Climate Collaborative merges with One Step Closer

The incorporation of the Climate Collaborative into the One Step Closer organization could create more opportunities to advance the role the natural and organic product industry plays in reducing carbon emissions and protecting the environment.

As previously reported, One Step Closer, a multifaceted nonprofit founded in 2012, plans to absorb the Climate Collaborative at the start of next year. The Climate Collaborative, which is also a nonprofit, will continue to operate as an independent entity through 2026.

Some of the Climate Collaborative’s key programs, including Climate Day (a one-day event conducted in partnership with New Hope at its Natural Products Expo West conference) and the Climate Leaders Awards, will transition to OSC in preparation for the full integration.

OSC plans to preserve much of the Climate Collaborative’s existing programming and community within a newly created “Climate Guild” alongside its other three existing guilds: Business Growth & Capacity, Packaging & Circularity and Inclusive Culture. The result will be more opportunities for ongoing, year-round engagement with climate-focused initiatives, says Lara Dickinson, co-founder and executive director of OSC, in an interview with New Hope.

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“The industry may see some change, but only more resourcing and more opportunities to get involved,” she says.

The Climate Collaborative will be a natural fit alongside the other guilds, she says, because of the connections among the purpose-driven issues that each of the guilds addresses. The integration will also create opportunities for organizations to get their top executives more involved in climate initiatives, says Dickinson, who also helped found the Climate Collaborative and is a member of its board.

“We’re bringing a connected approach,” she says. “This community who’s been engaged in climate can continue to engage in the climate programming but also have it be in connection to their greater business and also more of the c-suite.”

A different type of nonprofit

A key change that the transition will bring is in the nature of the organization itself. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Climate Collaborative is limited in its ability to raise funds, as it can only accept donations and sponsorships, and only for certain educational activities or activities that benefit the general public. As a 501(c)(6) nonprofit, OSC functions more like a traditional trade association that can collect member dues in addition to sponsorships and donations.

The Climate Collaborative, which was founded in 2017 as a partnership with the Sustainable Food Trade Association, became an independent entity in 2021.

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David Fortson, chief operating officer at Regen Network, which provides technology tools for tracking environmental impacts and other related services, will lead the integration of the Climate Collaborative into OSC, the two organizations say during a town hall meeting to discuss the transition.

Courtney Pineau, executive director of the Climate Collaborative, will step down from her role and plans to take a sabbatical before returning to lead the Regenerative Transition Community of Practice, a Climate Collaborative initiative that is preparing to launch its fourth cohort in January 2027. That cohort, which Pineau will lead in partnership with regenerative consulting firm Jeffrey Bos, founder and managing partner at Seedstone, will be the first to take place under the auspices of the OSC.

Other initiatives that are expected to continue under the OSC umbrella include the Aligned Sustainability Reporting Initiative, which is seeking to standardize sustainability reporting in the food and grocery industries, and the Climate Leaders Circle, a peer-to-peer network geared toward helping business leaders leverage their collective know-how to tackle climate-related challenges.

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The Climate Collaborative’s Climate Commitment Program, through which companies have pledged to take certain climate-related actions, will continue through this year before the OSC evaluates the future of the program early next year. OSC noted that several companies rely on this commitment as part of the UNFI Climate Action Partnership.

OSC says it will evaluate future programming during early 2027 to determine if any changes need to be made. The new structure provides a foundation for expanding educational programming, strengthening peer-to-peer connections and creating new opportunities for collaboration, the organization says in a statement.

Responding to a challenging environment

Both Dickinson and Pineau described the current environment for industry climate initiatives as challenging on multiple fronts, including from economic pressures that have limited the financial resources that these initiatives depend on. Becoming a part of OSC could help the Climate Collaborative operate with a more reliable stream of resources and ongoing support.

Companies have been seeking more help with their climate and sustainability initiatives, while at the same time donations that could support these efforts have dwindled, they say.

Pineau says that Climate Collaborative participants have also expressed a desire to have more continuity in the organization’s programming, so that they can build stronger, ongoing relationships with others in the community.

“One thing we’ve heard is people love our programming,” Pineau says during the town hall. “They love the Regenerative Transition Community of Practice, they love the Climate Leaders Circle, [and] they appreciate the webinars, but the fact that these programs are always time-bound means that people come in, they develop these relationships and then it’s essentially over, and there’s no continuity there.”