Brad Powell
Board Candidate for Region 10 Director (AZ, CO, NM, UT)
Brad began his career in conservation over 50 years ago with the US Forest Service. He completed a career of over 35 years with the US Forest Service and then over a decade with Trout Unlimited in conservation advocacy focused on public lands.
For the last 15 years with the Arizona Wildlife Federation (AWF), Brad has been a strong advocate for the NWF-affiliate partnership. While helping grow AWF into a strong regional conservation voice in the Southwest, Brad also has been a national leader of NWF’s One Federation. Brad served on NWF’s Strategic Planning Committee, along with five other affiliate leaders, and played a major role in designing the Plan with the One Federation concept incorporated. Brad and his colleagues went on to write the “We Commit” statement, affirming NWF and its affiliates’ pledge to implement the Plan. The statement was unanimously adopted by all affiliates. As a member of the One Federation Advisory Board, Brad helped guide the implementation of One Federation, incorporating strategies such as a redesign of the affiliate caucus/workgroup structure that enables affiliates and staff to work together effectively around conservation priorities such as Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, the Great American Outdoors Act, and climate change. Brad also served as Co-chair of the Public lands and Hunting and Angling affiliate work groups.
Brad continues to be instrumental in designing the next generation of One Federation—One Federation 2.0. Brad is a team member making recommendations for advancing affiliate engagement and effectiveness, drawing on his many successes in transforming AWF through strategic planning, vision, and experience. With his collaborative approach and strong board-building skills, Brad has significantly expanded the capacity of AWF, substantially increasing both its staffing and its annual budget.
Brad is often sought out for his advice from all corners of the Federation. His tireless pursuit of conservation victories at the local, regional, and national scale goes above and beyond what could be expected. Time and again, Brad rises to meet myriad threats to conservation values, habitat and wildlife, and his intuitive grasp of conservation policy brings tremendous value to the entire Federation.