Surfing With Passion and a Purpose

In the final episode of Season One, Chad Nelsen of the Surfrider Foundation gives advice for turning passion into activism.

At ComNet 2017 we caught up with Dr. Chad Nelsen, CEO of the Surfrider Foundation — a global, grassroots coastal conservation organization that turns passion for coasts and the ocean into protections for the environment.

As a longtime lifeguard, surfer and fisherman in Southern California, Nelsen has witnessed significant environmental degradation over the years. The foundation gives him and others who love the ocean a vehicle for “turning passion into activism.”

Nelsen emphasizes the importance of taking a local approach. Surfrider’s founders weren’t professional environmentalists, he says, “just a bunch of surfers who were tired of ocean pollution and decided to get active in 1984.” The foundation has continued to grow organically, training people to become stewards of their own environments and advocates for their own communities.

He also recommends that organizations stay away from the “technical, bureaucratic rule-making stuff” in their communications—and avoid getting too negative when talking about their causes. Tapping into people’s passions and focusing on local issues, Nelsen says, motivates them more than saying “Oh God, the climate is going to cook us all.”

You can listen to this episode directly here or through the player below. You can also subscribe to Achieve Great Things on iTunes here.

Thanks for listening to Season One of Achieve Great Things. See you in the new year!