Board of Directors
Oceana’s board of directors is an accomplished group of individuals from around the world whose purpose is to steer Oceana’s campaigns to efficiently and effectively protect and restore the oceans.
Dr. Kristian Parker, Chair
Oak Philanthropy LimitedParker was a member of Oceana's founding Board of Directors. He is a trustee of the Oak Foundation, based in Switzerland, and oversees Oak's environment program. Parker is also a marine biologist and received his Ph.D. in environmental sciences from Duke University.
James Sandler, Vice-Chair
The Sandler FoundationSandler was a member of Oceana's founding Board of Directors and is in charge of the Sandler Foundation's environmental giving.
Valarie Van Cleave, Treasurer
Ocean AdvocateVan Cleave’s business career encompasses work in mergers and acquisitions, sales and marketing and new business development. She has spearheaded successful fundraising efforts for political campaigns and conservation advocacy. She co-founded and co-chairs SeaChange, a record-breaking benefit for Oceana.
Simon Sidamon-Eristoff, Secretary
Kalbian Hagerty LLPSidamon-Eristoff is a lawyer with the tax-exempt organizations group at Kalbian Hagerty LLP in Washington, DC.
Keith Addis, President
Industry Entertainment PartnersAddis is the co-founder of Industry Entertainment, a leading management and production company. He is also a longtime environmentalist. Prior to joining Oceana's board, Addis was the Chairman of the American Oceans Campaign (AOC). Under his leadership, AOC -- founded by Addis's longtime friend and client Ted Danson -- achieved victories on key marine issues including bottom trawling and offshore oil drilling. AOC merged with Oceana in 2001.
Herbert M. Bedolfe, III
Marisla FoundationBedolfe, the executive director of the Marisla Foundation, was one of Oceana's founders and led the organization from 2002 until 2008.
Ted Danson
Actor/ActivistDanson is best known for his role on the TV Show “Cheers,” but for those in the conservation movement, he is famous for his work as a passionate ocean advocate and Oceana spokesman. Danson helped create the American Oceans Campaign in 1987, which eventually became Oceana in 2001. In the last two decades, Ted has appeared in public service announcements, appealing to donors and testifying to the government on the condition of our oceans.
Sydney Davis
Designer/ActivistDavis is a jewelry designer and activist. She and her husband, Andrew, are advocates for numerous environmental and educational causes. Through their family foundations, they work to protect and improve the lives of children, a goal that cannot be achieved without safeguarding the world’s oceans. Davis is on the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Advisory Council at the University of Texas in Austin and is an active member of Oceana’s Ocean Council.
César Gaviria
The Otun GroupGaviria served as the President of Colombia from 1990 to 1994, and as Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1994 until 2004. During his four-year presidential term, Colombia drafted a new, more democratic constitution.
María Eugenia Girón
Business LeaderGiron joined Oceana's board of directors in 2006, shortly after her tenure as chief executive officer of Carrera y Carrera, Spain's top jewelry manufacturer and one of the world's leading luxury brands. María Eugenia is an active lecturer, teacher and adviser at various universities and business schools. She brings to Oceana a vast knowledge of strategic planning, marketing and public relations. In 2004, María Eugenia was nominated for "Women Executive of the Year" by the Spanish Federation of Women CEOs and Professionals.
Stephen P. McAllister
Cherrywood Development LLCMcAllister is a successful developer. Stephen became executive director of Greenpeace Australia in 1989 and from 1990-1991, he was deputy executive director and campaign director of Greenpeace International at its headquarters in Amsterdam. In 2005, McAllister donated the use of the Ranger catamaran to Oceana.
Michael Northrop
Rockefeller Brothers FundNorthrop is program director for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund's global and domestic Sustainable Development program, where he focuses on climate change (link), forest protection and marine conservation. Northrop moonlights as a lecturer at Yale University where he teaches a graduate course on environmental campaigns at the Forest and Environmental Studies School. Previous positions have included a stint as Executive Director of Ashoka, an international development organization that seeks and supports public service entrepreneurs working around the globe.
Dr. Daniel Pauly
The University of British ColumbiaPauly is a renowned fisheries scientist. Since 1994, Pauly has been a professor at the Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia. He currently serves as the principal investigator of the Sea Around Us Project at the Fisheries Centre, where his global, multi-year analyses of marine ecosystems has allowed him to reach startling and important conclusions, most critical among them that fish populations are declining rapidly all over the world.
Susan Rockefeller
Documentary FilmmakerRockefeller is a documentary filmmaker whose award-winning films have appeared on HBO and PBS. Rockefeller also authored the ground-breaking Green At Work (Island Press) that helped usher environmentally-friendly jobs into nontraditional arenas. She's also a designer of inspirational jewelry. She sits on the Program Committee of The Stone Barns for Sustainable Agriculture, the Global Leadership Council for NRDC, the Audubon’s Women in Conservation, and is Chairwoman of Oceana’s Ocean Council.
Heather Stevens
Waterloo FoundationStevens and her husband founded The Waterloo Foundation, based in the UK, which she now chairs. Waterloo’s environmental efforts are focused on marine work and tropical forest conservation. The Foundation has funded considerable work in the marine sector including campaigns to combat illegal fishing in west Africa and to improve the fishing industry and marine life in the Pacific Coral Triangle.
Rogier van Vliet
Adessium FoundationRogier van Vliet is chairman of Adessium Foundation. Adessium Foundation is a Dutch fund founded in 2005. It is a privately funded public benefit organization that provides financial support to charitable organizations in the Netherlands and worldwide. Adessium Foundation aspires to a world in which people live in harmony with each other and with their environments. Since 2002, Mr. Van Vliet has also been a director at Multifund, a private investment company.
Sam Waterston
Actor/ActivistWaterston is best-known for his role as Jack McCoy on TV’s “Law and Order.” Waterston grew up in New England, where he saw the effects of fisheries collapses on the life of seaside towns.
