Brady Robinson is a lifelong climber, conservationist, and educator who currently serves as Director of Philanthropy for the Freyja Foundation. His career has spanned outdoor education, nonprofit leadership, and global conservation philanthropy, with past roles including Executive Director of both the Access Fund and the Conservation Alliance. These days, his work focuses on supporting high-impact land and water conservation efforts across South America, with a particular emphasis on Chilean Patagonia.
Brady and I go way back—he was my NOLS instructor in the fall of 1999, on a course that involved big mountains, a few navigational hiccups, and some life-long leadership lessons. That semester planted the seeds for much of what I’ve done professionally and personally—including starting this podcast—and Brady’s been a friend and mentor for going on 26 years. He was also one of the very first guests on this podcast in 2016, back when I had only one microphone and really didn’t know how to work it.
When Brady and I last spoke on the podcast, he was leading the Access Fund, and a lot has happened since then. In this conversation, we catch up on his career and dig into everything he’s working on now. We start out discussing our NOLS experience, Brady’s leadership in forming the Outdoor Alliance (alongside recent podcast guest Adam Cramer), his work on passing major climbing legislation, and the lessons he’s learned about collaboration, trust, and long-game thinking. We spend the second half of the conversation digging into his current work in Patagonia’s Cochamó Valley—a spectacular and at-risk landscape in southern Chile that Brady and his colleagues are working to protect through an ambitious multi-partner campaign. It’s a story of nimble, grassroots conservation work, smart philanthropy, and what’s possible when people align around a shared purpose.
If you’ve enjoyed my conversations with Kris Tompkins or Adam Cramer, then I know you’ll enjoy this one as well. Big thanks to Brady for his decades of support and mentorship—and another big thanks to you for listening. Enjoy!
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Header photo by Jimmy Chin, headshot by Susannah Allen
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RESOURCES:
Topics Discussed:
- 2:27 – Intro and how Ed and Brady met in 1999
- 9:06 – Access Fund
- 14:59 – Building a top-notch board
- 18:12 – Alignment
- 23:42 – Leaders Brady admires
- 30:07 – Getting to Patagonia
- 35:33 – Working with Kris Tompkins
- 40:57 – Main Freyja Foundation goals
- 43:48 – The Cochamó Valley
- 49:55 – Real estate rough
- 56:52 – The cool kids’ table
- 1:00:41 – All about the one-on-one
- 1:02:52 – Book recs
Information Referenced:
- Brady Robinson
- Freyja Foundation
- Brady’s first M&P episode
- NOLS rock climbing
- Outward Bound
- Access Fund
- The Explore Act and the Park Act were advocated for by the Access Fund. The Park Act officially designated the use of fixed anchors in wilderness.
- Adam Cramer M&P episode
- Outdoor Alliance
- Surfriders
- American Hiking Society
- American Alpine Club
- Outdoor Alliance timeline
- Stripping the public lands sale out of the “Big Beautiful Bill” coverage from Montana’s Flathead Beacon.
- Armando Menocal
- Charles Wilkinson
- Good to Great and Good to Great and the Social Sectors
- M&P Kris Tomkins episode
- Rewilding Argentina and Rewilding Chile
- Patagonia Park Argentina
- The Cochamó Valley
- Sapiens illustrated series
Enjoy this episode? Then you might like these too:
- Kristine Tompkins – Nothing to Lose
- Sonnie Trotter – On Flow, Family, and the Long Game
- Adam Cramer – Fighting for the Future of Public Lands
- Cassidy Randall – The Untold Story of Denali’s First All-Women’s Ascent
- George Hodgin Returns – On Risk-Taking, Leadership, and the Future of Cannabis
- Scott Hulet: Reading + Writing + Surfing + Fishing + Traveling
Visit the podcast page for a full, searchable list of episodes
