Oceana Welcomes New Members to Board of Directors: Christina Hicks and Patrice Etlin
The global ocean advocacy group also bids farewell to Valarie Van Cleave, longtime Board Member and co-founder of Oceana’s award-winning SeaChange Summer Party
Press Release Date: June 11, 2024
Location: Washington, DC
Contact:
Gillian Spolarich | email: gspolarich@oceana.org
202-467-1909
Today, Oceana announced Dr. Christina Hicks and Patrice Etlin have joined the organization’s distinguished Board of Directors. As the largest international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation, Oceana is winning campaigns around the world that stop overfishing, protect ocean habitat, increase transparency, curb oil and plastic pollution, and restore ocean abundance and biodiversity.
“We are very pleased to welcome Christina and Patrice to Oceana’s Board of Directors. Both are experts in their respective fields and will bring invaluable experience and insight to Oceana that will help us grow as an organization and win more policies victories for our oceans and the people who depend on them,” said Sam Waterston, Chair of Oceana’s Board of Directors.
Dr. Christina Hicks is a Professor at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom. As a social scientist and marine conservationist, her work is far-reaching and covers fisheries governance and conservation, food justice and nutrition, and the politics of finance and investment in fisheries and food systems.
“Saving the world’s oceans requires informed actions that are flexible, reflexive, adaptive, and centered in equity. Oceana embraces these approaches, while focusing on solutions that address environmental and societal challenges together,” said Hicks. “As a scientist, I have always admired that Oceana’s campaigns are informed by the best available science. Oceana is on the ground, around the world, winning policy victories that are making a difference for our oceans and coastal communities. I am thrilled to join Oceana’s Board of Directors and work together to save the world’s oceans, ocean life, and ocean-dependent societies.”
Hicks was recently named a Pew Marine Fellow and will investigate the links between international (and often opaque) financing and overfishing in four countries in East and West Africa. She is listed as a Highly Cited Researcher by the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate, and has won several awards for her work, including the Philip Leverhulme Prize in Geography and the Royal Geographical Society’s Gill Memorial Award.
Patrice Etlin joined the private equity firm Advent International in 1997 and started the organization’s investment activities in Brazil, his home country. As one of Advent’s global Managing Partners and member of its Executive Committee, he helps oversee the firm’s strategic direction and investment activities, with a particular focus on Latin America. Etlin has 29 years of private equity experience and has led, co-led, or participated in over 30 investments in the region.
“As an avid free diver, I have developed a deep passion for our oceans. After witnessing the destruction of marine life and ecosystems firsthand, I knew I had to get involved and help protect these precious ocean habitats. I choose to support Oceana because they tackle the biggest threats facing our oceans and win,” said Etlin. “I look forward to fueling this passion by joining Oceana’s Board of Directors and helping to win victories that safeguard our seas.”
Longtime Oceana Board Member Valarie Van Cleave also announced her retirement from the Board. Van Cleave is the co-founder of Oceana’s SeaChange Summer Party, the organization’s award-winning event in Southern California that has raised more than $19 million over the last 16 years to protect and restore the world’s oceans. Van Cleave has been instrumental in the organization’s success, kickstarting Oceana’s campaign to combat seafood fraud in the United States and around the world and serving as the Chair of the Board from 2018 to 2022. She will be honored for her contributions at this year’s SeaChange Summer Party on Aug. 17, 2024, in Orange County.
Other Oceana Board Members include Keith Addis, Gaz Alazraki, Herbert M. Bedolfe III, Ted Danson, Nicholas Davis, Maya Gabeira, César Gaviria, María Eugenia Girón, Loic Gouzer, Jena King, Ben Koerner, Sara Lowell, Dr. Kristian Parker, Dr. Daniel Pauly, David Rockefeller, Jr., Susan Rockefeller, James Sandler, Lex Sant, Simon Sidamon-Eristoff, Dr. Rashid Sumaila, Diana Thomson, Elizabeth Wahler, Sam Waterston, Jean Weiss, and Antha Williams. More information on Oceana’s Board of Directors is available here.
Oceana is the largest international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Oceana is rebuilding abundant and biodiverse oceans by winning science-based policies in countries that control one-quarter of the world’s wild fish catch. With more than 300 victories that stop overfishing, habitat destruction, oil and plastic pollution, and the killing of threatened species like turtles, whales, and sharks, Oceana’s campaigns are delivering results. A restored ocean means that 1 billion people can enjoy a healthy seafood meal every day, forever. Together, we can save the oceans and help feed the world. Visit Oceana.org to learn more.
