My name is Ed Mazzarella. I am an activist.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, “When one negro stood up, he was run out of town; if a thousand stood up together, the situation was bound to be drastically overhauled.” This statement is the strength and a premise behind the grassroots movement. It’s something that I truly believe in and what motivates me in my efforts with the Surfrider Foundation.
After 16 years with the organization, I’m just as inspired as I was the day I started. What Surfrider Foundation does is much larger than winning a lawsuit, establishing a Marine Protected Area or gaining access to a beach. We build unity and power, which effects positive changes in people’s lives. For me, the grassroots philosophy isn’t merely a mythology for change. It’s a true belief that ordinary people, banded together by a common cause, have the collective power to exact real change. I’m very fortunate to work in an organization that allows me to see these changes firsthand. The Surfrider Foundation is a global conservation organization with over 80 chapters and affiliates throughout the world working on the protection and preservation of the oceans, waves and beaches through conservation, activism, education and research. Our chapter network is an all-volunteer network of people working on issues that not only affect their communities, but also are global in scope. We coordinate this vast network of volunteers through our LEED-certified global headquarters in San Clemente, California, with the help of a 20-plus-person staff that includes chapter support field staff in the Northeast, Oregon, Washington, California, Florida and Hawaii. Surfrider Foundation works on issues such as beach fill, water quality, coastal access, state and federal policy issues, educational outreach to high-school- and elementary-age students and larger campaigns like Save Trestles, Texas Open Beaches Act and the passage of beach access legislation in Florida. In 2009, Surfrider Foundation will be celebrating our 25-year anniversary with events throughout the world and capping it off with a “Super Summit Chapter Conference” for our activists.
Surfrider’s organizational success lies in our ability to unite and mobilize people in common actions toward a common goal. It’s vital to me that we constantly train our activists, staff and board members to understand the broader vision. This vision grows out of a set of values, experiences, organizational wisdom and direction. A beach-fill victory at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, is a victory for San Francisco and is a coastal victory for Oregon. Because the ocean connects the world. Another member joining the organization is another asset to the organization. Money raised is money put right back into the individual chapter networks in the form of scientific research, legal counseling, marketing, chapter development and training, nonprofit regulation maintenance, national campaign development and membership outreach. In the big picture, the whole of the organization and the movement are what continue long after individuals leave, die or burn out. Long after I’m gone, the movement will continue, along with the principles that I’ve worked to engrain in its culture.
This idea is something that I instill in my children by offering them an opportunity to volunteer at different community events. When my oldest daughter was 4, she participated in a Surfrider Foundation rally with over 200 people. She helps stuff envelopes or helps me with my local volunteer efforts. I don’t make her do it; she asks to participate—she’s already starting to understand the importance of giving back to society, and the bigger context of the work I do.
For any activist, keeping a sense of humor helps motivation. I’ve learned over the years that people in the environmental movement get so caught up in the stress of what they do that they forget to laugh.
What help make my work stay enjoyable are the outstanding people involved with Surfrider Foundation. From volunteers to staff members, I’ve made some great friendships. We have a great crew at the Surfrider Foundation office, and we’re probably the funniest out of all the environmental nonprofits. We’re definitely funnier than the Ocean Conservancy staff—I don’t know about Sierra Club, because they’ve never invited me to their headquarters. It’s probably because they’re not as funny as we are.
I joke that they’ll bury me at Surfrider Foundation, and maybe it’s true to an extent. However, I do know that after 16 years I still find my job interesting, challenging and rewarding, which is hard for many to achieve. I feel very blessed for everything I have accomplished at Surfrider Foundation and look forward to the next phase of my tenure.
Ed Mazzarella
Director of Chapters, Surfrider Foundation
Surfrider.org
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