Leadership
Clark Suprynowicz, Executive Director of Bay Area Ocean Cluster (BAOC), has a record of realizing ambitious projects with social impact. As the E.D. of Immersive Arts Alliance (2020-2024) he launched large-scale public art in the pandemic environment: the Bay Area premiere of Night Watch (2021), the Oakland Festival of Immersive Arts (2022), Mobile Light Art Station (2023), and an installation for APEC at San Francisco City Hall (2023) championing sustainability and climate resilience. His skills include organizational strategy, team building, corporate planning, financial forecasting and fundraising. A Hampshire College alumnus, Clark is a diver, longtime member of the Cal Sailing Club, and educator, with an extensive background in music.
As Chief Strategy Officer for BAOC, Mike Blakeley leverages over 20 years of experience as an economic strategist and entrepreneur to drive long-term growth. His diverse background includes leading public-private partnerships with Fortune 500 firms, founding a global seafood trading company, and establishing Seagreen Insights, a nonprofit focused on seaweed-based climate solutions.
A veteran leader and former CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Northern California and the Marin Economic Forum, Mike has spearheaded large-scale strategy engagements across Africa, Asia, and South America. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mike holds an MA in International Policy Studies.
Julian Duplan is Director of Development for BAOC. He is a civil engineer with 14 years of experience and a proven track record of international projects with cross-functional teams. He combines deep Port infrastructure expertise with leadership in sustainable finance, ESG analysis, and climate risk assessment.
Julian holds a degree in Civil Engineering from INSA Strasbourg, a LEED Green Associatecredential from USGBC California, and a Sustainability and Climate Risk credential from The Global Association of Risk Professionals.
Dave Brossard, Chief Financial Officer, worked for several decades as an engineer, engineering manager, and business manager for Chevron Corporation, both in the SF Bay Area and abroad. He is delighted to serve The , advancing protection of our lands, oceans, and resources. Dave has a BS in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley, and an MSE in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan.
A bassist, photographer, and birdwatcher, Dave is also database manager for the Art Deco Society of California.
Development Team
Holly Woytak is Monterey Coordinator for BAOC, sharing ideas and increasing communications between the San Francisco Bay Area and the Monterey Bay.
Holly has over 25 years’ experience in marine science, marine habitat mapping, geospatial technologies and business development.
She holds a B.S. in Earth Systems Science and Policy from California State University, Monterey Bay, and an M.S. in Geological Oceanography from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, where her work focused on marine benthic habitats and submarine bedforms in the San Juan Islands, Washington.
Holly specializes in fusing industry, research, and policy. Throughout her career, Holly has built and maintained a broad professional network across federal and state agencies, NGOs, academic institutions, and in the U.S. West Coast private sector.
Calli ONeal is Partnerships and Engagement Lead for BAOC. She specializes in climate-resilient supply chains and sustainable ocean finance, with experience advising the Port of Long Beach on global climate strategy, and also supporting Conservation International's work financing responsible aquaculture in Indonesia.
With a background in Environmental Policy and Resource Management from Pitzer College, Calli is focused on the cross-sector collaboration needed to unlock the Bay Area's blue economy potential.
.Lexi de Guzman is a Grantwriter for the Bay Area Ocean Cluster. Previous roles include Partnerships Coordinator, assisting in grants and philanthropy, with Clark Suprynowicz, for the Bay Area non profit Immersive Art Alliance. With her assistance and management, IAA was awarded major grants from the California Arts Council, from the National Endowment for the Arts, from Foundations and individual funders. Lexi’s political science research concentrated on international affairs, geopolitics, and political history. She holds a B.A. in Political Science (International Relations) from Saint Louis University Madrid.
Blue Economy Education
Gaurav Bharti is an Ocean and Climate Advisor to BAOC, and a researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where he studies climate adaptation and economic impacts of extreme weather events across California. Gaurav holds degrees in Environmental Economics and Psychology from UC Berkeley. His honors thesis examined critical mineral extraction within vulnerable communities.
Gaurav has helped to grow the BAOC community, giving special attention to its educational partners and internship initiatives.
Advisor Robin Pearce is an expert on the health impacts of climate change in California. At the California Department of Public Health, she guides a network of epidemiologists, data analysts, communications experts, and policy wonks to build health equity, advance climate action, improving living conditions through policies, systems, and environmental changes. Robin’s decades-long public health career has included HIV testing in New Orleans, teaching and learning from the Guam Health Department, serving Alameda County’s COVID-19 response, and researching police violence at UC Berkeley. A pianist, cyclist, and songbird, Robin believes that everyone should have full and equal access to what lends to healthy lives, like clean air, water, and a healthy planet.
Fund Advisory
Fund advisor Doreen Wong has led climate and sustainability initiatives for corporations, U.S. federal agencies and nonprofits, contributed as a co-founding member of Alumni Ventures’ Social Impact Fund and Towerview Ventures, and played a key role in building Booz Allen’s corporate venture arm, to bridge private capital and public sector innovation.
Doreen led one of the first U.S.-based ocean accelerators through Sustainable Ocean Alliance, and invested in startups via its affiliated venture fund, Seabird Ventures, driving innovation in ocean renewable energy, marine transportation, seafood, circular economy, and marine conservation. She is currently an Advisor with UC San Diego’s StartBlue Accelerator and a Coach with VentureWell’s Ocean Enterprise Accelerator. Doreen also serves on the 1000 Ocean Startups Coalition’s Diversifying the Ecosystem Working Group.
In addition to his work as a Fund Advisor to BAOC , JV Poe is a Senior Associate at Planet Ocean Fund an ocean-focused Fund-of-Funds investing in best-in-class venture capital firms and select early-stage startups in maritime decarbonization, blue carbon, and circular blue materials.
JV is also a Venture Scout for Brinc’s Climate Accelerator program, where he sources and supports early-stage climate tech startups across agrifood, alternative materials, and industrial decarbonization.
JV is currently working with the UNDP and RARE on building a Nature-based Solutions pre-accelerator program in Southeast Asia, supporting the protection of Marine Protected Areas and coastal communities in the Philippines, where he is from.
A third, vital member of the Fund Advisory Team, Carlos Vadillo is a seasoned leader in innovation, design, and strategy consulting, with deep experience in VC and private equity financing. He is a managing partner at Mir Meridian, a company focused on helping startups grow. Carlos was also a founder of, and helped manage for several years, The Wharton Fund. He graduated Wharton, followed by key roles at Silicon Valley Bank's Venture Capital Group. He was awarded the Grand Prize at UPenn's Y-Prize Engineering Competition (2014), the Santander Venture Award (2014), and the Wharton Innovation Award (2015).
Ocean Data
Charles Chiau is the CEO and Co-Founder of Bedrock Ocean Exploration. In his 20 years involved in robotics systems Charles has deployed many successful crewed and uncrewed systems functioning in Land, Sea, Air, and Space.
With expertise as a crewed vehicle mission operator, pilot of aircraft and submersibles, his main focus is in the area of system integration, mission assurance, operational reliability and safety system architectures using culminated experiences from hands-on engineering design as primary responsible engineer for mission critical systems.
Marcus Lehmann, PhD, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of CalWave, is an advisor to the Bay Area Ocean Cluster. In 2023, CalWave’s open-ocean wave energy pilot successfully concluded after 10 months of continuous operation off the coast of San Diego, CA. The project was supported by a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) award. CalWave partners include Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, DNV, MarineLabs, and University of California, Berkeley.
Tara Everding, Marine Biologist, is a recent graduate of Dalhousie University (B.Sc. Marine Biology, Minor Environmental Science). Tara completed algae-focused research internships, served as event coordinator for the Dalhousie Marine Conservation Society (DMC), led a climate-action awareness campaign through Youth Challenge International’s Climate Futures Lab.
Tara also worked with LaHave River Salmon Association (LRSA) on Atlantic Salmon ecosystem restoration, an internship with the Clean Foundation.
Ports & Maritime
Maritime Advisor Anastasia Fischer is a connector and leader in marine technology and coastal resilience, bringing together innovators across maritime industries, research, government, and environmental organizations. As President of US Harbors, she transformed a coastal weather platform into a national resource, while building key partnerships with NOAA, NWS, maritime businesses, and coastal communities.
Drawing on her extensive management consulting and environmental communication background, Anastasia helps startups translate technical innovations into real-world impact. She combines industry knowledge with strategic thinking to help companies navigate the marine technology space, develop commercialization, and scale environmental solutions effectively.
Nathanaël Ramos is an entrepreneur and strategist pioneering Blue Ocean, Blue Cities, and Blue Ports to drive sustainable urban and maritime transformation.
The Director for Africa at Blue Ocean Awards, Nathanaël spearheads initiatives promoting Blue Ocean strategies across the continent. He brings expertise in scaling ecosystems, structuring deals, and advancing sustainable infrastructure, connecting African founders with global investors, to bridge emerging markets and capital.
Nathanaël has shared his knowledge and perspective in two TEDx talks: "Divergence at the Heart of Our Interactions,’’ and "How New Ideas Spread in the Age of Big Data.”
Advisor Jamie Collins trained as an oceanographer and climate scientist at MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Jamie is also a career U.S. Coast Guard officer. He has served as the U.S. diplomat in charge of military and marine affairs in the Eastern Caribbean and earned a Type 1 Incident Commander credential, qualifying him to lead response operations for oil spills and natural disasters. He previously served as an advisor for Verra, CarbonPlan, Isometric, U.S. Nature4Climate and the Beyond Alliance. Jamie led a large ocean and climate initiative at Environmental Defense Fund, and he currently heads his own consulting practice, Summit to Sea Solutions.
Mazen Idriss serves in an advisory capacity on Maritime-related matters. He is a coastal and environmental engineer at GHD, working on shoreline protection, sea level rise adaptation, and water infrastructure projects across California. Mazen has conducted research at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, developing tools for flood forecasting. He has worked on water treatment technologies in both academic and industry settings. Mazen serves as Fundraising Chair for ASCE’s San Francisco Younger Member Forum and holds a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Impact
Ralph Chami, the founder of Blue Green Future, is Economist in Residence with BAOC. Ralph is a financial economist, with 25 years spent at the IMF. At the center of Ralph’s work is a new field, which he has helped to pioneer. This provides valuation of ecosystem services of living nature, mitigating climate change and biodiversity loss, creating markets for natural capital that are equitable and nature-positive.
Ralph has expertise in
Remittances, inclusive growth, financial markets, and banking regulation and risk management.
Working operationally with fragile states worldwide and providing capacity development on macro-financial economic policy.
Originally from Lyons, France, Julien Vergely graduated (JD) first-in-class from Université Jean Moulin.
After practicing law in France, he transitioned into leadership roles, including five years as Chief Operating Officer for Swissnex San Francisco, a global innovation hub connecting Switzerland and the world through education, research, and entrepreneurship. Julien led strategic projects and fostered international partnerships at Swissnex.
While at Swissnex, he played a key role in facilitating incubator and accelerator programs for early-stage companies. He now contributes his expertise in Development, Strategy, and Operations to BAOC.
Alice Elizabeth Schmitz is a PhD candidate in Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests lie at the intersection of environment, urban, and spatial economics. Before starting at Berkeley, Alice worked as a pre-doctoral fellow at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.
During her time at Chicago, she assisted in academic research studying the regulation of energy markets and the effects of air pollution on human capital, in addition to engaging in policy work on the Social Cost of Carbon. Alice acts as an advisor to BAOC, helping with the daunting challenge of determining, with a degree of precision, environmental impacts.
Media
With a background in Image and Sound Design from the University of Buenos Aires, Cecilia Cortez specializes in documentary filmmaking. She is Director of Media for The Bay Area Ocean Cluster. Cecilia has captured and edited video for multiple clients in the SF Bay Area since locating here, previous to her current work with The Hub.
Cecilia writes: “For me, filmmaking is more than just capturing visuals—it’s about creating a genuine connection with the world and the people I meet. My work is driven by authentic storytelling, focused on capturing not just the brand but the essence and dedication behind it. I believe every story is unique, and my job is to uncover it and shape it into a piece that resonates with its audience.”
During SF Climate Week, 2025 >>
“Protecting the Ocean,” produced by BAOC (formerly The Hub for Blue Green Innovation), hosted by Port of San Francisco.
Pictured: SF Ferry Director Seamus Murphy (left) with Janelle Kellman, candidate for Lieutenant Governor of California.
Center: Liz Taylor, President of DOER, and Richard Berman, Director of Sustainability for the Port of SF.
Clark Suprynowicz (right), is Executive Director of BAOC. To his left: Eduardo Martinez, Mayor of Richmond.