Board of Directors

Board of Directors

William Brennan

Chairman of the Board of Governors

William “Bill” Brennan serves as the Chairman of the Board for Ocean Exchange, and is recognized as one of the leading water investors globally with experience in equities, project finance, venture capital & private equity.

Phil Beierl

Senior Vice President, Aerospace and Defense Technologies

Phil Beierl is the Senior Vice President of the Aerospace and Defense Technologies segment (ADTech) within Oceaneering International, Inc.

Ann Carpenter

Co-founder & CEO, Braid Theory

Ann Lee Carpenter brings more than 30 years of experience in strategic planning, marketing, business development, and community outreach in private industry, nonprofit organizations, and as an entrepreneur.

Jud Hill

Co-Founder, Ecological Service Partners

Jud Hill recently co founded and is a managing partner at an investment fund entitled Ecological Service Partners. The fund invests in sustainable land and water assets with a specific focus on wetland and stream mitigation banking assets.

Charles Hinnant

Chairman & Owner, Optima Chemical LLC

Charles (Charlie) A. Hinnant is the Chairman & owner of Optima Chemical LLC, a custom manufacturing concern in Douglas, GA.

Angus Littlejohn, Jr.

Chairman of Littlejohn & Co., LLC

Angus C. Littlejohn, Jr. is Chairman of Littlejohn & Co., LLC, a merchant bank based in Greenwich, CT.

Christopher Mackin

Partner at Bleakley Financial Group

Christopher Mackin is a 3x recognized Forbes Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisor, explorer, philanthropist and connector.

Bill Malarkey

Managing Partner, North America at Amane Advisors

Bill Malarkey is the Managing Partner for the North America region with Amane Advisors, the premier global consultancy and advisory firm focused on the water industry.

Phil Purcell

CEO/President, Marine Industries Association of South Florida

Phill is the CEO/President of the Marine Industries Association of South Florida (MIASF). Phil brings a unique perspective to the marine industry, having traveled extensively around the globe.

Cathy J. Sakas

Co-Founder, Ocean Exchange

As Co-Founder of Ocean Exchange, Cathy stays happily engaged in the global community by promoting solutions to all global issues connected by our planet’s greatest resource, Our Ocean.

Irene Reynolds Schier

Geographer

Irene became engaged with the The Ocean Exchange™ through her longtime trusteeship with the Sapelo Foundation. This Georgia based foundation has a long history and affinity for water-related issues.

Roger Strevens

VP, Global Sustainability Wallenius Wilhelmsen

Roger is VP, Global Sustainability at Wallenius Wilhelmsen, where he is responsible for developing and overseeing the global shipping company’s sustainability strategy and initiatives.

Anshul Tuteja

Vice President, Royal Caribbean Group

Anshul is the Associate Vice President with Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE:RCL), one of the leading cruise companies in the world with a global fleet of 64 ships traveling to approximately 1,000 destinations around the world.

Board Emeritus

Cort Atkinson, Ocean Exchange Co-Founder
Conrad Lautenbaucher
Joe Lombardo

Contact Us

Ocean Exchange invites you to learn more about Awards Program, our ecosystem and success of our award winners and participants. Together, we can chart a powerful course to help ensure the future of our oceans and the Blue Economy.

“Ocean Exchange has a platform to enable people with information that they need to know about the ocean and then to showcase new technologies that are on the forefront of really helping the ocean and the planet.”

“The quality of the content and the people who are involved with Ocean Exchange is all high end.”

“Besides funding, Ocean Exchange provides access to a wide area network of incredibly talented people in organizations that really do just want to help people.”

“Ocean Exchange is really about helping the little guys grow and in so doing, helping the big guys be better ocean citizens.”

“Ocean Exchange seems to be much more focused on bringing to light under-capitalized, wonderful new technology ideas. And it’s all about two-way access to this new technology and to the people who can help with the experience to grow that technology.”

“Ocean Exchange is a force multiplier to enable sustainable innovation.”

“Ocean Exchange is a global, novel innovation forum that has a greater ability to attract a broader range of impactful stakeholders than any other event that’s out there.”

“Unquestionably, one of Ocean Exchange’s primary strengths is how it brings together people from different paths. That makes its event a delegator experience as well as experience for an innovator or awards nominee.”

“Ocean Exchange is entirely different from any of the other organizations that I’m involved in. It is about sustainable innovation. I think it’s also very different in the extremely broad range of stakeholders that it involves.”

“There’s nothing better than going to an event or engaging with people so you walk away and say, ‘Wow!’”