By Jensen Morgan

About the Author – Jensen is a graduate of Colorado State University’s Master’s of Greenhouse Gas Management & Accounting program and currently works as a Sr. Environmental Specialist at the City of Fort Collins. Their work currently focuses on the intersection of racial equity and climate action through community engagement allowing Jensen to integrate their passion for the environment and social justice.

Brendle Group has been around for decades but is truly a business of the future. President and founder Judy Dorsey and all the exceptional talent that have joined Brendle Group’s team over the years, have time and again pushed the boundaries of what a sustainable future can and should look like. As a student of environmentalism, I was often trained to see business as the enemy of sustainability. After finishing my undergrad, that belief only grew. It had become popular for corporations to publicize new, shiny sustainability plans. But upon reading them, I came away feeling that most lacked authenticity or any true accountability to sustainability goals.

Fast forward a few years when I was getting my Master’s at Colorado State University. Toward the end of my program, I began searching for internships; I wanted an opportunity to explore what sustainability work looked like in the real world. That’s when I came across Brendle Group, a sustainability consulting firm dedicated to helping other organizations and communities become more sustainable. Were there really businesses out there trying to make a difference? I had my doubts but wanted to find out.

I am so glad my skepticism was unfounded. As an intern, I supported a variety of projects and worked with many different project managers. I saw how passionate and dedicated the staff at Brendle Group were, not only to being a profitable business but to genuinely helping make the world a better, more sustainable place. They were thought leaders innovating in the climate space, water industry, and energy industry. Regardless of what projects they worked on, Brendle Group drove real, quantifiable sustainability results with a rigor that helped restore my faith in business as a key part of solving the world’s unsustainable challenges.

Reflecting, I see that many of the projects I worked on were ahead of their time. Brendle Group partnering with communities to imagine a sustainable energy future through community buy-in. Brendle Group creating an international climate challenge for ski areas in partnership with the National Ski Areas Association. Brendle Group working to empower women in STEM and sustainability fields to create a more equitable future. And they had been doing it for decades. As I said, a business of the future.