Introducing Logan O'Grady - Director, Policy and Public Affairs

I’m Logan O’Grady and I’m the Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Clean Energy Economy Minnesota (CEEM). I’ve spent the last three years working for the state Senate, in the office of Minnesota’s senior-most senator LeRoy Stumpf. My work in the Senate perhaps made me a little more pragmatic, but overall it strengthened my belief in our government and political process.

I’m an idealist about politics, especially here in Minnesota, because I believe that the policies developed in Saint Paul have a direct role in peoples’ individual lives, and in the lives of our state’s businesses—from Roseau to Lanesboro, and everywhere in between. In return, our home-grown businesses and their employees contribute to our shared prosperity as Minnesotans, making Minnesota such a special place to call home.

Every day at the Capitol I met policy advocates that were asking their government for common sense solutions that would help make their lives a little better. This is why I chose to join CEEM; because business friendly, clean energy policies are good for everyone. There is no reason that environmental benefits and favorable business policies cannot be united in meaningful legislation. It just makes sense. After all, Minnesota’s clean energy sectors are the fastest growing sectors in the state’s economy, and workers in clean energy earn wages that are 42 percent higher than the state-wide average. Minnesota has been a leader in its support for clean energy policies, and with your help we can continue that leadership.

Like Anna, CEEM’s Manager of Business Development and Programs, I am a Wisconsin native that wears green and gold on Sundays in the Fall. My fandom, however, like my politics, is bipartisan, as I cheer equally for the Twins and the Wild, as well as the Badgers and the Gophers (my wife is a proud U of M alumna). I have no doubt we can find common ground during any sports season.

After completing graduate school in the United Kingdom, I spent some time in Chicago, working in trade and diplomacy for the Government of Canada, engaging businesses and political leaders to advocate for policies that strengthened North America’s economic, environmental, and diplomatic stability. I joined the Board of Directors at Build Africa, a non-profit focused on building schools in rural regions of Uganda and Kenya, to help improve educational and economic disparities that are the realities of so many around the world. But I wanted to do even more; so I returned to the North looking for an opportunity to make a greater difference. I was lucky enough to find that opportunity which has now led me to CEEM.

In my new role at CEEM, I hope to share my idealism with you. I want to show you that sharing your stories with legislators makes a difference and that politics can be about you. I am eager to learn more about you, your businesses, and I look forward to working with you to help shape Minnesota’s future clean energy economy.

-Logan O’Grady