Nicole Bassett

Nicole Bassett earned a graduate degree from York University in 2006. Bassett's career experience includes working as a business founder.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

For twenty years I've worked at the intersection of business and systems change. I started in apparel sustainability at Patagonia, became Director of Sustainability at prAna where I helped launch the first Fair Trade certified apparel in the US, and in 2015 co-founded The Renewal Workshop in Cascade Locks — a company that took apparel brands couldn't sell, renewed it, and got it back into people's hands. We grew to 80 employees and sold to a global logistics company in 2022. Today I run Citrus Circular, helping businesses make the real shift from wasteful to regenerative.

I hold a BA from Simon Fraser University and a Master's in Environmental Studies and Business from York University.

I'm running for Oregon State Senate District 26 because I look at this district — our farmers, small towns, working families — and I see what's possible here. The systems aren't working for us. I know how to find where things are broken and build something better. That's not a campaign promise. That's a twenty-year track record.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

An Economy That Works for Everyone

Our district is full of people who take risks every day. Farmers. Small business owners. Entrepreneurs. They deserve an economy that works as hard for them as they do for it.

We need to meet this moment by creating good-paying, local jobs and expanding vocational and skills training so people have real paths forward. At the same time, we have to address rising costs—rent, groceries, and prescriptions—that are stretching families thin. Wealth and opportunity shouldn’t be concentrated in the hands of a few.Keeping Rural Communities Livable

This is simple: people should be able to live healthy, stable lives in rural Oregon.

That means protecting our rural hospitals, fighting for housing that working people can actually afford, prioritizing a tax system that funds schools, and making sure our small towns don't get left out of the conversations that happen in Salem.

Oregon’s land use laws have helped preserve our farms and forests, and we must uphold them even as we face growing demands for housing and energy.Taking care of our land

We can all see the changes—from lower snowpack to hotter summers. We need to act.

That means investing in wildfire prevention, helping homeowners make their properties safer, and strengthening emergency preparedness. Our watersheds are essential to our health, our farms, and our economy, and they must be protected.

Investments and efficiencies are needed to bring a clean energy grid for the state. We have the opportunity to lead the country in more localized manufacturing, recycling, and reuse creating lower carbon economic opportunities.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Economic development means local jobs, vocational training, and building a reuse and recycling economy that keeps money circulating in our communities. I've built businesses that did this. I know what implementation actually looks like.

On land and resources, I want measurable outcomes — wildfire acres treated, watersheds protected, clean energy built. Oregon's land use laws are worth defending and worth modernizing.

What drives me most is efficiency and accountability. We have systems failing our district right now. I want to find where they're broken, find solutions, track the results, and be honest about what's working. That's how I've operated for twenty years.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Oregon League of Conservation Voters, Anna Williams (former HD52 Rep), Raz Mason (Former SD26 Candidate 2022)