ALEX GAMBOA GRAND
Co-founder of Way of Being an online store for low-waste, socially conscious products
ALEX GAMBOA GRAND MBA ’16 has a passion for conscious consumerism. Gamboa Grand co-founded Way of Being, an online store selling sustainable, low-waste products. “We saw a lot of people we knew who cared about the environment or social justice or generally ‘doing the right thing,’ but didn’t know how they could make a difference in their everyday lives,” she says. “We wanted to empower ourselves and others in our community to have agency and do our parts to minimize our harm.” While studying in the College of Business, Gamboa Grand participated in the Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship graduate certificate program, which instilled a conviction that business is a powerful medium that can influence culture, community and our environment. “It might feel like those things are minuscule and won’t make a dent when we’re talking about huge global issues like the climate crisis, but it all adds up, especially if more and more of us are trying,” she says.
NICOLE HUGHES
Executive Director of Renewable Northwest, a non-profit focused on advocating for renewable energy policy
AFTER WORKING for companies consulting on and creating solar and wind projects, Nicole Hughes MA ’04 transitioned to the non-profit sector to foster a connection between her community and the renewable energy market.
“I saw this work as a way to feel like I was part of making something important happen that ultimately improves the world we live in,” Hughes says. In her role as executive director of Renewable Northwest, Hughes works to develop policy that integrates a knowledge of how projects are implemented, the environmental benefits and the economic impacts with the ultimate goal of developing policies that balance all of these needs. Currently, Renewable Northwest is tackling clean energy laws in Oregon and Washington, while advocating for a regional energy market that’s carbon free. “It’s a great feeling to know that you live in a state with one of the most aggressive clean energy standards and even more wonderful to have been a part of the development of that standard,” she says.
KHANH PHAM
Oregon State Rep. for House District 46 (Jade District)
REP. KHANH PHAM MUS ’18 did some of her first organizing with transit-dependent bus riders in Los Angeles often at the intersection of racism and environmental injustice. It’s often said now isn’t the right time to push policy that responds to the climate crisis, “But the truth is for the people most directly affected by climate change, we aren’t moving fast enough,” she says. At Portland State, Pham learned analytical frameworks she uses today as a state representative. “My studies helped me to keep returning to some core questions to ask of any policy: Who benefits? Who bears the burdens/costs? Does this policy address the root causes of the problem?” Pham says. She was a driving force behind the Oregon Clean Energy Opportunity bills that passed in 2021. With a new seat on the Joint Transportation Committee, she hopes to tackle greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector—which account for more than 40% of state emissions. She is also working on legislation to improve transparency in the fossil fuel industry and implement restrictions on fossil fuel storage along the Willamette River.
CHARLES WILSON
Founder and CEO of Cricket Flours
WHAT DO Buffalo Wing Sauce, Cheesy Ranch and Hickory Smoked Bacon have in common? They’re all flavors of roasted crickets developed by Charles Wilson ’11 as part of Cricket Flours, which sells sustainable sources of protein. Cricket Flours has grown since 2014 to also offer baking mixes and additional insects like mealworms and black soldier fly larvae. Wilson says PSU is where his interest in sustainability began. Not many know how versatile insects can be, he adds, and how efficient they are as a protein source. “It takes about 2,000 gallons of water to produce just 1 pound of beef, whereas crickets need just 1 gallon—and they create 100 times less greenhouse gases at the same time,” Wilson says.