THE OCEAN AWAKENS

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.

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.

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.”

Inspired by the dynamics of sailboat racing and the urgency for climate action, 11th Hour Racing is committed to the health and resilience of ocean systems. Supporting innovative, sustainable solutions in the maritime industry and beyond through sport, storytelling and grant-making, 11th Hour Racing works to build healthy planetary systems and strong communities. Under the 11th Hour Racing umbrella, activities are provided through 11th Hour Racing, Inc., which serves as the impact entity and provides programmatic direction to its philanthropic partners, including 11th Hour Racing Charitable, LLC, which engages in charitable work, and 11th Hour Racing Action, LLC, which engages in social welfare programs and advocacy.

Aria Luna is one of the world’s youngest exhibiting artists and a changemaker who uses the power of art to raise awareness of environmental and social issues impacting local and global communities. Aria’s traveling exhibit Fusion Tide addresses plastic pollution in our oceans and has been hosted at Google, the City of Mountain View, the Consulate of Colombia, the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, and other venues. Aria’s work has been exhibited internationally, won awards, sold to private collectors in the United States, and raised funds for ocean and rainforest conservation, ecotourism, art programs, and wildfire relief. Aria Luna has been featured on the Cartoon Network, ABC 7, NBC, and numerous local media outlets. In addition to visual art, Aria is also an up-and-coming singer-songwriter, performing under the name kairo lucaz.

Coastal Quest is a 501(c)3 and our mission is to accelerate solutions, building resilient coastal communities for people, nature, and the climate. Coastal Quest is committed to catalyzing positive change by embracing the principles of community-driven solutions and public-private partnership. We help move solutions that others want and need but cannot advance alone. We align the players and secure the capital stack at the project level or regional scale to implement a portfolio of solutions. We stay involved and drive results on the ground. Our work has a direct impact on the health of the marine ecosystems and coastal communities and economies. The scope of our work focuses on identifying, supporting, and implementing viable solutions. Simply put, we want to protect and enhance the coastal communities and environments we love.

Founded in 1948, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network — a membership union bringing together government and civil society organizations from more than 160 countries, alongside a global network of some 19,000 experts. IUCN Members include national governments, subnational and local governments, non-governmental organizations, and Indigenous peoples’ organizations, uniting under a shared mission to advance sustainable development and safeguard the natural world. As the global authority on the status of nature and the measures needed to protect it, IUCN informs policy, sets conservation standards, and convenes the world’s leading voices in biodiversity at events such as the World Conservation Congress and international biodiversity negotiations. Headquartered in Gland, Switzerland, IUCN’s decentralized network of regional and country offices — including the IUCN-North America Region — extends its reach and impact from global policy forums to on-the-ground conservation action.

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.

Minderoo is driven by a commitment to create a future where people and the environment we depend on can thrive. Our work focuses on strengthening communities, advancing gender equality and protecting natural ecosystems. While our approach centres on long-term systems change, when urgent challenges arise, including humanitarian crises, we act quickly through targeted impact missions. We drive change by working alongside those closest to the challenge, advocating for reform, building evidence for what works and developing solutions when none exist.

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.

Rhodes Films is a Los Angeles production company built on a simple idea: stories that reach millions and drive lasting change. Founded by director Ricky Rhodes, the studio creates documentary, branded, political, and narrative films for partners ranging from the United Nations to Warner Bros., including collaborations with Hans Zimmer. Signature works include the UN's ocean treaty series and Impossible Cleanups, extreme engineering at the ends of the earth featuring Plastic Odyssey. Rhodes Films tells the planet's most important stories, and makes the world feel them.

Sustainable Ocean Alliance is a global network of young leaders and ecopreneurs working to turn the tide for our planet. We activate youth-driven leadership and channel capital to the most promising ocean solutions, accelerating climate action and building a future where the ocean thrives and local communities flourish.

We close the gap between urgent ocean challenges and the capacity of communities and ecopreneurs to meet them. Our dual focus on youth leadership and early-stage ocean innovation allows us to translate bold ideas into the technologies and actions needed for a healthy, resilient ocean and sustainable global economy.

We operate as a global ecosystem that meets emerging ocean leaders at pivotal moments in their climate journeys. Youth access leadership development, local support, and global policy platforms, while ecopreneurs access catalytic investment, mentorship, and technical assistance, creating pathways for promising solutions to achieve measurable, systemic impact.

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.

Waterfront Alliance is a U.S.-based nonprofit with a network of more than 1,100 partners committed to climate resilience, economic opportunity, and equitable access to and along shorelines, waterfronts, and coastlines throughout the New York–New Jersey region and beyond.

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.

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.

Missive is a shared inbox and email client for teams, built by a small team in Québec City. Three developers started it in 2015 after their own customer support inbox turned into a mess of forwarded threads and duplicate replies. Missive puts email, chat, and task assignment in one place, so teammates can discuss a conversation privately, draft a reply together, and see who’s handling what. More than 6,000 companies run their customer and internal communication on it, from local repair shops to nonprofits and research groups—including The Plastic Odyssey.

Missive supports The Ocean Awakens because work on plastic pollution runs on coordination between scientists, funders, crews, and local partners. Helping small teams communicate without losing track of each other is a modest lever on a very large problem, and it’s the one Missive knows how to pull.

FiveADRIFT is a Boston-based, B Corp certified beach towel brand founded by Harry and Michelle on a simple promise: enjoy the beach, leave the ocean better. Every towel funds the removal of 500 plastic bottles from the ocean. Woven from hemp and organic cotton in a signature flat weave, FiveADRIFT towels absorb three times more water than standard terry, dry fast, and let sand roll right off. We banned plastic from our products, our packaging, and our supply chain, and we offset 100% of our shipping and operational footprint.

From our family to yours, FiveADRIFT is proud to stand with Plastic Odyssey and The Ocean Awakens in the fight for cleaner oceans.

MP Law is a boutique law firm focused on advising financial sponsors and their portfolio companies in M&A, minority investments, and general corporate matters. With a team of seasoned professionals, we offer the strategic insight and efficiency of a small firm, backed by years of experience working on hundreds of transactions. We are known for our pragmatic, commercially minded approach to transactions, balancing legal risk with business realities to quickly provide clear and practical advice. We operate without the layers of overhead typical of larger firms, allowing us to deliver high-quality work efficiently and responsively.

Since 1968, the French family-owned company Leonor Greyl has been selecting the finest natural active ingredients to create exceptional hair care products. Guided by a unique philosophy that celebrates personalized care and the hair’s natural beauty, the brand delivers luminous, visible results. Drawing on their deep expertise and knowledge of plant properties, the Greyl family develops innovative formulas tailored to the specific needs of every hair and scalp type, providing exactly what they need to reveal their full beauty.

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.