications of each option, you’ll end up with an inaccurate opportunity cost.

Stand by your Brand

The goal of any business is to grow, and there is no growth without change. A strong brand lets your company root itself in a stable identity even as new objectives and strategies branch out over time. Continually evaluating the factors and formula outlined in this piece ensures you’ll have a clear picture of what it costs to not establish a clear, distinctive brand identity. If you want to know what a brand does cost? We know an agency with a lot of expertise in the climate tech space. Let us know if you’d like an introduction. 😉

We’re just back from Climate Week NYC, where we had an absolute blast meeting climate tech thought leaders, like-minded marketers, and other industry professionals. Head over to our LinkedIn page to check out some of what we experienced and saw, or read on for some freshly-pressed Tofu – starting with one of our best-loved subscribers only posts, unlocked and available for all to enjoy.

From the Community

We’re excited that so many of you joined the Tofu Slack community and shared our newsletters over the past month. If you haven’t joined yet, here’s a peek at what you’re missing in our #marketing-strategy channel!

📖 Owen shared a recently published post about the impact of domain name on brand perception why the choice matters. The post focuses primarily on the .eco top-level domain, but there's also general advice as to things that anyone should consider when evaluating potential domain names: https://go.eco/news/eco-boosts-your-brand/

🔏Alex started a conversation about gated content focused on which forms were too high value to keep from the audience and which could potentially drive leads.

🔎 Katherine kicked off a lively discussion of channel strategy, specifically focused on how to prioritize paid search, paid social, and organic search.

Know an exceptional climate tech marketer who’s missing out on the community? Spread the word!

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Thank you to our supporters!

Thank you to all who have subscribed to support this community – it means a lot!

With love,

Mel & the Alder team 🤸🏽‍♀️

Picture this scenario: You’ve been an in-house marketer at a climate tech company for a couple of years. Your company’s technology, and the market you operate in, are deeply technical and complex – like, say, grid management or battery technology.

That was daunting when you first started your job, but now you’ve become an expert in your field. You know all the buzzwords, acronyms, and relevant players in your niche. Congratulations!

And then something happens – your company gets acquired, your marketing budget gets cut, or you simply want a new challenge – and you find yourself in the hunt for your next climate tech marketing job. 

And suddenly you realize: you’ve overspecialized!

As a result, your employability as a climate tech marketer is low. Don’t let it get to this point.

Why it’s important to be a climate tech marketing generalist

Climate tech is a growing industry. In 2020, a record-breaking $17bn was invested in businesses dedicated to saving the climate crisis through clever business solutions. 

Its technologies and applications are broad and complex – from renewable energy to ag-tech to water to buildings to transportation to… the list is almost endless.

Yet, compared to other industries – such as tech in general, or e-commerce, or health tech – climate tech is still nascent. This means the industry is immature when it comes to marketing, and the pool of experienced climate tech marketers is small. This is both an opportunity and a challenge if you’re on the hunt for your next job. 

You’ll have an advantage if you have relevant experience in climate tech. But not if it’s too niche. 

Secondly, because climate tech marketing is immature (and often underfunded), you may not have had the chance to strategize and deploy all the latest marketing tactics and technologies in your current role. 

But you might end up competing against job applicants from more mature industries, like Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tech, who want to pivot into climate. These folks are more likely to have built demand generation machines based on account-based-marketing and intent data underpinned by the latest marketing automation software. 

If these buzzwords make your head spin, then you know why staying on top of marketing trends is just as important as knowing about climate tech industry trends. 

How to stay on top of climate tech industry trends and marketing trends? 

1. Consult media outlets and newsletters

For wider news around the environment, climate, and policy, subscribe to industry-specific newsletters from leading national dailies, such as Climate Fwd:, a weekly newsletter from the New York Times climate team, Bloomberg Green, or Axios’ section on energy & environment.

For climate tech but without going into any niche, consider Canary Media (formerly Greentech Media), Cleantechnica, and the GreenBiz group’s various newsletters. 

Sustainable Brands is great for the intersection between sustainable brands, technology and marketing. 

When it comes to marketing trends, MarketingProfs is one of our favorites, alongside the MarketingBrew newsletter. B2B marketing is also great, albeit a little Europe-centric.

2. Attend industry events

With most events still being held virtually due to the pandemic, it’s now easier than ever to join industry events from the comfort of your home office without paying a whopping fee for travel and/or attendance. 

Try and attend at least one climate tech event per week (from leading industry conferences such as GreenBiz’ Verge to smaller events led by investors, incubators, or non-profits). Don’t forget to follow-up and build your network (see point 3 below). Similarly for marketing, we suggest attending at least one marketing event per month to hear from marketing leaders from other industries and broaden your horizon (check out MarketingProfs or B2B Marketing – as above). 

3. Tap into your peers 

Finally, don’t underestimate the power of your network. Check out what your peers are talking about – either here on ToFu or on LinkedIn. Follow climate tech influencers on Twitter (check out ToFu’s co-founder Bettina Grab’s twitter lists). Join relevant climate tech Slack groups, including the New Energy Network and My Climate Journey (paid). 

Try to schedule a 1:1 networking meeting with someone you consider a mover-and-shaker in climate tech or marketing at least once a month and ask them what’s top of their mind.

Bag your next climate marketing job by being a well-rounded industry expert and marketing generalist

As a climate tech marketer, we must constantly balance being an expert on our company’s hyper complex technology, and to be able to relate it to wider industry trends to make it relevant for a wider audience. The same applies to your profile as a climate marketing job candidate – only if you can demonstrate that you can dive deep into technologies while also understand how your future employer’s business links to the bigger picture – which is ultimately saving the planet – you’ll convince your future boss that you’re the right person for the job.

How do you stay on top of industry trends? Let us know in the comments below. 

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Alder & Co. is a strategic brand marketing agency that works with climate tech & sustainability companies. For more information, connect with us at hello@alderagency.com.

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