Sustainable Ocean Alliance Appoints Anne Park as New CEO
New leadership ushers in a renewed chapter of growth, clarity, and global impact in ocean sustainability.
April 28, 2025 | San Francisco, CA — Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA), the world’s largest network of young ocean leaders, is proud to announce the appointment of Anne Park as the organization’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)—ushering in a new and exciting era for Sustainable Ocean Alliance and advancing our mission to restore the health of the ocean in our lifetime.
Anne first joined SOA in August 2024 as Chief Program Officer and quickly became a trusted and steady presence within the organization. With nearly two decades of experience in sustainable development and impact investing, Anne is deeply aligned with SOA’s mission and brings a thoughtful, grounded leadership style to the organization.
“We are thrilled to welcome Anne into this role,” said Kim Kolt, SOA Board Chair and Founder of For Good Ventures. “Her leadership brings the focus and momentum we need to amplify our global impact while remaining deeply rooted in our founding mission.”
In her new role as CEO, Anne will lead SOA through this exciting next chapter—deepening our commitment to empowering young ocean leaders, accelerating scalable ocean-based solutions, and advancing our mission to restore the health of the ocean within our lifetime.
“This is a pivotal and promising moment for SOA,” said Anne Park. “It is an honor to lead an organization that not only believes in the power of young people and bold ideas—but backs that belief with action, investment, and trust.”
Her journey began as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines, where she gained firsthand insight into the vital connection between social and environmental impacts at the community level. This experience ignited her passion for fostering sustainable change using market-based solutions.
Following the Peace Corps, Anne went on to serve as a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Department of State where she played a key role in launching the Global Entrepreneurship Program to support underserved entrepreneurs worldwide. As an Investment Officer at USAID, she focused on structuring catalytic capital solutions to global challenges.
Anne’s greatest tenure has been with a pioneering impact investing firm, the Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF), which is a private equity group investing in small businesses in emerging and frontier markets. At SEAF, Anne was the Global Director of Impact where she created and managed the firm's first integrated impact measurement and monitoring system.
Anne also served the dual role of Deputy Director of SEAF’s technical assistance program, the Center for Entrepreneurship and Executive Development (CEED), which provides critical capital and technical assistance to hundreds of early and growth stage entrepreneurs and expanded the program from 5 to 14 countries.
With a deep commitment to creating sustainable solutions, Anne continues to drive initiatives that empower communities and promote equitable economic growth while protecting our Earth's natural resources. She holds a Master's of Public Administration from Cornell University and a dual Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Global Studies & Art History from UC Santa Barbara.
In her spare time, Anne enjoys exploring nature with her family, be it camping or skiing, playing board games, and practicing yoga.
About Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA)
Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) is a nonprofit global organization created by youth—for youth—dedicated to activating young people, developing and implementing innovative solutions, and mobilizing an ocean workforce to restore the health of the ocean in our lifetime.
Since 2014, SOA has grown into the world’s largest network of young ocean leaders, innovators, and policymakers. To date, we have accelerated 480+ solutions (and counting) to the greatest threats facing our ocean. These solutions include 64 for-profit startups and 419 community-led nonprofit projects around the world.
For any inquiries related to this announcement, please reach out to questions@soalliance.org.