Rhoda Karpatkin, Consumer Champion.

PIRG’s Ed Mierzwinski served on the board of Consumer Reports from 2009-2021 and was a longtime colleague of Rhoda Karpatkin. He wrote this on learning of her passing last week. [New York Times obituary].

RHODA KARPATKIN passed away last week. I was sad for that, but I know she had a long life, a great family and leaves a legacy in the consumer movement. 

Rhoda served as the fifth executive director and president of Consumers Union, which is now known as Consumer Reports. 

It grew from 2 million to over 5 million members during her tenure as executive director and president and it remains the largest consumer organization in the world. Rhoda deserves great credit for her work and for her vision in advancing the success of the consumer movement internationally. 

I had the honor of serving with Rhoda as a leader of the TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD.org), which was founded in 1998 to advise the two governments (the United States and the European Commission) on how to protect consumers. Until very recently, Rhoda attended many international meetings, in Brussels, Paris and Washington, of the TACD. She was always a fierce voice for consumers and wouldn’t take no for an answer. She was an inspiration to me and many consumer advocates over the years. We will miss her, but her legacy of consumer protection with Consumer Reports, Consumers International, TACD and so many other organizations will live on. Thank you, Rhoda.