Brian Back

As one of the first business journalists in the United States to pioneer a beat in “sustainability,” Brian has been a leading expert in topics such as clean energy, green building, environmental technology and other green business sectors. He has researched, written and spoken extensively on economic impacts and trends—including the role of media—in these intersecting and rapidly evolving industries.

Brian began his career as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he covered growth and sprawl trends in one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. While working as a reporter and columnist for The Business Journal in Portland, Brian pushed his editors to develop a new beat in sustainable industries, which was then an emerging concept among a handful of innovators on the West Coast.

His work has appeared in leading magazines, web sites, newspapers and trade journals. Today Brian serves as President and Owner of Sustainable Industries, and he is a member of the Social Venture Network. Outside of work, Brian enjoys running, traveling and mountaineering. He lives in San Francisco and travels frequently to Portland and Puget Sound.