Lisa Benenson Joins NRDC as Chief Communications Officer

NEW YORK (October 15th, 2013) – The Natural Resources Defense Council today announced the appointment of Lisa Benenson as Chief Communications Officer. Leading an international team of 40 people spanning all of NRDC’s offices, Benenson is responsible for NRDC’s brand and marketing, digital presence, and communications strategies and initiatives worldwide.

Benenson joins NRDC from the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, where she served as Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications. In her new role, she will help lead NRDC’s decades-long efforts to promote a clean energy future. NRDC works to curb climate change, revive our oceans, provide safe and sufficient water, defend endangered wild places and wildlife, and foster sustainable communities all across America.

“We are extremely excited to have Lisa on board,” said Frances Beinecke, NRDC president. “She will be a catalyst for change, providing fresh, innovative thinking that will bolster NRDC’s strategic communications and public engagement -- and help us remain the leading, indispensable voice on the central environmental challenges of our time.”

“It’s an honor to serve an organization whose mission is so critical,” said Benenson. “NRDC has been one of the nation’s most powerful environmental groups for more than 40 years, and I look forward to contributing to their important work.”

Prior to her role at UNICEF, Benenson was a consulting editor at Newsweek and The Daily Beast. She was the founding editor of Hallmark Magazine, and also led Working Mother and Working Woman. At Hallmark, she played a key role in shaping business strategies to leverage the Hallmark brand and developed and supervised the magazine’s digital and social media operations. At Working Mother, she created the “Take Your Kids to Vote” campaign, a joint initiative with the Council for Excellence in Government.

Earlier in her journalism career, Benenson worked for Newsday, where she was a reporter and served as the Assistant National Editor, and for The Denver Post, where she held positions including Metro Editor and Sunday Editor.

Benenson has appeared on NBC’s Today Show and was a contributor for the Weekend Today Show. She has also appeared on NBC Nightly News, the CBS Evening News, Oprah, Good Morning America, The Fox Report and other national broadcast programs.

Benenson is married, and the mother of two.