Aimee Christensen

Activist, Brainstormer, Business adviser, Change Agent, Concerned citizen, Connector, Environmentalist, Event planner, Foodie, Global soul, Idea generator, Investor, Philanthropist, Potential employer, Single, Social entrepreneur

As Founder and CEO of Christensen Global, Aimée Christensen is accelerating solutions for a resilient world. She has thirty years' experience in policy, law, investment, philanthropy and business including with Google, the World Bank, Baker & McKenzie, and the U.S. Department of Energy. At Christensen Global, she advises corporations, investors, governments, philanthropists and organizations worldwide, including the United Nations, where she served as a Special Adviser to the Secretary General's High-level Group on Sustainable Energy for All, the Clinton Global Initiative, where she helped build the energy and climate agenda, Apparel Impact Institute, Duke Energy, FEMSA, Global Ocean Commission, Microsoft, Ogilvy, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Swiss Re, The Russell Family Foundation, and Virgin where she helped guide the development of several of Sir Richard Branson's major initiatives including The Elders, The B Team, and the Carbon War Room. As “Climate Maven” at Google, she shaped the company’s early climate change initiatives including a commitment to carbon neutrality, launching ReChargeIT, Google.org’s first climate project to accelerate the electrification of transportation, and successfully lobbying for AB32 in California (CA Global Warming Solutions Act). While in law school she wrote and gained adoption of the first university endowment investment policy on climate change (Stanford University, 1999). At the Department of Energy, she drafted and negotiated the first bilateral and regional climate change agreements (U.S. – Costa Rica, et al., 1994-1998). In 2009 she moved home to Sun Valley, Idaho where she has aligned her family investments for impact, is a founding member of Divest Invest and Confluence Philanthropy’s Climate Solutions Collaborative. She founded the Sun Valley Institute for Resilience in 2015 to protect regional quality of life and to serve as a resource to communities everywhere, convening the annual Sun Valley Forum to catalyze action globally. She serves on the boards of the National Forest Foundation, the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute on Sustainability at Arizona State University, Food+Planet, and the Andrus Center for Public Policy at Boise State University. Aimée is a 2020 Idaho Business Review Woman of the Year, 2017 Idaho Women in Leadership & Zions Bank laureate, the 2011 Hillary Institute (NZ) laureate and a 2010 Aspen Institute Catto Fellow. She has a BA from Smith College and JD from Stanford Law School. Specialties: Strategic guidance for business, entrepreneur growth strategy, optimizing philanthropic and investment impact, and policy engagement and communications. Current projects: CATALYTIC CLIMATE FINANCE: Advising The Russell Family Foundation on next stage of their catalytic climate finance alignment of assets across philanthropy and endowment, convening power and communications. GROWTH STRATEGY FOR PLANET & PEOPLE IMPACT FOUNDERS: 1. FOOD: Sustainability Advisory Board member and net zero strategy adviser for Aleph Farms (leading cultivated meat company). 2. FINANCE: Advisory Board for climate risk AI leader, Riskthinking.AI. 3. BUILDINGS: Board and Advisory Board of hemp-based building materials company, Hempitecture. 4: APPAREL: Advisor to Apparel Impact Institute, unlocking billions to decarbonize fashion supply chains. CURATION: Guide clients to participate in and host events at the annual UN climate talks and NYC Climate Week, among other major gatherings, to advance their goals, build partnerships, increase visibility, influence government to go faster on climate. CONVENING: Annually host the Sun Valley Forum, a climate solutions accelerator, just wrapped it up June 20-23, 2023 in Sun Valley, Idaho, gathering leaders and innovators across business, finance, advocacy, academia, media and entrepreneurship to accelerate action to shape the world we need. Topics include food system transformation, energy system transformation, finance, business, philanthropy, media, arts for impact.

Building a better system that values what truly matters. The brilliance of animals, plants, and nature.

Changing what we value to recognize our reliance on nature for our economic and spiritual health. Have you ever snorkeled with a squid? Miraculous!

Climate change, Community resilience, curation, Global climate policies and agreements, Impact investing, Local investing, Quality of place, Renewable energy, Resilience, Solar energy, stakeholder engagement, State-level energy policies

I first heard of TED from my sister and then learned about TED while working at Google. I applied shortly thereafter and was so pleased to be accepted so I could be inspired by this entirely new world! TED has helped to open my world beyond the focus of my work and my primary passions, broadening my understanding and perspective on the world. I have evolved my thinking about life and work as a result of TED and I was inspired to provide a one minute reflection at TED2011 to share in real time my changing world view and what I felt was important at that moment. I am the founder and curator of TEDxSunValley - 2016, 2017, 2018 and in 2020 we hosted TEDxSunValley Countdown. I attended TED Countdown to bring my 30 years of work on climate to the power of the TED community. Excited to be back at TED!

Cooking plant-based meals! I love cooking with plants, from thai curries to soups, from a plant egg mcmuffin to apple blueberry oat muffins, I love the creativity after a long day of work, and enjoying the creation with my happy mom, friends, employees.