NRDC Hires Drew Caputo and Christy Goldfuss to Key Leadership Roles

NEW YORK – NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) today announced two new hires to its Executive Leadership Team: Drew Caputo in the role of Chief Program Officer and Christy Goldfuss as Chief Policy Impact Officer.

“We are in a critical moment for the fight against the climate emergency. The window of opportunity to act is closing quickly, but momentum is on our side. NRDC will be working hard to seize it—to turn the promise of clean energy into reality, to protect our natural world, and to stand up for people and communities everywhere. Drew Caputo and Christy Goldfuss bring decades of policy and advocacy leadership experience and expertise that will help steer our organization’s next phase of work. Together, we are going to bring the full force of NRDC to bear to build a better future,” said Manish Bapna, President and Chief Executive Officer of NRDC.

Drew Caputo has more than three decades of experience leading litigation and other advocacy to protect the climate, communities, public lands and wild places. He re-joins NRDC from Earthjustice, where he served as Vice President of Litigation for Lands, Wildlife and Oceans. Caputo was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in San Francisco and a Senior Attorney with NRDC earlier in his career. As Chief Program Officer, Caputo will have overall strategic and operational responsibility for NRDC’s programs, with a focus on thought leadership, program strategy and management, fundraising, and representation.

“NRDC was my early professional home, where I found my calling in environmental advocacy,” said Drew Caputo, NRDC Chief Program Officer. “I know from experience this organization has a special mix of strengths, skills and abilities that make it uniquely positioned to lead the fight against the climate crisis, and to help build a more hopeful and equitable world. I could not be more excited to come back to NRDC at this pivotal moment to help advance the policy solutions and smart advocacy that can make that vision for a better future a reality.”

Christy Goldfuss brings extensive experience in policy and implementation at the federal and state levels. She joins from the Center for American Progress, where she was Senior Vice President, Energy and Environment Policy. Previously, Goldfuss was Managing Director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) during the Obama administration and the Deputy Director of the National Park Service. In the role of Chief Policy Impact Officer, Goldfuss will have overall strategic, operational, fundraising and representation responsibility for NRDC’s capacity areas, including the Environment, Equity and Justice Center, the Center for Policy Advocacy (CPA), Communications and the Science Office.

“We have the opportunity to re-imagine how our society works and do so in a way that addresses climate change, protects nature, and delivers economic revitalization to disadvantaged communities that have been systematically polluted for decades,” said Christy Goldfuss, NRDC Chief Policy Impact Officer. “NRDC has the expertise, the passion, and the commitment to make a cleaner and more equitable future a reality, and I am honored to join the team at this pivotal moment in history.”

Caputo and Goldfuss will join NRDC later this fall.

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.