THE OCEAN AWAKENS

Fabien Lamaison is a social and climate entrepreneur and the Executive Director of Plastic Odyssey Fund, the U.S. nonprofit arm of the global Plastic Odyssey initiative. In 2024, he co-founded the Fund alongside Simon Bernard and Alexandre Dechelotte to mobilize American philanthropy, corporate partners, and innovation ecosystems in support of Plastic Odyssey’s expeditions and marine ecosystem restoration.

Based in San Francisco, Fabien leads the Fund’s strategy, partnerships, and fundraising efforts to support Plastic Odyssey’s global missions, including expeditions to some of the world’s most remote and plastic-polluted coastal environments.

Prior to Plastic Odyssey, Fabien spent more than two decades building and scaling technology ventures across fintech and impact innovation. His work focuses on developing practical, scalable solutions that connect entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and environmental action.

Simon Bernard is a former merchant navy officer and environmental entrepreneur. He founded Plastic Odyssey to confront plastic pollution where it harms biodiversity most, in remote and protected marine ecosystems.

Simon leads expedition design and field operations, ensuring that each mission combines practical removal, scientific collaboration, and documented results. His maritime background shapes the organization’s disciplined, field-first approach.

He regularly joins missions onboard, working directly with crew, scientists, and local partners to refine methods and strengthen restoration standards.

Alexandre Dechelotte is a former Merchant Navy officer and self-taught entrepreneur. A graduate of the French National Maritime Academy (ENSM), he spent years navigating commercial vessels, particularly in Asia, where he witnessed firsthand the scale of ocean plastic pollution. That experience marked a turning point in his career.

In 2016, he co-founded Plastic Odyssey with Simon Bernard. Today, he oversees the organization’s development, communications, and partnerships while remaining closely connected to expedition work. His maritime background informs a pragmatic, field-oriented approach to building solutions that can operate under real-world constraints.

Holly is Founder & Executive Director of The Plastics & Climate Project, the only science, policy, and communications initiative designed to account for all the climate impacts of plastics. She brought this expertise to the World Resources Institute (WRI) where she was a Senior Fellow. She served on the stakeholder advisory group helping craft the implementation rules for California’s plastic packaging reduction law, and is a nominator for Prince William’s Earthshot Prize.

Holly also founded Environment & Enterprise Strategies where she provides strategic guidance to such organizations as the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Elders, the World Economic Forum, C40, and Stand.earth. As a President Clinton appointee, she managed the climate issue at the U.S. Department of Defense, and served on the State Department’s UN climate treaty negotiations team.

She has degrees from Berkeley and from Harvard where she was a Leadership Fellow. See her LinkedIn for more information.

Andy has dedicated his career to the protection and restoration of marine and coastal ecosystems. Originally from the Little Miami watershed of Ohio, he first came to Kodiak as a U.S. Coast Guard officer, serving two tours before deciding to make Alaska home. After leaving the Coast Guard, he built a marine operations company that today operates a fleet of vessels supporting marine research for government agencies and universities throughout Alaska.

Over the course of his career, Andy has helped lead the removal of more than one million pounds of marine debris from Alaska's coastlines. In 2018, he co-founded Ocean Plastics Recovery Project to expand and accelerate that work. He is also the founding president of +Nature, a nonprofit that bridges conservation, science, and economics to advance durable investments in nature.

Andy lives year-round in Kodiak with his wife, where they are raising two teenagers.

The Maison L’Occitane en Provence offers since 1976 a luxury range of skincare, fragrances, and wellbeing products enriched with authentic natural ingredients. Continuing to honor the Provençal art de vivre, L’Occitane en Provence draws from local traditions and craftsmanship to share more than skincare products: genuine experiences of well-being, enriching for ourselves, our relationship with others and Nature. Today, the Maison brings Provence to life for its customers, through more than 3,000 boutiques, 100 spas, 3000 partner hotels and one brand hotel in particular, Le Couvent des Minimes, un Hôtel et Spa L’Occitane en Provence.

Marine Conservation Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to securing permanent, strong protection for the ocean’s most important places. Guided by the best available science, the institute works to safeguard marine biodiversity through innovative global initiatives like Blue Parks, which accelerates effective marine protected areas, and the Marine Protection Atlas, the most trusted source of global MPA information. With its highly collaborative approach, Marine Conservation Institute drives meaningful progress toward safeguarding marine biodiversity and ensuring the long-term vitality of our planet’s ocean.

Ocean Plastics Recovery Project (OPR) is an Alaska-based nonprofit dedicated to removing marine debris from some of the world's most remote coastlines while advancing practical solutions to the global plastics crisis. Through large-scale cleanup expeditions, scientific collaboration, and innovation in marine debris processing, OPR protects wildlife, restores coastal ecosystems, and improves understanding of plastic pollution.

The organization develops systems to recycle and repurpose ocean-recovered plastics, capturing value from materials that would otherwise remain environmental hazards while demonstrating responsible end-of-life solutions. By integrating field operations, research, and material recovery, OPR is helping transform ocean plastics from a costly waste stream into a resource that supports conservation, local economies, and long-term environmental stewardship.

As a pioneer of the canned water space, Open Water has eliminated the need for over 150 million plastic bottles with their 100% infinitely recyclable aluminum bottles and cans. The still and sparkling water inside is crafted and sourced with intention to be as high quality and low impact as possible. In addition to eliminating plastic, they are dedicated to a net zero future, which means measuring their entire carbon footprint and investing in emissions reductions projects (like wind farms and refrigerant clean up efforts). A portion of every sale also flows into their Sea Change Grants program, supporting ocean conservation nonprofits, like Plastic Odyssey.

Plastic Odyssey is a global nonprofit tackling the ocean plastic crisis through bold cleanup expeditions, long-term stewardship of marine ecosystems, field-based research and innovation, and education that inspires lasting change.

Plastic Odyssey Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in San Francisco, created to mobilize U.S. philanthropies, corporations, governments, and individual donors in support of Plastic Odyssey’s global mission. Contributions are channeled to Plastic Odyssey Foundation and Plastic Odyssey Expedition, funding coastal cleanup, marine restoration, and public awareness across the blue economy.

The South Street Seaport Museum, located in the heart of the historic Seaport District, preserves and interprets the history of New York as a great port city. Founded in 1967, the Seaport Museum includes an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts, a maritime reference library, galleries, working 19th-century print shop, and a fleet of historic vessels that all work to tell the story of “Where New York Begins.”

Sway is a material innovation company scaling compostable solutions for plastic made with seaweed. Our patented products match the vital performance attributes of conventional plastics and plug into existing infrastructure, enabling scale and impact. Unlike plastic, Sway materials integrate abundant, regenerative resources and decompose into healthy soil after use, completing the loop of biological circularity. Our market presence is rapidly expanding through partnerships with leading global packaging distributors and exemplary brands including J.Crew, Burton, Florence, prAna, and Faherty. In 2024, Sway was named a Fast Company World-Changing Idea. In 2023, Sway won first place in the TOM FORD Plastic Innovation Prize. As a member of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, and 1% for the Planet, Sway is working holistically to ensure our solutions catalyze a thriving, equitable future. Sway is headquartered in the California Bay Area.

The goal of The Plastics & Climate Project is to understand the extent to which plastics and the petrochemicals in them contribute to global heating. We first conducted a peer-reviewed literature review, published in Frontiers in Environmental Science, that analyzed what the current science says, identified the data gaps, and recommended the research and actions needed to fill them. A key finding was that the climate impacts of plastics are undercounted, significant, and growing. This is especially important given the fossil fuel industry’s expansion of this industry. Therefore, we are working to make sure that all the impacts are measured, modeled, and mitigated, by sharing the story about the links between plastics and climate change, advancing the science, and ensuring that all of plastics’ climate impacts are included in climate models, accounting and reporting, and relevant policies. See The Plastics & Climate Project website for our publications and more information.

Vela - Sail for Goods designs and operates a fleet of new generation, 100% wind-powered, sailing cargo vessels offering a fast, reliable, and highly decarbonized international freight solution. By combining cutting-edge ocean racing technologies with a premium logistics service inspired from air freight standards, VELA provides an unparalleled alternative to conventional air and sea freight. Clients benefit from up to 99% lower carbon emissions, shorter lead times, and enhanced product integrity and traceability. Focusing first on the Europe-USA route, Vela offers transatlantic shipping in less than 15 days. The company plans to expand its routes in the future.

Founded in 1961, WWF works to help people and nature thrive. As a global conservation organization, WWF operates in more than 100 countries, partnering with communities, companies, and governments to protect wildlife, conserve vital habitats, and advance sustainable solutions. Grounded in science and driven by collaboration, WWF works to help nature by conserving biodiversity, supporting resilient communities, and addressing climate change. Nearly 1 million people in the United States and more than 5 million globally are WWF members.