About Us

Mark J. Spalding - President

Mark J. Spalding is a member of the Steering Committee of the Western Hemisphere Migratory Species Initiative.  Mark is an active participant in the marine working group, Ocean Acidification collaborative, Baja California group, and coral reef group of the funders' organization, the Consultative Group on Biological Diversity. He serves on the International Bering Sea Forum, and he was the chair of the Council of the National Whale Conservation Fund. He has consulted for the Alaska Conservation Foundation, San Diego Foundation, the International Community Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Fundacion La Puerta, and a number of family foundations. He designed and managed the Orca Fund. He has served as a member of the Environmental Grants Advisory Committee of FINCOMUN (Tijuana’s Community Foundation).

Mark, who has been practicing law and acting as a policy consultant for 25 years, was the chair of the environmental law section of the California State Bar Association from 1998-1999.  He holds a B.A. in history with Honors from Claremont McKenna College, a J.D. from Loyola Law School, and a Master in Pacific International Affairs (MPIA) from IR/PS. From 1994 to 2003 Mark was the Director of the Environmental Law and Civil Society Program, and Editor of the Journal of Environment and Development, at the Graduate School of International Relations & Pacific Studies (IR/PS), University of California at San Diego. In addition to lecturing at IR/PS, Mark has taught at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD's Muir College, UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy, and University of San Diego's School of Law. Mark has helped design some of the most significant ocean conservation campaigns in recent years. He is an experienced and successful facilitator at the international level.  He brings his extensive experience with the legal and policy aspects of ocean conservation to the Foundation's grantmaking strategy and evaluation process.

Karen Muir - Chief Operating Officer

Karen Muir has spent her career working internationally and in the U.S. helping build and manage organizations.  Karen grew up on the eastern shore of Massachusetts, watching the fishing industry's ebb and flow and realizing the importance that the natural world, the ocean in particular, plays in the lives of the people there. Karen studied zoology at Connecticut College, including a one-year program in sustainable wildlife management in Kenya with the School for Field Studies. Through her career Karen has experienced life in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, including Egypt, where she met her husband. She joined The Ocean Foundation in May 2009 to help Alexandra Cousteau launch Blue Legacy International, one of The Ocean Foundation's fiscal sponsorship funds. Prior to joining The Ocean Foundation, Karen served as part of the senior management team of the International Executive Service Corps (IESC). In 2010, Karen joined The Ocean Foundation core staff bringing her love of the environment, commitment to preserving our natural world and her expertise in overall not for profit business management.

Jeremy Linneman - Special Projects Director

Jeremy Linneman has been with The Ocean Foundation since 2006, where he has had a wide variety of responsibilities, including grantmaking, fundraising, project design, management consulting, event coordination, strategic planning, and website development. Currently, he is the director of the Foundation's grantmaking activities, as well as the Project Manager for the SeaGrass Grow campaign and the Project Manager of the Blue Climate Solutions Fiscal Sponsorship Fund. Jeremy has a Master's in Pacific International Affairs from the University of California, San Diego, with emphasis on international environmental policy and economic development. Jeremy is an avid SCUBA diver, cyclist, traveler, and general lover of the outdoors.

Kama Dean - Program Officer

Kama Dean currently oversees TOF’s Fiscal Sponsorship Fund program, under which TOF fiscally sponsors close to 50 projects working on ocean conservation issues around the world.  Prior to joining TOF in August of 2009, Kama was Co-Founder and Executive Director of Pro Peninsula. While at Pro Peninsula she managed the award winning Grupo Tortuguero de las Californias, or Sea Turtle Conservation Network of the Californias, overseeing their monitoring, education and network building programs. Kama continues to work closely with the organization, serving as the President of the Board of Directors.  She was on the planning committee for the 28th and 31st International Sea Turtle Symposia, and also served on the planning committee for the 15th Annual Meeting of the Regional Sea Turtle Specialists of Latin America (RETOMALA). Most recently, Kama planned the Conservation Science Sympoisum in Loreto, BCS, Mexico, bringing together 300 scientists, government leaders and non-profit representatives to discuss the application of science to the conservation and management of natural resources in the region.  Kama recently received the San Diego 10 News Leadership award and was named one of San Diego’s ’35 under 35’ leaders for her work in community conservation.  She holds a B.A. in Government and Latin American studies with Honors from New Mexico State University and a Masters of Pacific and International Affairs (MPIA) from the University of California, San Diego.  Kama is lucky enough to have the best of both worlds- working in the ocean but living in the mountains where she spends her free time rock climbing, snowboarding and mountain biking.

Andrea DeGirolamo - Bookkeeper

Andrea DeGirolamo joins us with a deep background in non-profit work experience and a love for the ocean.  She grew up in Washington, D.C. and has worked in many offices there ranging from the IRS to another ocean non-profit with responsibilities from maintaining membership databases to writing and editing contracts to executive administration and human resources. She lives just outside D.C. with her husband and son.

Nora Burke - Foundation Associate

Nora Burke recently joined The Ocean Foundation to support overall operations including donor development, communications, management information systems, etc.  Nora brings advertising agency experience as well as a background in grassroots marketing to TOF. She majored in Marketing Management and minored in Communications at Virginia Tech (and on Saturday mornings during football season you will likely still find her cheering on the Hokies).  She has a passion for traveling and volunteering abroad, highlighted by a trip to Southeast Asia where she worked to repopulate clown fish into reefs and restore Thailand's beaches damaged by tourism. When not at work she's likely found on a run or on a yoga mat.

Guyltone Sukawati - Foundation Associate

Guyltone Sukawati had the great fortune to grow up in a charming coastal city in Southern California where he would explore local tide pools and spend his summers attending marine science camp. Prior to arriving at The Ocean Foundation, Guyltone’s professional career had taken him along a variety of paths in the Washington, DC non-profit world, including research on Asia-Pacific security and military issues, coordination work for international development in Asia, grants administration, IT administration, and events management. As someone whose earliest memories are of watching Garibaldi fish swimming along the docks in San Pedro, CA and falling asleep to the sound of ocean surf, Guyltone is thrilled to be working at The Ocean Foundation and helping in achieving its goals. 

Consultants

Diane Davidson - Senior Legal and Program Consultant, is a veteran attorney with extensive experience in mass media communications, administrative, contract, real estate and international law. A lifelong conservationist and scuba diver since 1983, Diane has a strong passion for the oceans and their protection. She manages the resort partnerships at The Ocean Foundation and provides assistance as needed in other areas. She concurrently serves as an Associate with the Lake Barcroft Watershed Improvement District in Falls Church, Virginia and as a member of the Citizen's Advisory Committee for the Cameron Run Watershed Plan in Fairfax County, Virginia, and has been certified by the Potomac Greenways Coalition's Master Watershed Stewardship Program. Previous employers include two private law firms, the Federal Communications Commission, Discovery Communications, and The Walt Disney Company. Diane received her JD degree from Vanderbilt University and her undergraduate degree from Duke University.