2025 Benefit Breakfast

Over 550 people from across Minnesota and the Midwest attended Fresh Energy’s 10th annual Benefit Breakfast on the morning of September 30, 2025, to celebrate the resilience and determination driving clean energy progress in Minnesota, share our vision for navigating uncertain times, and reflect on how local leadership is creating a new playbook for climate action.

Special thanks to our event sponsors and table captains, and to everyone who joined us in-person and virtually to make the event a success! Together we raised $551,368 to continue creating a clean future where all can thrive.

If you missed the event, want to share it with a friend, or experience it again, watch the full event here or by viewing the video below. Be sure to check out these great photos from the event. And finally: support Fresh Energy’s important work by making a donation today.

Guests heard from three Minnesota changemakers — Karie Kirschbaum, Bob Blake, and Alex Savelli — who shared energizing stories of real progress happening in our backyard, and also experienced hands-on clean energy technology at our Fair of the Future showcase.

Thanks to our supporters’ unwavering commitment, we continue achieving milestones that prove Minnesotans know how to make climate progress, even when federal leadership falters. From our historic 100% clean electricity law to cutting-edge, community-driven solutions across Greater Minnesota, we’re demonstrating that states must lead — and we’re just getting started.

The stakes have never been higher, and we’re more determined than ever to enact bold climate policy in Minnesota, the Midwest, and beyond.

Here are our favorite highlights from the 2025 Benefit Breakfast:

Shubha Harris, Fresh Energy’s Chief Equity Policy Officer, opened the program by welcoming guests and setting the stage for our mission-critical work:

“You’ve joined us this morning at our Benefit Breakfast because you, just like all of us at Fresh Energy, believe that Minnesota can and must continue taking bold policy action toward a resilient and just clean energy future,” said Shubha. “Our deep bench of dedicated clean energy experts — most of whom are here — are working hard to eliminate emissions everywhere while also making sure the energy transition does not leave anyone behind.”

Shubha highlighted Minnesota’s landmark 100% clean electricity by 2040 law, which Fresh Energy advocated for, and how it’s helped Minnesota hit a major milestone:

“Electricity sector emissions are down 50% from 2005, putting us halfway to full decarbonization. This stands as our greatest decarbonization success story so far, demonstrating how smart policies and technological innovations can drive meaningful climate progress.”

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Next, Dr. Margaret Cherne-Hendrick, Fresh Energy’s Chief Executive Officer, called for bold action during uncertain times.

“Now is the time to be bold and brave. In its nearly 35 years of operation, Fresh Energy has made it through challenging times before, and we’ll certainly be navigating challenging times again,” said Margaret. “It is my commitment to you that Fresh Energy will not falter in our work. We will not slow down. We will continue to fight to advance a clean energy economy that is good for all Minnesotans. We are proud to work alongside our colleagues and our many partners to advance and protect climate progress when Washington won’t.”

Margaret emphasized the critical importance of state-level leadership:

“We must keep pushing harder and harder to make an outsized impact through our state-based work — work that other states can look to as a model. Fresh Energy is known for our decades of effort proving, through effective policy and regulatory strategies, that local, scalable, and durable advocacy can create real and measurable emissions reductions.”

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Action in the Heartland: Our expert panel of Minnesotan changemakers

Dr. Margaret Cherne-Hendrick then hosted our dynamic panel discussion with three Minnesota thought leaders who are proving that some of the most innovative clean energy solutions are happening right here in our state.

Karie Kirschbaum, community development director for the City of Crookston and co-founder of Empower Crookston, shared how Greater Minnesota communities are thinking big about their energy future through collaborative partnerships and community-driven solutions.

“At the end of the day, knowing that you’re helping people get their bills down, clean their homes up, have healthier lives and healthier homes – it’s exciting, and that makes it all work for me,” said Kirschbaum. “You are your champion for your community. Empower Crookston meets every week to discuss how we can serve our community, and these relationships open up to projects.” 

Bob Blake, founder and CEO of Solar Bear and Executive Director of Native Sun Community Power Development, brought his unique perspective as a tribal citizen of the Red Lake Nation, demonstrating how community-powered clean energy can center collaboration, cooperation, and communication.

“When you start thinking about all the opportunities that are coming along, you have to be ready for them. This takes a lot of planning, developing, and putting together your workforce,” said Blake. “It’s about working with the community early, getting everybody involved, getting the stakeholders at the table and breaking bread honestly with them. That’s what I try to do with all the different projects I’m involved in.” 

Alex Savelli, global executive director – electrolyzers at Accelera by Cummins, offered insights on solving one of the clean energy transition’s biggest puzzles: how to decarbonize heavy industry through innovative green hydrogen solutions.

“If you think about all we need to do with decarbonizing the world, the final, hard-to-abate industries like steel production, cement, glass, fertilizers, and semiconductors will require green hydrogen,” said Savelli.  “We’re staying focused on proving out our early pilot projects to get more experience so that we can produce larger plants and provide more green hydrogen for what the world needs.” 

The panel conversation highlighted the tangible climate solutions that are being built in Minnesota and how we can all contribute to continued progress in the Midwest by cutting through the noise to translate national and global rends into real, local impact that improves the lives of all Minnesotans.

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Celebrating a first-in-the-nation new energy equity programs here in the Twin Cities

The event also featured a compelling video showcasing how effective policy change can truly change lives, highlighting the role of Shubha Harris and organizations, including Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties and Sabathani Community Center, in co-creating Xcel Energy’s automatic bill credit program — a first-in-the-nation initiative that helps reduce inequities in energy access and affordability for Minnesotans.

To conclude the program, long-time supporter and Fresh Energy Power Circle donor Kathy Iverson, whose career in public health and community advocacy helped advance clean air policy, took the stage to share the critical importance of continued generous support for Fresh Energy’s mission-driven work.

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After a year of federal uncertainty and global challenges, Fresh Energy remains steadfast in our commitment to rapidly decarbonizing Minnesota and the Midwest. We’re boldly advancing policy solutions to equitably build a clean energy future, proving that Minnesota can lead from the North.

Our three panelists exemplified the spirit driving us forward: from community-level initiatives in Greater Minnesota, to entrepreneurial ventures serving tribal communities, to global technology development right here in the Midwest. Their work demonstrates that building Minnesota’s clean energy economy isn’t just about technology — it’s about building community connections, centering equity, and creating the conditions that make lasting change not just possible, but inevitable.

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Thank you to our event sponsors!*

Title Sponsor

Fair of the Future Sponsors

*This event is made possible by the generous support of our sponsors. Accepting event sponsorship support does not reflect endorsement of specific sponsors or their products, services, or opinions.