Surfrider Foundation

History

The Surfrider Foundation was founded in 1984 by Glenn Hening, Lance Carson, and Tom Pratte, a group of surfers from Malibu, California. According to the Foundation’s website, the three men founded the group because they “were concerned about the environmental threats posed by escalating coastal development at their favorite surf break, Surfrider Beach in Malibu, California.” ⁵

Hening became the first president of the organization upon its founding and began establishing local chapters in California and across the United States in 1985. ⁵

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the foundation began advocating on specific legislation, such as the 1991 reauthorization of the Clean Water Act. ⁶

Background

The Surfrider Foundation leverages its activist network to oppose certain political and legislative measures that it believes would harm the oceans and beaches, and to support measures against climate change and pollution. ⁷

As of 2026, the foundation’s website says it has more than 200 combined local chapters and student clubs across the United States. It claims it had about 185,000 volunteers in 2024. ⁸

In 2024, the organization says its network of chapters and clubs removed more than 364,000 pounds of trash from beaches and waterways; performed 9,500 water quality tests to ensure beaches are safe for swimming, surfing, and playing; and installed more than 14,000 native plants as a nature-based solution to restore and reinforce our coastlines. ⁹

In 2024, the foundation says it secured 59 victories to protect oceans and coasts. It said it was nearing 1,000 victories across local, state, and federal issues. These included securing policy change on issues such as plastic pollution, offshore drilling, and sewage overflows. ^{9 8}

As of 2026, the Surfrider Foundation was listed as a client of the Everglades Law Center, a left-of-center public-interest law firm that uses litigation, advocacy, and negotiation to oppose development and resource-use decisions it claims will affect South Florida ecosystems. ¹⁰

Activities

The Surfrider Foundation has opposed the Trump administration for what it claims is a “unprecedented and dangerous new offshore drilling plan.” Surfrider is engaged in a “Drilling is Killing” campaign. ⁸

The Surfrider Foundation says it’s committed to being a just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive organization, which it calls JEDI, so that all people can protect and enjoy the world’s oceans, waves, and beaches. ¹¹

The Foundation says by 2035, all U.S. beaches, coastal habitats, coastal recreation areas, and communities should be protected because of anticipated sea level rise resulting from climate change. The group also says that by 2035, all single-use plastic consumer products in the U.S. should be prohibited, preventing land-based plastic waste from entering the ocean. ¹²

The Foundation launched the Plastic Pollution Initiative to encourage individuals, industry, and governments to protect oceans and beaches by reducing plastics in the marine environment. ¹³

The Foundation has a Rise Above Plastics program and an Ocean Friendly Restaurants program that both advocate for a reduction in single-use plastics, and for the recycling of all plastics. ¹³

The Foundation has two clean water initiatives that aim to protect coastal waterways, communities, and wildlife from water pollution: The Blue Water Task Force and the Ocean Friendly Gardens. ¹³

Opposition to Nuclear Energy

Surfrider Foundation was one of more than 600 co-signing organizations on a January 2019 open letter to the U.S. Congress titled “Legislation to Address the Urgent Threat of Climate Change.” The signatories declared their support for new laws to bring about “100 percent decarbonization” of the transportation sector but denounced nuclear power as an example of “dirty energy” that should not be included in any legislation promoting the use of so-called “renewable energy.” ⁴

Controversy

Surfrider Foundation’s use of its tax-exempt status to support political issue campaigns has led to challenges against its Internal Revenue Service tax-exempt classification. ³  Complaints have also been filed alleging that the Foundation underreports the amount of money it spends on lobbying activity. ¹⁴

The Foundation boasts about trips by activists to lobby members of the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C., but reports a very low amount of lobbying expenses on its tax returns. ¹⁵

Surfrider campaigns have consisted of efforts to influence actions by state, local, and federal government concerning climate change, pollution of the oceans and beaches, and beach access on privately owned property. ¹⁶

Financials

In 2024, the Surfrider Foundation had revenues of $14,490,016, expenses of $14,543,905, and ended the year with net assets of $21,581,609. ¹³

Funding

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors contributed $600,000 to the Surfrider Foundation in 2024. ¹³

The Resources Legacy Fund donated $369,000 to the Surfrider Foundation in 2024. ¹³

The National Philanthropic Trust gave $347,674 in 2024. ¹³

Leadership

Chad Nelson is the CEO of the Surfrider Foundation. He previously worked on coastal zone management jobs in the federal and state governments. He studied geology at Brown University. In graduate school, he went to the Coastal Environmental Management program at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. He earned his doctorate on the economics of coastal recreation and surfing at the University of California, Los Angeles. ¹⁷

Denise Leonhard is the chair of the board for the Surfrider Foundation. She is the vice president and general manager at Venmo. Previously, she held multiple leadership positions at PayPal and American Express. She has held board positions at New York/ New Jersey Baykeeper and was on the board of the Equality Charter School in the Bronx. ¹⁷

Michelle Kremer is the chief operating officer. She began at the organization as an intern in 1993. ¹⁷

Eddie Anaya is the senior director of marketing and communications. He has more than two decades of marketing experience, and worked for global brands such as Vans, Oakley, and Quiksilver. ¹⁷

Edward Mazzarella is the senior director of network strategy. He has been with the foundation for more than 20 years. ¹⁷