Peter A. Rafle, Jr., Vice President

For more than 20 years, Pete Rafle has specialized in smart, strategic advocacy communications, guided by the organization’s mission and driven by its legislative, political and policy objectives.

Pete comes to Spitfire from the United States Senate, where he was Communications Director for the Environment and Public Works Committee, providing strategic counsel to Senator Barbara Boxer during her first two Congresses as Chairman of the Committee. In addition to acting as primary media strategist for the Committee’s legislative docket – including comprehensive climate change legislation, clean air and water bills, and transportation policy – he worked extensively with the Senator’s in-state staff on California environmental and infrastructure issues. He also consulted on a volunteer basis in Washington and in California as part of the Senator’s successful 2010 reelection campaign.

Before heading to Capitol Hill, Pete spent five years as Director of Advocacy Communications at The Wilderness Society, where he led a cooperative integrated communications campaign that was instrumental in defending the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas development, and helped shape TWS’ efforts to incorporate strategic communications in all its program areas and its network of regional offices.

At DDB Issues & Advocacy, he worked to develop and implement communications strategies for issues ranging from energy efficiency to sustainable fisheries and fair trade coffee.

From 1992 to 1999, he was Communications Director for Trout Unlimited, where he helped the grassroots fisheries conservation organization push back ill-conceived Congressional attacks on the Clean Water Act and created a television series to showcase the group’s grassroots conservation work that aired for several seasons on ESPN. He was also responsible for establishing the organization’s first-ever online presence and served as editor and publisher of Trout Magazine, TU’s quarterly member publication. His resume also includes a stint as senior writer for Thirteen/WNET in New York, one of public broadcasting’s flagship television stations.

A graduate of Yale University, Pete also holds a black belt in the Korean martial art of Tae Kwon Do. He and his wife Margo have two children.