New York, New York, United States
Robert Tanner is a climate solutions leader, strategic communications expert, and consultant. As an environmental non-profit executive director and board member, as a former senior investigator on the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, and as an award-winning journalist, Bob has created understanding and persuasion around vital issues. Bob has built teams and coalitions across the climate and energy communities, including philanthropy, media, frontlines, science, and government. As a non-profit leader, Bob stewarded team building, managed operations, and worked closely with the board to grow and sustain the organization. He brought on and retained key foundation partners, developing proposals and regularly meeting with program officers to ensure alignment among organizations' vision and initiatives. The heart of Bob's effectiveness as a leader is his drive to use effective communication to create change and develop rapport with people to get to the crux of matters. He has led numerous creative communications campaigns on the urgency of equitable and just climate solutions, along with efforts to measure success.
Serve as a member of the board of directors for the leading environmental non-profit in New York State, protecting the air, land, water, and health of all New Yorkers.
Partner with major US and international organizations in climate, media and technology to develop vision, growth strategies, and transformation models. Advise on communications planning, go-to-market offerings, organizational structures and business development opportunities. Clients have included BBC, PBS, Outside, Environmental Advocates NY, Univision, Altice, Connecticut Public, Reykjavik Global, and DCN. Early stage and non-profit advisory roles have included Alda, Swerve, and a pre-launch climate leadership effort.
Lead nonprofit strategic communications organization as interim executive director with teams based in New York, Washington, DC, and the West Coast. Previously served as managing director and director of operations. Oversee a team of 50 in media strategy and digital engagement. Manage fundraising, partnership building, and executing the mission. • Partnered with founder to launch the organization and grow operations to consistently ensure a constructive, far-reaching conversation about climate science, clean energy, and climate impacts. • Drove the groundbreaking, effective strategy to identify and elevate climate scientists to serve as authoritative media sources to counter opponents, in industry and academia, who for years misrepresented the science and confused the public and media. • Raised tens of millions of dollars from a wide set of philanthropic organizations, from large long-standing institutions to small family foundations. o Directly led the successful proposal process and secured half of the partner foundations. • Built partnerships with interlocking communities of advocates, scientists, grassroots organizations, government leaders, academics, and experts across health, energy, law, justice, faith, and national security. • Led a consensus-driven exploration of updates to our mission, values, and organizational culture to strive for a truly equitable and livable future. • Increased emphasis on establishing and tracking quantitative and qualitative narrative data to determine campaign engagement and our impact on public opinion and legislation. • Crafted and executed creative and timely communication campaigns, including extreme weather and disasters, the finance sector’s influence, transportation, decarbonization, grid modernization, and humanitarian, justice, security, and governance challenges imposed by the accelerating climate threat.
Led investigations and produced Committee reports, analyses, and memos that shaped policy, legislation, and regulation. • Investigated the BP/Gulf of Mexico oil spill and contributed to environmental legislation and regulations focused on policies for climate change, clean air, and clean energy. • Led the committee’s oversight of the Tennessee Valley Authority, including response to and cleanup of the 2008 coal-ash disaster in Kingston, TN and other energy issues (nuclear, coal, hydro, solar, wind, biomass, and energy efficiency). • Wrote speeches on environmental issues for senators, including Sen. Barbara Boxer.
AP National Writer (2000–2009) National Editor and Supervisor (1997–2000) Held successive roles on investigative, national, and special assignment teams. • Delivered impactful reporting as a national writer on an elite team (two dozen out of thousands of AP reporters) built to cover major stories in real-time. o Launched and co-led several national investigative teams of up to 50 reporters. o Covered Hurricane Katrina as it unfolded and its devastating aftermath, the infamous “hanging chad” Bush-Gore 2000 election recount and subsequent voting reform, and the 2005 Pakistan earthquake in which more than 80,000 people died. o Exposed scientific evidence questioning DNA and arson convictions, including a widely distributed story of an immigrant convicted of killing his daughter in a fire that my reporting helped reveal to be caused by faulty wiring, and who was later exonerated. • Promoted to New York headquarters to oversee, produce, and edit news reporting, joining a team that managed a nationwide network of journalists working under tight daily deadlines.