Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. (Rev Yearwood) is a movement builder, donor advisor, father and award-winning strategist for racial justice, climate justice, and health and environmental impacts. As President and CEO of Hip Hop Caucus, Rev Yearwood leads initiatives that blend the power of culture with climate advocacy, while also holding leadership roles in philanthropy and advocacy. Currently, he serves as a Senior Advisor for Bloomberg Philanthropies, advising on campaigns including Beyond Petrochemicals, Beyond Carbon, and Sustainable Cities. In addition to advising many other progressive philanthropic organizations, Rev Yearwood is also the Chairman of the Board for Green 2.0 and serves as a board member with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Third Act, Evergreen Action, Good Energy Project, and the League of Conservation Voters.
Rev Yearwood dedicated himself to climate activism when, as a native Louisianian, he witnessed loved ones be displaced in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Hip Hop Caucus organized the Gulf Coast Renewal Campaign in response to Hurricane Katrina and fought and advocated for justice for Gulf Coast communities. The campaign’s work, which connected grassroots leaders with leaders on Capitol Hill, challenged FEMA’s failures, and held corrupt law enforcement accountable, won the prestigious Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award in 2006. In 2009, the Hip Hop Caucus launched a solutions-based climate campaign —Green the Block—from the West Wing of the White House on President Obama’s Birthday. Then, after a decade of organizing innovative activism strategies on climate, under Rev Yearwood’s leadership, Hip Hop Caucus launched Think 100%, the organization’s award-winning climate activism and storytelling platform. Rev Yearwood foresaw the need for better storytelling to change the narrative on climate so that a movement big enough and inclusive enough to win against fossil fuel corporations could finally be built.
Rev Yearwood has been at the forefront of some of the biggest climate fights as a voice, an organizer, and a strategist, from stopping the Keystone XL Pipeline, to Standing Rock, to stopping Cop City in Atlanta. His work comes full circle, with a focus on parishes across his native Louisiana, as well as counties in Texas and Ohio River Valley, organizing opposition to proposed expansions of the petrochemical industry. He is leading efforts to ensure that big oil is stopped from making a catastrophic transition to big plastics.
Rev Yearwood hosts The Coolest Show podcast and the radio show Climate Fridays on WPFW in the Washington, DC metro area, both Hip Hop Caucus productions. Previous guests on The Coolest Show include Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, U.S. Senator Cory Booker, peace advocate Dr. Bernice A. King, actress Regina Hall (Nine Perfect Strangers), actress Alyssa Milano (Charmed) and actor Kendrick Sampson (Insecure). The Coolest Show’ is also a four-time W3 Gold Award winner for Public Service and Activism, and Community (2021-2022). Both shows connect the climate crisis to Black culture through solution-based conversations that reimagine a world where we all thrive.
Over the years, Rev Yearwood has brought a creative lens to climate activism, as he served as an executive producer of Underwater Projects, a short film narrated by comedian Wanda Sykes that examines Norfolk, Virginia’s struggle between climate resilience and gentrification as the city faces rising waters. During the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital (DCEFF), In 2024, Rev Yearwood received the Environmental Champion Award from the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital (DCEFF) for his long-standing climate and environmental justice leadership. Alongside that, Hip Hop Caucus’ Think 100% FILMS made Ain’t Your Mama’s Heat Wave, a stand-up comedy special reflecting the climate crisis in the city. Rev Yearwood is also an executive producer of the album HOME (Heal Our Mother Earth) from Hip Hop Caucus Think 100% MUSIC. It is the first climate album to move over 60,000 people to action in support of climate action in 2014 in the lead up to the Paris Climate Accords. The album features award-winning artists, including Common, NE-YO, and Crystal Waters.
In 2024, Forbes honored Rev Yearwood as part of their inaugural Sustainability Leaders list. Rolling Stone has called Rev Yearwood a “New Green Hero” and he was recognized by the Obama White House as a Champion of Change for his environmental work. His work has also been featured on Billboard, CNN, EBONY Magazine, Fast Company, The Guardian, HuffPost, The Nation, The New York Times, NPR, PBS NewsHour, POLITICO, REVOLT TV, The Washington Post and more.
Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Rev Yearwood’s passion for civil and human rights led him to early iterations of hip-hop politics meant to mobilize young voters. Started as a movement in 2004 to engage youth in the electoral process, Hip Hop Caucus has evolved into a nonpartisan, multi-issue organization that uses the power of hip-hop culture to advance movements centered on those first and worst impacted by injustice. The organization is now celebrating twenty years of achievements, power building and continued advocacy.
Through organizing and mobilizing local communities and partnering with artists and creatives to amplify and energize movements, Hip Hop Caucus brings the storytelling in hip-hop to life through its daily efforts to strengthen democracy, stop and reverse the impacts of our climate crisis, and protect and expand equity and justice. As the only institution of its kind, Hip Hop Caucus is the largest it has ever been, and leads the longest-running and biggest nonpartisan hip-hop voter mobilization campaign, Respect My Vote.
Rev Yearwood earned his undergraduate degree from the University of the District of Columbia and received a M.Div. degree from Howard University. He also served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve as an officer and chaplain. Rev Yearwood is a loving father of two sons and recently delivered the 2024 commencement speech at Paul Smith’s College, where he celebrated his son River’s graduation.
Rev Yearwood travels the globe adding his verse to the collective song for freedom, equality, justice and liberation. Still forging new possibilities and building toward a future where our individual rhythms drum in harmony. He resides in the Washington, D.C. area.