Venture Philanthropy Forms OceanElders to Protect the World's Oceans

Venture philanthropy seems to keep things moving in the world. How? Well, what do CNN founder Ted Turner, oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle, and Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson all have in common? They have joined forces with other illustrious names such as Jean-Michel Cousteau, Sven Linblad, Captain Don Walsh, and Neil Young to form a new non-for-profit organisation called OceanElders to look after the ocean and its life forms. The idea behind it came out the TED Mission Blue Voyage to the Galapagos Islands last year in April: an excursion involving more than 100 scientists, business leaders and celebrities like Leonardo di Caprio who came together to focus on ocean conservation.

Richard Branson says, "We are all concerned about the ocean and its declining health. As the ocean goes, so shall we. OceanElders was created to give the ocean a loud and focused voice. By collaborating with other organisations, OceanElders can provide advice, guidance, and potentially, the tipping point needed to gain media attention and wide-scale awareness." The mission of OceanElders is clear; these global leaders need to use their collective influence for venture philanthropy; supported by science to help promote ocean conservation, protecting the habitat and wildlife. Our oceans are dying and many of us are not aware of the complex issues affecting marine life. From dying corals in the Caribbean and Florida Keys, which are being ravaged by microbes living in human faeces to female fish developing testes in the Gulf, dead zone occurs when agricultural, and waste runoff from the Mississippi River.

A key aim for OceanElders is to create an online community of regional Ocean Elders, which will give local projects the opportunity to be funded on an international scale. People will be able to vote for submitted ideas and later see how they're being put into action, very similar to the way Kickstarter, an online funding platform operates. The internet—through various social media platforms—have helped more venture philanthropy projects to emerge. The world of the Web has connected people to understand local needs in a global context. It is challenging the traditional corporate thinking, where the way forward for any money-making initiatives is for it to have a social slant.

Another place stimulating corporate thinking is The Taiga Company, which shows businesses that it does not have to be left only to venture philanthropy to save the planet. The Taiga Company helps everyday organisations reasess their mistaken beliefs that they have to sacrifice profitability or become a hard core environmentalist to respond to stakeholders. It shows employees how to climb the corporate green ladder successfully and how to challenge the traditional business practices that tell employees to be self-sufficient, work their way up through a combination of drive, determination and a lot of hard work. Something we can all learn.

Photo Credit: Jurvetson