Greenpeace

Phil Radford. Phil Radford is in a unique position as he takes the helm and builds on Greenpeace's rich legacy. Having served as Greenpeace USA's Grassroots Director for the past 6 years, he has unsurpassed experience in movement building. "Greenpeace is nothing without the people," Phil explains. "Greenpeace learned early on that we need the political power from people all over the… See full bio.

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Story: Homeless polar bears in Washington DC? Hear how Greenpeace is fighting to protect polar bear: Nothing is more emblematic of the devastating consequences of global warming than the plight of the polar bear. This is why Greenpeace worked for years with other non-profits to successfully force the U.S. government to list the polar bear as threatened, opening the door for meaningful action to protect animals most impacted by climate change. But the battle continues. Although we convinced the Department of the Interior to establish the first legal recognition that global warming threatens species with extinction, the agency undermined its own action by exempting global warming pollution and oil development from regulation under the Endangered Species Act. Greenpeace has kept the attention on the issue as only Greenpeace can… with persistence and creativity. Our video of U.S. police arresting a polar bear protestor at the Department of Interior scored 41,000 views on YouTube. A few weeks later, Greenpeace returned to the scene to declare the Department “Critical Habitat for Oil Lobbyists.” In August, Greenpeace teamed up with artist Mark Jenkins to produce a series of street art installations featuring disheveled and dirty polar bears pushing shopping carts, picking up trash, and sitting on corners. One homeless polar bear held a three-day vigil in front of the U.S. Capitol to protest global warming on the eve of a Senate vote on offshore drilling. For two of those days, the Rolling Sunlight van stayed on site to provide free solar power and wireless access to the bear’s support crew. Other homeless polar bears were seen in Poznan, Poland trying to hitchhike to Copenhagen for the climate negotiations. A video depicting the polar bear project received 86,000 views on You Tube and generated international media attention. (Read other Greenpeace campaigns at: http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/usa/press-center/reports4/2008-2009-annual-report.pdf)

Evidence of Impact Summary:

Greenpeace successfully campaigned against Kimberly-Clark, the company that makes popular brands like Kleenex, to protect ancient forests. In February 2009, Philips announced a change in its recycling policy, taking responsibility for the cost of recycling its own products. Greenpeace has offices in more than 30 countries.

Organization Strengths Summary:

Climate Change experts believe that the Greenpeace’s greatest strength is that they are willing to try many different tactics to bring important issues to the attention of mainstream society. They have also been successful in gaining traction as a powerful advocate for climate change awareness on the global stage.
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Areas for Improvement Summary:

At the same time, some experts believe that Greenpeace should try to collaborate with more “mainstream” nonprofits doing similar work. They should do more campaign work at different levels (corporate, field) and make their position on particular issues clear.
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Phil Radford is in a unique position as he takes the helm and builds on Greenpeace's rich legacy. Having served as Greenpeace USA's Grassroots Director for the past 6 years, he has unsurpassed experience in movement building. "Greenpeace is nothing without the people," Phil explains. "Greenpeace learned early on that we need the political power from people all over the world in order to make the changes needed to protect the planet for us and future generations." Phil is committed to continuing to involve people and build the kind of public support needed to win critical environmental fights. As Grassroots Director, it was Phil's vision and leadership that built Greenpeace's $9 million Grassroots Program and our cutting edge online to on-the-ground organizing, as well as a robust student organizing and training program and the national street and door-to-door canvass program. "Greenpeace is the organization that works with people rather than paper," Phil says. For many years, Phil was leading the team that was out in the field, talking to the people, gaining their support, and building stronger alliances for the environmental movement to march onward. As Greenpeace's leader, Phil is proud to stand up for environmental issues and invites others to stand up with him. Early on, Phil realized that he wanted to work for the greater good. "My parents taught me that in order to be a good person, I had to dedicate myself to doing good things," remembers Phil. He always had a passion for environmental issues and enjoyed the beauty of the natural world around him. Phil knows that it is each of us, individually, who can make the difference. Hundreds of thousands of people make small monthly donations to Greenpeace. "It is this base of support that enables us to do the campaigning we need to do, at any time we need to do it," states Phil. When taking on big, corporate entities like ExxonMobil or Kimberly-Clark, it is this base of support that Phil sees as mission critical to taking swift and effective action. "When breaking news happens, like trouble in the Amazon or the Bering Sea, we can act, and act fast," Phil exclaims. In his vision for Greenpeace, Phil sees the organization as the most feared and respected non-profit organization by corporations and politicians. "They only care about a few things: money, image, and people that vote for them and buy their products. Greenpeace is uniquely positioned to mobilize consumers and voters to help or hurt decision-makers, depending on their position on the environment," Phil says. Greenpeace thinks big and achieves big. Instead of moving one company to improve their environmental record, we work to change the entire industry. "As Executive Director, I will continue to hold the hard line," Phil says with a sense of pride. "I am optimistic that we will have meaningful global warming legislation soon." And, all of this is just the tip of the iceberg. With new leadership and a renewed focus on "people power," Greenpeace is poised to make our home, Earth, a greener and more peaceful place to live for future generations and ourselves. Phil Radford earned a Bachelor degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 1998, and holds a certificate in Non-profit Management from Georgetown University.

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