December 16, 2024 | Los angeles, California

NEWS: Benjamin Olson joining MCEA as Legislative Director ahead of historic session in MN. Bidding adieu to USC to continue working to advance sustainability and the political center.

Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA)

I’m excited to announce I’ve accepted the Legislative Director position at the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA), an organization “founded on the premise that industry has good lawyers, and the environment needs good lawyers [and lobbyists], too.”

I’ll be working with Minnesotans from across the state to ensure clean water, clean air, healthy ecosystems, a sustainable economy, and improved public health for all. My last day at USC is December 31, 2024. I start at MCEA on January 6, 2025.

The University of Southern California

After five years in Advancement Communications at USC, I bid a fond farewell to Troy, the boisterous university on the frontier. I want to especially thank my colleagues and for everyone who helped make USC a force on sustainability. Large institutions are not easy to turn, but students, faculty, alumni, staff, administrators, and trustees have come together to put sustainability front and center at the university—and the results so far have been incredible.

Building the political center

I’d also like to thank the staff, directors, and fellows at the Dornsife Center for the Political Future which hosts the Climate Forward Conference and so many other important conversations. You kept me connected to politics and have been valiantly resisting political polarization—one of the greatest threats to democracy and prosperity.

I look forward to continuing the work to transcend political divides and find common-sense solutions to the challenges we face. I’ll be volunteering and supporting Majority in the Middle, an organization focused on these efforts in Minnesota. Their mantra is, “the relationships are the work.”

with a grateful heart

This isn’t goodbye to Los Angeles! I’ll continue spending time here outside of the MN legislative session, especially in the San Gabriel Mountains in the Angeles National Forest, where I find equanimity and renewed strength to fight for our natural world.

With gratitude,

Ben