Jenna Valente & Sarah Winter WhelanSarah Winter Whelan and Jenna Valente run the Healthy Ocean Coalition as the Executive Director and Director of Advocacy. Together, they are driven by the reality that, for far too long, policymakers have approached the climate change and biodiversity loss crises as separate issues, leading to decisions being made in silos. As a result, far too many policies for ocean conservation and protection are not reflective of the interconnectedness of the ecosystem and its collective impact on all life on Earth. They believe collaboration is key to ensuring ocean conservation policies in the United States are informed by and reflective of the people, regions, and wildlife they should serve. They work to remove barriers that keep people from becoming ocean advocates by providing relevant and timely information, building capacity to speak out for the ocean, and highlighting opportunities to engage with policymakers. They lift the work and voices of our network members to those in power and make advocacy for change more effective and efficient.
