2026 Benefit Breakfast

We are experiencing a time of unprecedented threats to clean energy and climate progress in Minnesota and across the country. However, amidst this historic uncertainty, the path to net-zero and maintaining our state’s energy autonomy is clearer than ever.

Together, in the face of deregulation and rollback of federal investments, we must create a new blueprint for an equitable clean energy transition. But what does that plan look like, and how do we achieve it?

Join Fresh Energy and keynote speaker Jesse Jenkins at our 11th Annual Benefit Breakfast on October 8, 2026. Together, we will dive into the abundance of clean energy opportunities available to states, including current technologies and how to deploy them at scale, the role of private sector investment, scaling markets, and building political will — and the policy solutions that can underpin it all.

All proceeds from this event will support Fresh Energy’s work to design, influence, and implement equitable policy to continue ambitiously advancing a carbon-neutral economy in Minnesota and the Midwest.

Register today and save your seat for this dynamic conversation that is sure to leave participants informed, energized, and inspired about the pathway forward.

Featured Speaker

Guest Speaker

Fresh Energy is excited to welcome nationally recognized philanthropic and civic leader, Tonya Allen, President of the McKnight Foundation, as a guest speaker. Tonya will share some remarks around her bold vision for advancing economic opportunity and climate action rooted in local power. Named to the TIME100 Philanthropy, she has become one of the country’s most influential voices, arguing that healing national division begins by strengthening our people and places.

Guest Video

We are thrilled to be partnering with Don Shelby, one of Minnesota’s most recognizable and beloved TV broadcast legends, on a special video that will debut at the Benefit Breakfast. Shelby’s career at WCCO-TV spans decades and his work earned him three National Emmys and two George Foster Peabody awards. He also spearheaded WCCO’s “Project Energy,” a regular news segment focused on climate change, energy, and beyond.

---

Get your tickets to the 2026 Benefit Breakfast!

Event Details:
Thursday, October 8, 2026
Saint Paul RiverCentre
7:30-8 a.m. CT Guest check in and Fair of the Future all-electric showcase
8-9:30 a.m. CT Breakfast program
9:30-11 a.m. CT Fair of the Future continues
$150 suggested minimum donation.*

Registration is required; please RSVP by Thursday, September 24, 2026.

*There is no fee to register for this event, but you will be asked for a donation during the program.

Please note: We will not be offering a livestream of the Benefit Breakfast this year. We will record the program and post it to Fresh Energy’s website and YouTube channel by Friday, October 9. If you would like to be notified by email when the video is available, please fill out this form.

If you are not able to join us on October 8, please consider supporting Fresh Energy’s work by making a donation online.

Get involved!

Ready to turn climate ambition into action? Sponsor the event or rally your network as a table captain — and fuel progress together. Contact Meggie LaValley for sponsorship and table captain information at lavalley@fresh-energy.org or 651 726 7561.

Thank you to our event sponsors!*

Title Sponsor – $25,000

*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.