Forever A Surfer Campaign

Mobilizing Surf Culture for Global Social Impact

Project Overview

Launched in October 2017, this two-month initiative aimed to unite authentic surf culture with social justice activism through partnerships with local surfers as brand ambassadors. The campaign celebrated individual expression and social responsibility, increasing brand awareness, improving engagement across all channels, and establishing a sustainable network of surfer partnerships dedicated to social change. By empowering surfers to leverage their skills in building relationships worldwide, the campaign created a powerful movement transforming surfers beyond an individualistic worldview to one where surfers could integrate into different geographic areas and engage in humanitarian actions while promoting surf culture. This approach helped transform regular surf competitions into fundraising opportunities while legitimizing social activism within surf culture, raising $30,000 of travel funding for Sierra Leone surf spots. Through integrated lifestyle branding, surf competitions, and youth clinics, the campaign successfully bridged the gap between recreational surfing and nonprofit impact, creating a sustainable network of surfer partnerships dedicated to social change.

My Role

As creative director, I led the “Forever A Surfer” campaign, directing brand strategy, photography, videography, and visual design, managing partnerships with surfer ambassadors, and strategically coordinating surf events.

Project Duration: October - December 2017

Key Partners: RedBull Ambassadors

Team: Fas Lebbie, Lance Lowry, Nick Jones, Local Surfers, Parker Welbeck

Campaign Background

The Forever A Surfer campaign taps into the vibrant intersection of surf culture, travel, and social responsibility rooted in the global surf community. While other nonprofit organizations struggled to connect with surfers, we saw an opportunity in surfing’s deep connection to world travel – where passionate surfers often find themselves in surf locations in the Global South looking for the perfect wave. Surfers who travel globally often encounter underprivileged communities but lack structured ways to make a positive impact. Our challenge was to authentically integrate the nonprofit’s social justice mission with local surf culture while leveraging the sport’s adventurous spirit for brand awareness. Surfers desire to give back to communities they visit, but only a few actively participate in surf-related humanitarian work. We zeroed in on surf communities where passionate athletes were already working on social justice platforms: Orange County’s competitive surf scene, Hawaii’s traditional surf heritage, and California’s progressive surf culture. Each location offered unique perspectives on how local surfers who travel to places like South Africa, Bali, and more could become vehicles for impacting local systems.

Design Interventions

Through surfer-led storytelling, we let surf ambassadors shape our brand story. We identified emerging and established surfers who embodied athletic skill and social consciousness to engage in photoshoots and surf clinics, centering our nonprofit mission and their cultural authenticity while organically incorporating the Forever A Surfer campaign into their surfing lifestyle. Surfers incorporated the campaign into competitions, surf clinics for underprivileged youth, and lifestyle branding – each bringing their unique perspective to the movement. This approach helped transform regular surf competitions into fundraising opportunities while legitimizing social activism within surf culture, raising $30,000 of travel funding for Sierra Leone surf Spots.

Blending bold surf aesthetics with purpose where lifestyle becomes storytelling for social change

Beneath the surface: where playful immersion in waves becomes a narrative for global community connection.

Campaign storytelling through authentic surf lifestyle turning everyday practice into visual narratives of purpose.

Ambassador stories unfold through lifestyle imagery, attracting influential surfers to join our narrative of change.

Beach lifestyle becomes powerful storytelling when surfers unite to reimagine their sport's global impact.

Every wave tells a story turning athletic moments into powerful narratives that raised $30,000 for Sierra Leone.

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My Approach

Research & Campaign Strategy

The core of my work was a continued understanding of how surf culture evolved from a recreational activity to a lifestyle with the potential for social impact. I combined deep local insights with an analysis of existing surf-based humanitarian organizations to reveal opportunities to integrate our nonprofit mission into existing cultural narratives. Each surf community offered unique cultural dynamics that shaped my research. In California, where surf competitions drive community engagement, surfing symbolizes both athletic achievement and lifestyle identity. Hawaii transformed it into a deeper connection with nature and traditional values. Surfers travel to surf spots in remote areas of the global south for surfing adventures, but only a few have meaningful interactions with local communities beyond tourism. This campaign aims for a fundamental shift: Young surfers prioritize authentic cultural connections and social responsibility over traditional recreational status. While established surf brands remained anchored in performance and lifestyle marketing, our target audience sought genuine humanitarian engagement, enabling surfers to integrate social activism into their lifestyle naturally.

Implementation Strategy

Our implementation unfolded across three strategic phases, beginning with cultivating ambassadors through organic, peer-to-peer relationships rather than formal recruitment, growing from 12 to 18 surfers by month’s end. November’s activation phase integrated our message into 12 existing surf competitions, launched youth clinics, and released documentary-style videos that achieved 8.7% engagement (far exceeding the 2.3% nonprofit average). The final phase formalized our ambassador program, finalized the $30,000 Sierra Leone initiative, and developed brand partnerships for sustainability. Throughout implementation, we prioritized authentic engagement over traditional marketing metrics, adapting based on community feedback.

Campaign Outcome

Short Term Impact

The Forever A Surfer Campaign successfully transformed how surfers engage with social justice initiatives, creating meaningful pathways for humanitarian impact. The campaign’s success stemmed from three key factors: surfer-led content creation generating authenticity, local cultural integration, and sustainable community growth, reaching an increase in engagement and participation. Most importantly, the campaign succeeded in its core mission of traveling to Sierra Leone, West Africa, with surfers to teach underprivileged youth through surf clinics, with 25+ young people participating in educational programs that built confidence and introduced them to positive lifestyle choices.

Long Term Impact

The ambassador program grew organically, with influential figures approaching the team to represent the cause, demonstrating the campaign’s resonance within the surf community. The campaign’s community-driven approach evolved into sustained partnerships with influential surfers. The network effect amplified our reach as more surfers sought involvement, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem of authentic nonprofit storytelling. The campaign helped shift perceptions within the surf industry about the compatibility of social justice work with authentic surf culture, inspiring a new generation of surfers to view their recreational passion as a vehicle for meaningful global change.