The Surfrider Foundation

Description: Moriarty sees himself as the bottom of a giant grass-roots pyramid.

Question:  What is the Surfrider Foundation?

Transcript:  So the Surfrider Foundation is really interesting in a couple of different angles. One is that we focus on a very thin swath of land. We’re really not focused on the ocean and we’re also really not focused on the inland issues. We’re focused on coastal issues. You could almost use a metaphor as kind of beach zones so beach towns, inland issues, waves and near shores issues, things like that. That focus is really important for us because all of us live in coastal regions. Most of us have lived there our entire lives and what’s happening is super important to us, which is why people act hour after hour after hour volunteering for something that they care about. So Surfrider Foundation was started 25 years ago by three guys that basically cared to preserve Malibu, the famed beach where Gidget was filmed, and fast forward to today and that’s what we’re doing. This--  We’re doing that same thing day in and day out all over the world.

Question: Why is the recreational aspect so important?

Transcript:  Because I think environmentalism in a lot of ways has been seen as this protectionist only thing and oh, you can’t cross this velvet line, you actually can’t go in and see these redwoods, you can’t participate in nature, and we’re action sports people. I broke my hand, my- smashed my wrist a couple days ago skate boarding. We’re users so we’re out there paddling and we see dolphins going by. We want to protect and preserve and enjoy the ocean’s waves and beaches so it is both. It’s not just protection. It’s also enjoyment.

Question: Are you protecting it in order to enjoy it?

Transcript:  Yes, but more than that we’re protecting it because it needs to be protected because no one else is protecting it but we’re also a user group so we have a very strong personal, visceral relationship with the environment. I’ve tried to find another group like this that’s actually submerged in the elements. We’re not yachtsmen who are going across the water. We’re actually diving underneath the water and we’re riding the power of the waves. It’s pretty unique.

Question: What do you do?

Transcript:  I sit at the bottom of a pyramid so if you look at a pyramid upside down at the very top is tens of thousands of people all over the world essentially fighting for coastal environmental issues, activists, volunteers, all kinds of people like that, and it’s all over the world, and that’s the Surfrider Foundation is tens of thousands of people all over the world fighting on behalf of beach access, pollution, water quality, all those things, and at the very bottom of that pyramid is me and then the board of directors. And the reason that it’s an inverse pyramid is because the power is truly wielded at the top with all those people and not really me. What I’m more of doing is making sure that our alignment, our procedures, our processes, our tool sets, our communication, infrastructure, all those things are forward looking and five years out and ten years out but the real muscle is on the edge. So I work at Surfrider Foundation.

The environment sparked my interest as a kid. I don’t know how you can grow up in any setting other than maybe a completely urban setting and not be completely transfixed by the environment, playing in the waves, playing in the forest, anything. The environment is the world’s largest playground and it’s pretty much free everywhere so you don’t necessarily need an Xbox although they are pretty fun. The environment is- I think taps kids’ imaginations more than anything so that’s the same with me.

Question: How did you come to work at Surfrider?

Transcript:  I’m a tech guy. I’m a kind of a tech weenie, was in technology for the last 20 years, the last two decades, and I was called by Surfrider by the headhunter who said, “The board of directors would be interested in talking to you about running Surfrider Foundation,” and I said, “Well, I’m totally the wrong guy. I’m not a tech--  I’m not a policy wonk. I’m not all these other things but I adore that brand. I adore that vision of the protection and enjoyment of ocean waves and beaches. It’s--  It is who I am. It’s an extension of my core belief system.”  So I basically went in and talked with the board and told them I wasn’t their guy and that dialog lasted about six months and about four months in to it they convinced me that I might be the person. So they found me. I wasn’t looking for it but I’m glad to be here. The joy in what I do is knowing that it’s much larger than me. I work for an idea and it would be similar to is- if I worked with equal rights and Martin Luther King or for free speech or for non-slavery issues. It’s a big idea and just being a part of it is an honor. It’s an absolute honor so the joy is driving home every day and losing sleep and not knowing- not caring if you’re losing sleep but actually be stoked about that, that you’re involved in something much larger than yourself and that your role is actually pretty insignificant as an individual but as part of a collective it’s huge. The struggle in what I do is understanding that we are late to the party, we’re arrogant as a population, we have hubris which is stunning, and I’m not just talking about Americans. I’m talking about all of us. My biggest struggle is if we will actually understand what’s at stake and act instead of watching another Britney Spears tabloid tragedy. Those things are such chaff, the Britney Spears things, when the media issues are really, really important for the next ten years, the next 50 years and on.

Recorded on:  9/27/07