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Phil Radford

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Phil Radford
Radford as Greenpeace's executive director (2012)
Born
Philip David Radford

(1976-01-02) January 2, 1976 (age 48)
New Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S.
EducationWashington University in St. Louis (BA)[1]
Occupation(s)Environmental, clean energy and democracy leader
Known forExecutive director, Greenpeace
Co-Founder, Democracy Initiative[2]

Philip David Radford (born January 2, 1976) is an American consumer and environmental leader serving as Chief Strategy Officer of the Sierra Club,[3] [4] and who served as the executive director of Greenpeace USA.[5] Radford started his career working for the nonpartisan organizations Public Interest Research Group and Public Citizen, working for consumer protection, fair trade, and public health[6]. He was the founder and President of Progressive Power Lab,[7] an organization that incubates companies and non-profits that build capacity for progressive organizations,[8] including a donor advisory organization[9] Champion.us,[10] the Progressive Multiplier Fund[11] and Membership Drive.[12] Radford is a co-founder of the Democracy Initiative. He has a background in grassroots organizing, corporate social responsibility,[13] and clean energy.[14]

Early life and education

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Radford began his civic engagement as a high school student at Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, a Chicago suburb, volunteering to stop the building of trash incinerators in the West Side of Chicago near his family's Oak Park home.[15]

His first job in community engagement was canvassing door to door for nonpartisan Illinois PIRG. While studying political science at Washington University in St. Louis, he directed campaign and canvass offices during summers for the Fund for Public Interest Research for clients including PIRGIM and Ohio PIRG.[6]Radford took time off of school to work for Public Citizen on global trade issues. After graduating college in 1998, Radford became a lead organizer at Green Corps, the field school for environmental organizing.[16]

Radford received his B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis in 1998.[1]

Career

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Field director of Ozone Action

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From 1999 to 2001 Radford was field director for Ozone Action, an organization dedicated to working on the atmospheric threats of global warming and ozone depletion. As field director, Radford planned and executed a number of grassroots campaigns, including a campaign during the 2000 presidential primaries, which was the initial impetus for Senator John McCain sponsoring the Climate Stewardship Act.[17][18]

Radford also managed the grassroots mobilization for the Global Warming Divestiture Campaign, which resulted in Ford, General Motors, Texaco, and other companies ending their funding of the Global Climate Coalition, which spread misinformation about global warming.[19] According to The New York Times, the result of the campaign was "the latest sign of divisions within heavy industry over how to respond to global warming."[20]

Founder of Power Shift

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In 2001, Radford founded Power Shift,[6] a non-governmental organization dedicated to driving clean energy market breakthroughs and building the grassroots base to stop global warming.[21]

As executive director of Power Shift, Radford worked closely with the cities of San Diego, Chula Vista, California, and Berkeley, California, as well as nine other municipalities, to secure investments for installation of solar energy systems and implementation of energy efficiency measures in municipal buildings.[6] Radford also helped to convince Citigroup to adopt innovative new means of financing clean energy infrastructure for wind and solar installations that made them affordable to average Americans.[5][22]

Leading Greenpeace USA

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On his first day as Greenpeace executive director, Radford participated in a protest of government inaction on climate change at the State Department.
Radford arrested outside the White House during the Keystone XL Pipeline protest

In 2009, at the age of 33, Radford was selected as the youngest ever executive director of Greenpeace.[23][24] Radford's tenure at Greenpeace USA is best known for convincing over 100 corporations to change their environmental practices;[25] exposing the anti-environmental influence of the Koch Brothers, making them a household name;[26] increasing the organization's net income by 80%;[27] launching the organization's grassroots organizing and significantly growing the canvass programs;[28] and serving as a founder of the Democracy Initiative,[2] a national coalition of major unions, environmental groups, civil rights and government reform organizations working for universal voter registration, to get money out of politics, and to reform Senate rules. In September 2013, Radford announced that he would step down on April 30, 2014, once he had completed five years of service as executive director.[5]

New York Times reporter Andrew Revkin referred to a Greenpeace campaign during Radford's tenure as "Activism at Its Best."[29][30]

Ben Jealous, former president and chief executive officer of the NAACP as well as co-founder of the Democracy Initiative with Radford, described Radford at the helm of Greenpeace as "a modern movement building giant. He has built powerful diverse coalitions to bolster the fights for the environment and voting rights. In the process he has shown himself to be unmatched in mobilizing everyday people to fund their movements directly." Environmental leader Bill McKibben stated: "During Radford's tenure, Greenpeace has been helping the whole environmental movement shift back towards its roots: local, connected, tough."[27]

Before becoming executive director of Greenpeace USA, Radford served as the director of the organization's Grassroots Program.[31] In that capacity, he directed and significantly grew the organization's street canvass and launched and directed the door-to-door canvasses, online-to-offline organizing team, social media team, the Greenpeace Student Network, and the Greenpeace Semester.[32] Under Radford, the street and door-to-door canvassing programs grew to include nearly 400 canvassers in almost 20 cities across the country and was responsible for doubling the organization's budget.[32]

Progressive Power Lab

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After leaving Greenpeace, Radford launched Progressive Power Lab, which starts and manages organizations that work to move millions of dollars and people into progressive causes. Through Progressive Power Lab, Radford launched the Progressive Multiplier Fund,[33] Membership Drive, a Salesforce App developer[34] which built Apps including The Field,[35] and Champion.us, a donor advisor firm for small donors focused on democracy and climate change.[36]

Influencing Corporations

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During Radford's tenure at Greenpeace, his theory of change shifted from viewing governments as arbitrators between public and private interests on environmental issues, to finding that most governments are captured by industry. Rather than fighting first for new laws, which could be blocked by industries, he has focused on pressuring large companies to change their practices and enlisted them as allies in pushing for strong environmental protections.[37][27][38] Examples include Greenpeace campaigns that convinced Apple Inc. and other tech companies to shift to 100% clean energy and lobby utilities and regulators to make that possible, as well as work to protect both the Indonesian rainforest and the Bering Sea Canyons.[39][40] Radford argues that the combination of creating industry champions and "outside pressure" focused on the government are the keys to passing new laws to protect the environment.[37] However, Radford has also been a vocal leader calling for the United States to pass campaign finance reform and respect all Americans' voting rights to shift power in politics from corporations towards people and fulfill "the promise of American democracy."[41][42] Radford played a major role in several initiatives to influence corporations such as the Global Climate Coalition, Citigroup, Kimberley-Clark, Asia Pulp and Paper, and the tech industry.

Global Climate Coalition

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Radford managed the grassroots efforts of a national divestment/disinvestment campaign,[43] which forced Ford, General Motors, Texaco, and other companies to stop funding the Global Climate Coalition, which spread misinformation about global warming.[19] Soon thereafter, the GCC ended operations.[44]

Citigroup

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In 2001, while running Power Shift, Radford launched a campaign to push Citibank to offer and promote Energy Efficient Mortgages (EEMs).[45] Citi was "missing the opportunity to help stop global warming by phasing out fossil fuel investments and promoting clean energy now," Radford said. "The irony is that if Citi financed solar for people's homes, solar energy could be made immediately affordable for millions of Americans today."[46] In 2004, Citigroup agreed to offer and promote EEMs for residential wind, energy efficiency, and solar installations that would make clean energy affordable for millions of Americans.[47]

Kimberly-Clark

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Radford oversaw the grassroots mobilization efforts on the Kleercut Campaign in the United States and, later, the entire U.S. component of the global campaign when he became Greenpeace's executive director,[31] targeting Kimberly-Clark for sourcing 22% of its paper pulp from Canadian boreal forests containing 200-year-old trees. The campaign included intervening in Kleenex commercial shoots,[48] convincing twenty-two universities and colleges to take action such as cancelling contracts,[49][50] recruiting 500 companies to boycott Kimberly-Clark, over 1,000 protests of the company, and more.[50][51] On August 5, 2009, Kimberly-Clark announced that it would source 40% of its paper fiber from recycled content or other sustainable sources – a 71% increase from 2007 levels.[52] The demand created by Kimberly-Clark for sustainably logged fiber was greater than the supply, enabling the company to convince logging companies to change their practices.[53]

Asia Pulp and Paper

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From 2010 to 2013, Radford managed the Greenpeace team that persuaded major U.S. companies to cancel their contracts with Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) – the world's third largest paper company[54] – to push APP to stop destroying ancient forests.[55] Greenpeace and its allies succeeded in convincing more than 100 corporate customers of APP to sever their ties with the company,[25] including Mattel,[56] Hasbro,[57] Lego, Kmart,[58] IGA, Kroger, Food Lion, National Geographic, and Xerox.[59] The campaign against APP cut nearly 80% of APP's U.S. market. On February 5, 2013, Asia Pulp and Paper announced a deforestation policy protecting Indonesian rainforests.[60] Referring to the victory, New York Times reporter Andrew Revkin heralded the campaign with a piece titled: "Activism at Its Best: Greenpeace's Push to Stop the Pulping of Rainforests".[29]

Tech industry

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On April 21, 2011, Greenpeace released a report highlighting data centers, which consumed up to 2% of all global electricity and this amount was projected to increase. Radford stated "we are concerned that this new explosion in electricity use could lock us into old, polluting energy sources instead of the clean energy available today."[61] Business Insider reported that after Greenpeace USA campaigns, "tech giants like Apple, Google, Facebook, and Salesforce have promised to power their data centers with renewable energy, a pledge that led Duke Energy, the nation's largest power utility and one of the most flagrant emitters of CO2, to begin providing clean energy to win their business."[38]

Deforestation

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In 2014, deforestation in Indonesia, which accounts for 0.1% of the world's surface, caused 4% of global warming pollution. One of the major drivers of deforestation was clearing the forest to grow palm oil plantations.[38] Under Radford, the Greenpeace USA team persuaded Procter & Gamble, Colgate Palmolive, Mondelez, and other major companies to demand sustainably grown palm oil.[62][63]

Major U.S. supermarkets

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Under Radford, Greenpeace ran a campaign targeting supermarket chains to convince them to stop selling threatened fish, adopt sustainable seafood policies, and lobby for policies such as marine reserves to protect the oceans. Whole Foods, Safeway Inc., Wegmans, Target, Harris Teeter, Meijer, and Kroger implemented sustainable seafood purchasing policies;[39][64][65] Trader Joe's, Aldi, Costco, Target Corporation, and A&P have dramatically cut the threatened fish that they sell; Whole Foods, Safeway Inc., Trader Joe's, Walmart, and Hy-Vee introduced sustainably caught canned tuna;[66] and Wegmans, Whole Foods, Safeway Inc., Target, and Trader Joe's have lobbied for strong ocean policies, such as protecting the Ross Sea and Bering Sea Canyons as marine reserves.[39][64][65]

Bibliography

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Articles (partial list)

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Washington University in St. Louis Magazine, Classmates Issue". Washington University in St. Louis Magazine. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Revealed: The Massive New Liberal Plan to Remake American Politics". Mother Jones. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  3. ^ "Sierra Club Officers and Directors". www.sierraclub.org. Sierra Club. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  4. ^ "Phil Radford Chief Strategy Officer, Sierra Club". lulac.org. League of United Latin American Citizens. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Greenpeace Leader Moving On at 38; Phil Radford has been the youngest executive director in the environmental group's 43-year history, but he's looking for even greener pastures". The National Journal. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d "Phillip D. Radford, Greenpeace, Executive Director". Fund for the Public Interest. Archived from the original on June 1, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  7. ^ "Team". Progressive Power Lab. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  8. ^ "Progressive Power Lab". Progressive Power Lab. Archived from the original on September 23, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  9. ^ "Philanthropy to Protect US Democracy (SSIR)". ssir.org. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  10. ^ Johnson, Brad (October 25, 2022). "Soup Season". hillheat.substack.com. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  11. ^ "Progressive Multiplier Fund". Progressive Multiplier Fund. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  12. ^ "Our Team". MembershipDrive. Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  13. ^ "SustMeme CSR & Business". McClelland Media Ltd. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
  14. ^ "SustMeme Climate Change and Energy". McClelland Media Ltd. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
  15. ^ "Oak Park and River Forest High School Tradition of Excellence Past Award Recipients". Oak Park and River Forest High School. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  16. ^ "Career Placement: Growing the Movement". Green Corps. Archived from the original on February 28, 2014. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  17. ^ "Canvassing Works". Canvassing Works. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  18. ^ "McCain on Climate Change". Living on Earth. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  19. ^ a b Revkin, Andrew C. (April 24, 2009). "Industry Ignored Its Scientists on Climate". The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  20. ^ Bradsher, Keith (December 7, 1999). "Ford Announces Its Withdrawal From Global Climate Coalition". The New York Times. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
  21. ^ "Power Shift". Volunteermatch.org. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  22. ^ "Citigroup Sets New Environmental Standards". [Environmental News Service]. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  23. ^ "Greenpeace out: Parting shots from a battle hardened climate leader". Grist.org. January 28, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  24. ^ "Greenpeace USA's Phil Radford". The Guardian. May 29, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  25. ^ a b "Paper Giant Pledges to Leave the Poor Rainforest Alone. Finally. Asia Pulp & Paper—the notorious destroyer of pristine tiger and orangutan habitat—says it's changing its ways". Mother Jones. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
  26. ^ "The battle to define Charles and David Koch". Politico. March 28, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2014.
  27. ^ a b c "Greenpeace Executive Director Philip Radford to Step Down; Leaves legacy of corporate victories and organizational growth". Greenpeace USA. Retrieved April 19, 2014.
  28. ^ "Phil Radford". Source Watch. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  29. ^ a b Revkin, Andrew C. (February 8, 2013). "Activism at Its Best: Greenpeace's Push to Stop the Pulping of Rain Forests". The New York Times. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  30. ^ Revkin, Andrew C. (January 22, 2014). "A Chat With Greenpeace's Departing U.S. Chief on Old and New Environmentalism". The New York Times. Retrieved April 19, 2014.
  31. ^ a b "Greenpeace's new leader talks up need for a green grassroots". Grist.org. April 15, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  32. ^ a b "Phil Radford". Greenpeace. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  33. ^ "As Nonprofits Struggle, "Progressive Stimulus" Will Back Fundraising Innovations". American Non-Profit Academy. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  34. ^ "Philip Radford". Skoll Foundation. January 28, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  35. ^ "The Field: Mapping, Routing, Geolocation, Territory Management, & Maps". Salesforce. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  36. ^ "About CHAMPION". www.champion.us. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  37. ^ a b "What Greenpeace's New Strategy Means for Investors". CleanTechIQ. January 24, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  38. ^ a b c How A 'Bunch Of Commies' Are Forcing The Fortune 500 To Stop Destroying Rain Forests, Killing Too Many Fish, And Burning Coal and Oil. Business Insider. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  39. ^ a b c "Whole Foods, Safeway, Trader Joe's Top Sustainable Seafood List". Environmental Leader. May 31, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  40. ^ Radford, Philip (June 11, 2013). "A Breakthrough in How We Work to Protect Our Oceans". Huffington Post. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  41. ^ "Progressive Agenda". C-SPAN. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  42. ^ "If You Want to Breathe Clean Air, Senate Reform and Democracy Matter". Huffington Post. July 15, 2013. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  43. ^ "Meet Philip Radford, Executive Director of Greenpeace". How Stuff Works. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  44. ^ "RIP: Global Climate Coalition; Global Climate Coalition Ends Its Work; Voice for Industry Opposed Global Treaty". The Heat is Online. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  45. ^ "Last Call: In Person with Ben Winters, Save the Ales". In These Times. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  46. ^ "Citigroup: Bankrupting Democracy; The Cost of Living Richly Citigroup's Global Finance and Threats to the Environment". Multinational Monitor. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  47. ^ "Citigroup Sets New Environmental Standards". Environmental News Service. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  48. ^ "Kleenex Gets Punk'd". Greenpeace. March 30, 2007. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  49. ^ "2005–2009 – Kleercut-Free Campuses and Victory!". Greenpeace. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  50. ^ a b "Exclusive: How Kimberly-Clark Ditched its Forest-Destroying Reputation and Embraced Greenpeace". Fast Company. January 18, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  51. ^ Mui, Ylan Q. (February 16, 2008). "More Than Tissues in a Box of Kleenex". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  52. ^ "Forest Friendly 500". Greenpeace. Archived from the original on April 5, 2006. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  53. ^ Kaufman, Leslie (August 5, 2009). "Greenpeace and Kimberly-Clark Settle Feud". The New York Times. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  54. ^ Schonhardt, Sara (February 5, 2013). "Paper Producer to Stop Clearing of Indonesian Forests". The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  55. ^ "'Story of Stuff' creator Annie Leonard will lead Greenpeace USA". GreenBiz. May 6, 2014. Archived from the original on May 7, 2014. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
  56. ^ "A Roaring Thank You on Behalf of the Sumatran Tigers". Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  57. ^ "Hasbro Turns Over a New Leaf, Steps Up For Rainforests". Greenpeace. November 2, 2011. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  58. ^ "Attention K-Mart Shoppers! Get With the Program". Legal Planet: The Environmental Law and Policy Blog. January 24, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  59. ^ "Pressure on Asia Pulp & Paper yielding corporate responsibility, new strategies on rainforest policy [UPDATED]". Environmental Leader. February 9, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  60. ^ "Paper Giant Pledges to Leave the Poor Rainforest Alone. Finally". Mother Jones. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  61. ^ "Dirty Data Report Card" (PDF). Greenpeace. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  62. ^ Greenpeace rates companies' zero deforestation commitments. Monga Bay. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
  63. ^ Mondelez Announces Palm Oil Action Plan. Confectionery News. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
  64. ^ a b "Carting Away the Oceans 7" (PDF). Greenpeace. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 21, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  65. ^ a b "Where to Buy the Best Fish". Rodale News. Archived from the original on September 12, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
  66. ^ "Greenpeace Reviews Major Food Retailers for Sustainable Seafood Purchasing=2014-06-04". Triple Pundit.
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