Sailors For The Sea Inc

Our Tenets:
Marine life and coastal environments are under increasing pressure from human use.
The ocean, which was once considered inexhaustible and resilient, is actually finite and fragile.The boating community, with its passion for the sea and awareness of the importance of ocean health, is well poised to serve as ocean stewards.

Our Vision:
A vibrant and bountiful ocean

Our Misson:
To educate and engage the boating community in the worldwide protection of the oceans.

It's clear that the ocean is in crisis. Environmental challenges like plastic waste, acidification, climate change and toxic chemicals are not only threatening marine life, but also our health—and the health of our children and the planet for generations to come. Sailors for the Sea was founded as a collective rallying cry for a community that loves and is passionate about protecting the ocean. Together we are one voice. One legacy. And the momentum behind a sea change.

Our public education and engagement programs, described above, explore natural science principles and foster positive environmental stewardship.Beyond simply conveying information, these programs take additional steps to provide the crucial link between knowledge and action so that individuals will have the resources and the sense of purpose necessary to take positive action. Whether it is a 8 year Opti sailor learning about the marine life teeming beneath their hull, a cruising sailor upgrading to renewable energy sources on their boat or a high level regatta incorporating sustainability measures to lower their environmental impact – Sailors for the Sea is providing education, inspiration and engagement tools for people to make individual behavioral changes that collectively impact ocean health.

How we inspire change:
Our high-impact, results oriented programs can be found at the helm of hundreds of regattas, in thousands of classrooms and in the hearts and minds of millions. Beyond simply conveying information, our programs take additional steps to provide the crucial link between knowledge and action.We translate the language of ocean conservation into actions so that our global community can take tangible steps to make a difference:

Clean Regattas
The world's only sustainability certification for water-based events, the Clean Regattas program offers support and resources to reduce environmental impact; a vital way to win the race to restore ocean health.

Kids Environmental Lesson Plans (KELP)
Fun, memorable and solution-oriented lesson plans based on the National Marine Educators Association's seven principles of Ocean Literacy.

Ocean Watch
Timely and fascinating articles that make ocean health issues in your coastal backyard or across the globe personal and relevant with opportunities to take action.

Green Boating Guide
The go-to green guide for recreational boaters and the cruising community. This resource offers sustainable eco-tips, and information for fun, meaningful green boating.

The NT3 Pledge - No Trash. No Trail. No Trace.
Our ocean acidification education strategy is called NT3, which stands for No Trash. No Trail. No Trace. The NT3 pledge campaign is about education, engagement, and behavior change. This integrated message platform reaches across all of our programs, connecting decisions (both personal and on a larger scale for events) to one's carbon footprint.

The NT3 pledge is our core strategy to unite our programs and the boating community around critical environmental issues like never before. Our goal is to get 1.2 million boaters by 2017 to take the NT3 pledge to reduce their carbon emissions three ways:

1) plastic waste reduction
2) chemical waste reduction and
3) reduction in burning fossil fuels

The combined objective of our programs and this strategy is to educate the boating community about ocean health issues and increase environmental awareness and stewardship. Whether it is a 8 year Opti sailor learning about the marine life teeming beneath their hull, a cruising sailor upgrading to renewable energy sources on their boat or a high level regatta incorporating sustainability measures to lower their environmental impact – Sailors for the Sea is providing education, inspiration and engagement tools for people to make individual behavioral changes that collectively impact ocean health.

Sailors for the Sea has established itself as the resource for boaters worldwide looking to learn about ocean health issues and reduce threats to ocean health. Our certification program has become the standard for regatta organizers, yacht clubs and sailing centers focused on reducing their environmental impact. Collaborating with a host of respected conservation and scientific organizations and institutions, we are able to educate and engage the next generation of ocean stewards and provide people with the information and tools to take personal action.

Key Personnel
President R. Mark Davis is a consummate strategist; manager, social entrepreneur, and humanitarian with over thirty years experience leading private and social sector organizations. He is an avid sailor with a USCG 100-ton Master's license, a former science teacher, explorer, a Fellow at the Francis Hesselbein Leadership Institute, and a recognized environmental leader who has received numerous awards for restoration, conservation, and revitalization efforts throughout his career.
Sustainability Director Robyn Albirtton is a certified Leave No Trace Trainer who has worked on sustainable fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico through policy work around the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. With a master's degree in natural resource management she specializes in understanding the social attitudes, processes, and behaviors related to how humans maintain, protect, enhance, and use our world.
Education Director Shelley Brown, PhD. is a native Rhode Islander who has spent a lifetime sailing with family from Bar Harbor, ME to Long Island, NY. She has a doctoral degree from the University of Rhode Island with a focus on microbial ecology in coastal marine environments. She is the former program director of the Block Island Maritime Institute (BIMI), was a member of the education team on the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, and has served as a visiting scientist at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Atlantic Ecology Division.

Noteworthy Accomplishments:
Sailors for the Sea is a movement and pragmatic voice for action that offers boaters tangible opportunities to create a legacy and make a difference.
• Launched NT3 – No Trash. No Trail. No Trace: our core, multi-platform strategy to bring the boating community together around critical environmental issues like never before.
• Created Clean Regattas; the world's only sustainability certification for water-based events. From Thailand to Oman, to Norway to Mexico Sailors for the Sea Clean Regattas, is the globally accepted standard for environmental best practices. Certified 800 Clean Regattas world-wide, with 300,000 participants.
• The Official Clean Regattas Partner of the 34th America's Cup.
• Five million viewers of public service announcement on NBC Sports TV during the 34th America's Cup.
• Sponsored and pioneered the forward-thinking film “A Sea Change" to raise awareness about Ocean Acidification before it became widely known.
• Sponsored the “Around the America's Expedition" the first sailboat circumnavigation of the America's, sailing 28,000 miles and bringing the message of ocean conservation 46 ports of call in 13 countries.
• Created KELP (Kids Environmental Lesson Plans); marine science lesson plans for informal educators. To date this program has reached over 95,000 kids in 36 states and 30 countries.
• Ocean Watch: A monthly online periodical that translates the language of marine science into timely, fascinating and actionable articles making ocean health personal and relevant.
• Green Boating Guide: An essential resource and go-to green guide for recreational (sail and power) boaters.
• Currently registering 3.5 Million media impressions per month(45 million in 2015)
• Global organization with affiliates in Chile, Japan and Portugal.

Constituents - We continue to try to broaden our scope so that our programs and efforts are as inclusive as possible. We define a sailor as a person who operates a water-borne vessel, a traveler by water. We aim to bring our mission and programming to all that fit this definition
Financial stability – While Sailors for the Sea has accomplished much and been the recipient of significant foundation and individual support Our new strategic plan, approved in mid-2014, will guide our program and fundraising development plan for the next several years.