Announcing the 2026 Ocean Leaders Fellowship

Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA), in partnership with Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy, is thrilled to announce the 2026 cohort of the Ocean Leaders Fellowship (OLF), welcoming 40 exceptional young ocean professionals from 41 countries. This global community spans every high-risk marine ecoregion and brings a remarkable balance of community-led conservation, institutional leadership, and policy expertise.

Building on the success of the inaugural 2025 cohort—which sent 40 Fellows to the Our Ocean Youth Leadership Summit in Busan and the UN Ocean Conference in France—this year’s Fellowship will continue to equip early-career leaders with the tools, networks, and experience to drive real ocean impact.

“The 2026 Ocean Leaders Fellowship cohort is here, and I couldn't be more proud! Designing this program from the ground up has been one of the greatest honors of my career, driven by a simple but urgent belief: youth from high-risk marine ecoregions deserve a powerful voice in the policy spaces that shape their futures. When we invest in those voices, we don't just build better advocates, we build better policy, and healthier oceans." - Jessica Newfield, Senior Program Manager, OLF

Thematic Focus: Advancing 30x30

The 2026 program is centered on the 30x30 theme, working toward protecting 30% of the world’s ocean by 2030 while supporting the people and communities who rely on it. Over nine months, Fellows will participate in skill-building workshops, mentorship, and peer collaboration. They will also gain hands-on experience influencing local and global policy, storytelling in high-stakes contexts, and designing campaigns that activate collective action.

From March 26 to December 5, 2026, Fellows will learn in a blended virtual and in-person program, culminating in participation at major ocean events including the upcoming Our Ocean Conference hosted by Kenya. Through the Fellowship, SOA aims to cultivate belonging, activate collective power, and build lifetime leadership capacity, ensuring that these leaders can bridge local knowledge and global decision-making with confidence and integrity.

Get to know the 2026 Ocean Leaders Fellows in the gallery below and stay tuned for updates on the OLF by following SOA on social media and subscribing to our email newsletter!