Mission Blue: The Sylvia Earle Alliance is an environmentalist advocacy group that focuses on ocean-related issues. The group works with a variety of nonprofit and for-profit organizations to promote ocean conservation through public policy advocacy. ¹ The organization signed on as a sponsor of the Green New Deal in 2019.

Background

Mission Blue was founded in 2009 after a TED talk given by Sylvia Earle, the organization’s president and chairman. ² The main activity of Mission Blue is establishing “Hope Spots” across the ocean. Currently, Mission Blue has established numerous spots in seas around the world.  Mission Blue Hope Spots protect areas of economic value from resource exploitation and other human uses. ³

The group permits anyone to petition to establish a new Hope Spot. ⁴

Climate Change

Mission Blue has encouraged people to vote “for policymakers who believe in solving climate change.” ⁵

Mission Blue is critical of undersea mining and economic development. ⁶

Other Activities

In 2014, Mission Blue released a documentary entitled Mission Blue which followed Sylvia Earle’s efforts conserve the ocean and save it from “pollution, overfishing and climate change.” ⁷ Netflix and film director James Cameron were involved in its filming and release.

Earle and Mission Blue are active on Twitter. Earle tweeted that “Human beings are sea creatures” on June 3, 2019. ⁸

According to their website, Mission Blue is partnered with groups that support ocean conservation and environmentalism, such as Rolex, Biotherm, Ted, Google, National Geographic, EarthX, and Sargasso Sea Alliance, among others. ⁹

Funding

The total revenue of Mission Blue in 2017 was $991,313. Its total expenditures in 2017 were $1,261,676.

Its net assets in 2017 were $782,009. ¹⁰

The group has received six-figure contributions from the Dalio Foundation. ¹¹

Leadership

Mission Blue’s founder and chair is Sylvia Earle, a marine biologist and longtime environmentalist.

The Board of Directors includes the following people: Professor Dan Laffoley, PhD, advisor to the British government on marine science; Carl Gustaf Lundin, previously of the World Bank; Shari Sant Plummer; Shannon O’Leary Joy; Linda Glover; Robert Nixon, a film director; Sharon Kwok; Will Travis, “a respected global brand builder”; ¹² and John Vermilye.

Laura Cassiani is the executive director, and had a $121,385 salary in 2017. ¹³ She works “with the Board of Directors to implement the strategic goals and objectives of the organization.” ¹⁴ Deb Castellana is the Director of Strategic Partnerships and had a $111,163 salary in 2017. ¹⁵ Castellana has sailed her own yacht in Europe, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, and Mexico. ¹⁶

1. “About Us.” Mission Blue. Accessed June 28, 2019. https://mission-blue.org/about/.
2. Pulia, Shalayne. “Meet Sylvia Earle, the Jane Goodall of the Sea.” InStyle Magazine. Accessed June 28, 2019. https://www.instyle.com/celebrity/sylvia-earle-mission-blue-badass-women.
3. Shukla, Priya. “Underwater Mountain Range in California Declared a Mission Blue ‘Hope Spot’.”  Forbes. Accessed July 2, 2019 https://www.forbes.com/sites/priyashukla/2019/05/15/underwater-mountain-range-near-california-declared-a-mission-blue-hope-spot/#4bc1f17b263d.
4. “Hope Spots.” Mission Blue. Accessed July 12, 2019. https://mission-blue.org/hope-spots/.
5. “Dive In!” Mission Blue. Accessed July 2, 2019. https://mission-blue.org/act-now/.
6. Georgian, Samuel. “Gorda and Mendocino Ridges – California’s Test Cases for Deep-Sea Mining.” Mission Blue. Accessed July 2, 2019. https://mission-blue.org/2019/04/gorda-and-mendocino-ridges-californias-test-cases-for-deep-sea-mining/.
7. “Mission Blue Education Resources.” National Geographic. Accessed July 12, 2019. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/education/mission-blue-netflix/.
8. Earle, Sylvia. Twitter. Accessed July 17, 2019. https://twitter.com/SylviaEarle/status/1135744572691165184.
9. “Our Partners”. Mission Blue. Accessed July 17, 2019. https://mission-blue.org/partners/.
10. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Mission Blue. 2017. Schedule A,.Part I, Lines 12, 18, 22.
11. Dalio Foundation, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2016, Part XV
12. “About Us.”  Mission Blue. Accessed July 12, 2019. https://mission-blue.org/about/.
13. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Mission Blue. 2017. Schedule A, Part VII, Section A, 1a.
14. “About Us.” Mission Blue. Accessed July 17, 2019. https://mission-blue.org/about/.
15. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Mission Blue. 2017. Schedule A, Part VII, Section A, 1a.
16. “About Us.” Mission Blue. Accessed July 17, 2019. https://mission-blue.org/about/.