Communications Director - Political Affairs
About the job
- At least 8 years of marketing or communications experience, preferably in a political or issue advocacy context; environmental experience is a plus.
- Exceptional writing and editing skills for policymaker and civil society audiences.
- Ability to lead, manage, and mentor staff and cross-functional teams.
- Excellent project management, time management, and organizational skills.
- Independent problem-solving and crisis communications skills.
- Proven ability to use sophisticated public affairs strategies to achieve policy goals.
- Solid record of producing media coverage in international, national, and diverse outlets.
- Extensive proficiency in the strategic use of social and digital media.
- Ability to work occasional non-standard hours across time zones with a geographically dispersed team.
- Demonstrated self-awareness, cultural competency, and inclusivity, with the ability to work with colleagues and stakeholders across cultures and backgrounds.
- Develop and coordinate national, regional, or localized communication plans, strategies, and goals with key messages on priority issue areas.
- Manage the tempo of specific advocacy efforts to maintain and build momentum for maximum impact.
- Create message platforms and tailor them into talking points, speeches, op-eds, news releases, blogs, media pitches, story narratives, and other materials for audiences in countries where the organization operates.
- Develop and execute the overarching strategy of a digital program to promote messaging and content and improve the performance and reach of political and policy content online.
- Manage a two-person team.
- Collaborate with the brand-level digital team on political messaging and content.
- Develop and manage paid media, including digital, television, and other platforms.
- Develop partnerships with media to amplify messages and the organization’s brand.
- Maintain, cultivate, and own relationships with agenda-setting media and reporters covering relevant topics.
- Monitor media and identify opportunities to insert organizational messages into the news, including pitching news stories, editorials, op-eds, and blogs and arranging desk-side and other media briefings.
- Manage public relations and communications agency support, assess agency expertise, and manage agency teams.
- Prepare program staff with training, advice, and support for communications opportunities.
- Partner with the membership team to activate the online community in support of priority issues.
- Partner with Community Engagement and Justice & Equity teams to ensure diversity in advocacy and storytelling.
- Cultivate a positive, diverse, and welcoming culture within a geographically dispersed team and ensure effective staff and project coordination.
- Participate in advancing Organizational Effectiveness and Culture goals.
- Coordinate communications strategy with advocacy coalition partners and other environmental organizations.
- Manage external communications consultants and vendors as needed.
- Marketing or communications experience in a political or issue advocacy context.
- Environmental experience.
About the company
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is a nonprofit focused on addressing climate change while supporting healthy, equitable communities. EDF works by researching and developing practical solutions, partnering with governments, businesses, NGOs, and local communities, and applying policy and market-based strategies to cut pollution, conserve forests, and improve air quality. Its work is carried out through data-driven analysis, coalition-building, and targeted advocacy that translate scientific findings into real-world actions. EDF distinguishes itself by bringing together a wide range of stakeholders and applying science-based, scalable approaches to problems, rather than relying on a single sector. The organization's goal is to stabilize the climate and protect people and natural systems by making sustainable choices feasible and impactful for communities across the globe.
Company Size
1,001-5,000
Company Stage
Grant
Total Funding
$11M
Headquarters
Washington DC, District of Columbia
Founded
1967
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- 2026 methane findings drive cleaner-operations demand from regulators, investors, and companies.
- Japan Region Chief Masako Konishi strengthens EDF’s access to Tokyo policymakers after September 2026.
- Ecuador wildfire work expands EDF’s role in resilience, Indigenous partnerships, and forest finance.
What critics are saying
- MethaneSAT stopped transmitting in June 2025, weakening EDF’s flagship measurement platform.
- EDF v. Wright and EPA appeals keep staff trapped in slow, expensive court fights.
- If federal climate protections fail, EDF’s policy thesis loses urgency and donor pull.
What makes Environmental Defense Fund unique
- EDF wins policy leverage by pairing litigation, science, and market design.
- MethaneSAT data gives EDF proprietary emissions evidence across 49 oil-and-gas basins.
- EDF’s 2026 Japan expansion deepens influence in energy transition and fisheries policy.
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Benefits
Hybrid Work Options
Remote Work Options
Flexible Work Hours
Professional Development Budget
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 11%1 year growth
↑ 11%2 year growth
↑ 12%Environmental Defense Fund appoints new Japan Region Chief. September 28, 2026 NEW YORK - Environmental Defense Fund today announced that Masako Konishi has joined EDF in early September as Japan Region Chief, based in Tokyo, Japan, as part of the effort to further strengthen the nonprofit's capacities around the world. As the new Japan Region Chief, Konishi will serve as EDF's principal representative in the country, leading the organization's work on both energy transition and climate resilient fisheries & oceans priorities. Under Konishi's leadership, EDF will build on a decade of work in Japan collaborating with policymakers, industry, finance, and research institutions to support the country's energy transition and decarbonization efforts. In fisheries and oceans, EDF works with fishers, fishing communities, scientists, and policymakers to strengthen the resilience of fisheries and marine resources to climate change, with the goal of supporting livelihoods, the vitality of coastal communities, and the health of the ocean ecosystems upon which they depend. Konishi brings extensive experience in climate policy, public leadership, and stakeholder engagement. She has participated in United Nations climate negotiations since 2005, including work related to the Paris Agreement, and currently serves on several Japanese government advisory bodies focused on climate and environmental policy. She also brings deep expertise in market-based climate mechanisms, having been actively engaged in the development of Japan's Green Transformation Emissions Trading System (GX-ETS). Most recently, she served as Director of Climate & Energy at World Wildlife Fund Japan, where she played a leading role in climate and energy policy discussions in Japan and internationally. As a member of EDF's senior leadership team, Konishi will also help shape organizational strategy and strengthen collaboration across EDF's programs, regions, and impact areas. "Masako brings an exceptional combination of expertise" said Angela Churie Kallhauge, Executive Vice President, Impact, at EDF. "Her experience leading climate and energy policy work, combined with her deep knowledge of market mechanism to translate climate policy to action in Japan and internationally, will be invaluable as we strengthen EDF's work and partnerships in Japan." "I am excited to join EDF and work with colleagues and partners in Japan and across the region," said Konishi. "Japan has an important role to play in advancing the energy transition and addressing climate change, and I look forward to bringing together policymakers, industry, researchers and communities to help develop practical solutions that deliver energy security sustainably." With more than 3 million members, Environmental Defense Fund creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. To do so, EDF links science, economics, law, and innovative private-sector partnerships to turn solutions into action. edf.org
New research and community stories show the growing case for nature-based solutions. Sep 21, 2026, 08:55 ET Human Nature spotlights solutions protecting water and strengthening local economies, from Arkansas Delta wetlands to Iowa farm fields and Mexican fishing communities WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - The Walton Family Foundation is expanding its work to advance nature-based solutions, practical approaches that work with natural systems to protect water while strengthening communities and local economies. The focus is part of the foundation's evolving Environment Program strategy, pairing on-the-ground work with efforts to address the policies, financing and market conditions that can help effective solutions grow and endure. Today, the foundation launched Human Nature, a new storytelling series featuring multimedia case studies showing what that approach looks like in practice. Through stories from Arkansas Delta wetlands, Iowa farm fields and fishing communities in Mexico, the series spotlights how communities are already working with nature to reduce flood risk, improve water quality, strengthen livelihoods and build resilience. "When we take care of nature and work with natural systems, we are also taking care of people," said Moira Mcdonald, director of the Walton Family Foundation's Environment Program. "These nature-based solutions are already helping farmers keep more topsoil and profit on their land, helping fishing communities rebuild the stocks their livelihoods depend on, and helping people hold on to land that's been in their families for generations. We know these approaches can work. Now the challenge is helping more communities put them to work by bringing together local leadership, investment and policies that make proven solutions easier to adopt and sustain." Natural approaches also have broad public support and a growing body of research behind them. A 2025 Morning Consult poll found that 80% of Americans say restoring and protecting wetlands to absorb floodwaters should be a priority for state and local governments. A June 2026 study from the University of Georgia's Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems found that when the full range of benefits natural infrastructure provides - including flood reduction, clean water, habitat and recreation - is accounted for, these approaches can deliver returns of up to $8 for every $1 invested. Restoring Wetlands and Preserving Family Land in the Mississippi Delta In the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, the foundation-supported Tri-State Conservation Partnership has helped place more than 1 million acres into USDA Wetland Reserve Easements, paying landowners to return frequently flooded farmland to wetlands. The approach lets farmers keep their most productive acres in production while retiring the acres most prone to flooding, restoring habitat and reducing flood risk while keeping land in local hands. Local partners like The KKAC Organization, an Arkansas Delta land-retention and agricultural organization, help connect landowners, including historically underserved rural communities who have long faced barriers to holding on to their land, with these federal conservation programs. Financing Conservation on Iowa Farms In Iowa, the Environmental Defense Fund partnered with CoBank on a sustainability-linked loan with Heartland Co-op. The loan lowers interest rates as farmers adopt cover crops and saturated buffers: financing that has already helped fund 160,000 acres of cover crops and roughly 90 saturated buffers that keep nutrient-rich water out of the water supply. Elsewhere in Iowa, the foundation is working with the American Flood Coalition to help farmers like Loran Steinlage of FLOLO Farms adopt relay cropping, overlapping crops to keep roots in the ground year-round. The practice cuts erosion, boosts water retention and is estimated to add $51 per acre in farm profit, with the potential to cut downstream flooding by as much as 30%. Rebuilding Fisheries in Coastal Mexico On Mexico's Baja Peninsula, NGOs, Niparajá and Comunidad y Biodiversidad (COBI), have helped fishing communities establish networks of community-run fish refuges, marine zones temporarily closed to fishing to let depleted species recover. Now in continuous operation for 15 years, the refuges have helped rebuild fish populations while training local fishers as scientific monitors. The model has proven durable enough that the Mexican government plans to more than triple the number of fish refuge zones in 2026. About the Walton Family Foundation The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of the descendants of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and their spouses work together to lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. To learn more, visit waltonfamilyfoundation.org and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and X. SOURCE Walton Family Foundation
Climate Week NYC 2026. September 20-27, 2026 - New York City, New York - More Info EDF staff will be representing the Office at the Climate Week NYC 2026 in New York City. This year's Climate Week NYC will focus on the energy, the impact, and the action that we drive together. Energy systems are being redesigned, supply chains are under pressure, and demand for electricity is rising, driven by electrification, AI and digital infrastructure. At the same time, the transition is unlocking new sources of growth, investment and long-term competitiveness. Specifically, EDF staff will be speaking at multiple events at Climate Week NYC 2026: * EDF Senior Advisor Jeff McClure will be speaking at the Carbon Innovation Forum on a panel entitled "Mobilizing American Capital: From Venture Bets to Public Markets" at 3:55 pm on Monday, September 21. The panel will explore how public markets are starting to bet big on next-generation energy technologies. Recent public offerings are early signals that capital markets see next-generation nuclear and geothermal not as speculative bets, but as investable, scalable answers to surging electricity demand. This panel will examine what's driving that shift: how investor priorities are evolving amid surging electricity demand, what it takes for an emerging energy technology to go from private financing to public markets and how public-private partnerships and federal financing can help the next wave of companies make that same leap. * EDF Acting Chief Investment Officer Julie Kozeracki will be participating in a panel discussion on "Powering America's Future: Innovation, Investment & Meeting Rising Energy Demand" at 3:30 pm on Tuesday, September 22. The panel will focus on where capital is flowing today, which projects are finance-ready, and the market shaping investment decisions. Speakers will explore the policy, financing and market forces shaping investment across renewable energy and other decarbonization technologies. * EDF Acting Chief Investment Officer Julie Kozeracki will also be speaking at the Nuclear Symposium at 3:00 pm on Wednesday, September 23. The symposium will focus discussions around workforce development, new infrastructure and nuclear in a time of growing energy demand and need for affordability. * EDF Chief Investment Officer Hernan Cortes will be speaking at the Grids in Transition event on a panel entitled "The New Operating Reality for US Grids" at 9:50 am on Thursday, September 24. The panel will discuss the electrification of transport, buildings, and industry driving new load profiles and peak demand; explosive growth in data center and AI infrastructure creating concentrated demand; renewable integration, distributed energy resources, and bidirectional power flows; Interconnection backlogs, generator queues, and the pace of new capacity delivery; Federal policy levers for grid acceleration; and building coordination across FERC, RTOs/ISOs, state regulators, utilities, and industry. * EDF Senior Consultant Elizabeth Wolfe will be speaking at the Grids in Transition event on a panel entitled "Speed to Power: Optimizing the Existing Grid Through Advanced Technologies, Digitalization and Flexibility" at 1:50 pm on Thursday, September 24. The panel will discuss advanced conductors and dynamic line ratings to increase capacity on existing rights-of-way; grid topology optimization, power flow control devices, and network reconfiguration; AI, digital twins, and real-time situational awareness for system operations; demand response, virtual power plants, and distributed flexibility as grid assets; grid-scale storage as a transmission and distribution system resource; and regulatory and market incentives for non-wires alternatives and grid-enhancing technologies (GETs).
EDF Statement: UN methane report underscores need to move quickly from promise to delivery. June 23, 2026 (London) Environmental Defense Fund Executive Vice President, Impact, Angela Churie Kallhauge issued the following statement today in response to the United Nations Secretary-General's call for accelerated global action to cut methane emissions during London Climate Action Week: "The Secretary-General is right: cutting methane is one of the clearest tests of whether the world can deliver on its climate promises. We applaud his leadership and UNEP's years of work to bring the world to this point. The tools to find methane pollution are here, and the solutions to cut it are within reach. Now governments, industry, financial institutions and civil society must show how they will deliver by turning existing commitments, better data and growing momentum into immediate, measurable reductions. Fossil fuel methane is the fastest near-term opportunity. Leaks, venting and flaring waste energy and create avoidable pollution. At the same time, a credible methane response must quickly scale practical, ready-to-deploy solutions across agriculture, including manure management and more efficient production, and the waste sector, where cutting methane can also reduce pollution and improve public health. EDF is already meeting this moment with science and technologies that makes methane pollution visible, policies and standards that drive reductions, finance tools that reward performance, and partnerships that help hold actors accountable." Background * Methane is one of the most powerful tools the world has to slow warming in the near term. The Secretary-General's report makes clear that methane action is now an implementation test. Governments, companies, financial institutions and civil society must show how they will turn better data, stronger commitments and growing momentum into immediate, measurable reductions. * The report sets out a broad methane agenda across fossil fuels, agriculture and waste. Fossil fuel methane remains the fastest, most measurable and most cost-effective near-term opportunity. Leaks, venting and flaring waste a valuable resource and increase climate pollution. Cutting oil and gas methane is also part of credible transition implementation: reducing avoidable pollution from today's energy system while the world accelerates the shift to cleaner energy. * Agriculture is also essential to the methane delivery agenda. We can produce food more efficiently, more sustainably and with lower emissions. Practical solutions - including improved productivity, manure management, and feed supplements to lower methane in cow burps - are ready for on-farm adoption. Technical assistance, supportive policy and targeted finance must help make these solutions affordable and actionable for farmers. Together, these enabling conditions will ensure that we reduce methane while supporting food security, rural livelihoods and farmer resilience. * The challenge now is to convert momentum into delivery. That means stronger standards and nations plans from governments; methane cuts across oil and gas operations and supply chains; practical solutions in agriculture and waste; capital directed toward methane abatement; and civil society engagement to strengthen transparency, accountability and follow-through. * EDF will continue to focus where we can make the greatest contribution: science and technology that make methane pollution visible; policies and standards that drive reductions; market and finance tools that reward real methane performance; partnerships with companies, investors and national oil companies where action can reduce emissions quickly; livestock and agricultural methane solutions that support food security and rural livelihoods; and accountability work with the International Energy Agency, UNEP's International Methane Emissions Observatory, OGMP 2.0, governments and civil society. EDF also recognizes the important role of the Global Methane Hub in supporting the broader ecosystem needed to accelerate methane action worldwide. With more than 3 million members, Environmental Defense Fund creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. To do so, EDF links science, economics, law, and innovative private-sector partnerships to turn solutions into action. edf.org
Compeer Financial collaborates with PepsiCo to provide strip-till equipment financing. * News Release * Posted: June 11, 2026 SUN PRAIRIE, Wis., June 11, 2026 - Compeer Financial is teaming up with PepsiCo and other industry partners to offer a pilot leasing program for strip-till equipment, helping offset upfront financial costs for farmers implementing soil conservation practices on their farms. Through RegenLend, Compeer Financial will lease the equipment to farmers, and PepsiCo will cover two annual lease payments to share the cost of investment with farmers. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) aided in the development of this program, and the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund (SWOF) are operational partners in its management and operations. "As a leading farm lender, we listen to the priorities and concerns of farmers we serve. Soil conservation practices continue to evolve and opportunities abound for farmers to learn about and improve soil health. RegenLend is a program designed to use supply chain incentives to help bridge the financial investment in soil health technology, such as new strip tillage systems, that can be a burden to farmers' bottom line," said Bryan Stanek, managing director of new markets with Compeer Financial. "We are proud to work with PepsiCo in creating unique programs like RegenLend as they are committed to supporting our farmers in their journey to realizing the long-term gains their land and operations can experience from improved soil health." Strip-till can be an initial steppingstone for farmers exploring soil conservation practices to improve soil health on their farms. Strip tillage can improve soil health and contribute to long-term yield and water retention enhancements. The practice also can deliver fuel and labor cost savings on the farm through reduced trips across the field, improved efficiency in preparing the seedbed for planting and more precise fertilizer placement. However, strip-till also comes with an upfront investment in equipment that can present a barrier to many farmers. The new RegenLend program addresses this barrier by leveraging a unique collaboration between the farmer, an ag lender and the food value chain. "We are constantly looking for ways to collaborate with companies across the value chain to support farmers' efforts in producing a sustainable food supply. The RegenLend program is one example of how we are collaborating on unique programs that help farmers navigate rising costs and weather challenges so together we can build a more resilient food system," said Caitlin Colegrove, PepsiCo's sustainable agriculture lead for North America. "Every farmer's conservation journey is different, and they need a variety of solutions to succeed," said Vincent Gauthier, senior manager of agriculture at EDF. "Financing that helps farmers invest in conservation equipment and technology is a critical part of that toolbox." Using its expertise in innovative market-based sustainability solutions, EDF collaborated with Compeer Financial, SWOF and PepsiCo to develop the RegenLend pilot program to unlock investments and help farmers navigate the transition to conservation farming practices. Dan Yeoman, managing director of SWOF, said, "Farmers are increasingly looking to practices like strip-till that improve soil health, reduce erosion, and preserve their land for the next generation. Innovative programs like RegenLend provide new, scalable pathways to support farmers through that transition - delivering long-term benefits for their operations, their watersheds, and the food supply chain." In its initial pilot year, the RegenLend program is available to farmers interested in leasing strip-till equipment to implement soil conservation practices on at least 600 acres. More information is available at compeer.com/RegenLend.