Mark Spalding

 

Mark’s deep connection with the ocean began as a young boy growing up in the Central Valley of California; each time he crested the coastal range and the Pacific came into view, it was like a breath of fresh air.

Mark is an expert on international environmental policy and law, ocean policy and law, and coastal and marine philanthropy. He has been the President of The Ocean Foundation since 2003. Under his leadership, it has grown exponentially from a $200,000/year to $8 million/year budget, as he prioritized steering the human relationship with the sea to a brighter future through diverse, carefully chosen strategies and projects.

Mark is a member of the Ocean Studies Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (USA). He is serving on the Sargasso Sea Commission. Mark is a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Blue Economy at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. In addition, he is an Advisor to the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy. He serves as the advisor to the Rockefeller Climate Solutions Strategy and the Credit Suisse Rockefeller Ocean Engagement Strategy (unprecedented ocean-centric investment funds) and is a member of the Pool of Experts for the UN World Ocean Assessment. He designed the first-ever blue carbon offset program, SeaGrass Grow.

  • 1983: Graduation from Claremont McKenna College.

  • 1986: Doctor of Law, Loyola Marymount University.

  • 1992: Master of Pacific International Affairs (MPIA) at UCSD School of Global Policy and Strategy.

  • 1992 – 2000: Attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington DC.

  • 1994-​2003: Director of the Environmental Law and Civil Society Program, and Editor of the Journal of Environment and Development, at UCSD’s Graduate School of Global Policy and Strategy.

  • 2003: President of The Ocean Foundation.

  • Expert on International Environmental Policy and Law, Ocean Policy and Law, and coastal and marine philanthropy; Member of the Ocean Studies Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (USA); Commissioner, the Sargasso Sea Commission; Senior Fellow at the Center for the Blue Economy at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies; Advisor to the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, to the Rockefeller Climate Solutions Fund and to the Credit Suisse Rockefeller Ocean Engagement Fund; Member of the Pool of Experts for the UN World Ocean Assessment and the UNEP Guidance Working Group for its Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Initiative.

  • The Ocean Foundation – Charity Navigator’s highest ranked international ocean conservation charity – has done vital, often pathbreaking work, particularly regarding ocean acidification, blue carbon, sustainable blue economy, and supporting the rule of law.

  • Launched in 2002 as a community foundation by a group of coral conservation experts, venture capitalists and philanthropists around photographer and founding chair of the organisation C. Wolcott Henry. Mark Spalding was brought in as President shortly thereafter.

  • The gathering place for marine conservation donors and conservation entrepreneurs to advance global ocean solutions.

  • Providing grants, hosting projects and funds, and collaborating with important campaigns and opinion leaders.

  • Since 2003, The Ocean Foundation has spent over USD $74 million on marine conservation – through grants and services – to protect marine habitat and species of concern, building the ocean conservation community’s capacity and expanding ocean literacy.