AquaMeridian US
Founder & Executive Director (U.S. Chapter)
Overview
I established the U.S. chapter of AquaMeridian, an international marine conservation initiative, and built it into a sustained, student-led organization over four years. I designed and ran programs spanning large-scale coastal cleanups, STEM education workshops, community partnerships, and our Annual Student Leadership Forum, engaging over 300 members across the chapter's lifetime. I also built the funding from scratch, trained a leadership pipeline that kept the chapter running without me, and partnered with DOER Marine and CASA (Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda) as core collaborators for all beach cleanups, alongside schools, libraries, and organizations like the Monterey Bay Giant Kelp Restoration Project supporting marine education and habitat restoration.
What I did
- Founded and led the U.S. chapter of AquaMeridian, building it from the ground up into a sustained, student-run organization.
- Recruited, trained, and mentored a 12-person student leadership team, building a succession plan so the chapter could run independently.
- Directed strategic planning, fundraising strategy, and day-to-day operations across all programs.
- Built and maintained core partnerships with DOER Marine and CASA for all beach cleanups, alongside broader collaborations with Mission Blue, Shine4Love Teens Club, and the Monterey Bay Giant Kelp Restoration Project (G2KR).
- Organized monthly beach cleanups, submitting collected debris data to global ocean health databases.
- Hosted themed educational events layered onto cleanups and workshops, including "Robotics for the Real World" (National Robotics Week with CP Mentorship), a climate resilience talk with expert Lauren Eisele, "Giant Kelp S.O.S." with G2KR, and a school talk with AquaMeridian Hong Kong founder Sharon Kwok.
- Organized the Lunar New Year Jar Painting Extravaganza, a fundraiser sponsored by Apple Store East Bay supporting G2KR and Village of the Stars.
- Launched the Annual Student Leadership Forum in 2025, connecting student and industry voices on environmental leadership and future career paths.
- Established an institutional partnership with the Alameda County Science & Engineering Fair (ACSEF) 2026, driving local fundraising and serving as a returning Grand Awards Judge in the Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design and Computational Biology and Bioinformatics categories.
- Launched and sponsored the "Ocean Award" at ACSEF 2026, a custom AquaMeridian initiative designed to recognize, evaluate, and fund high school student innovations in marine conservation.
Highlights
- Grew the chapter to 300+ community members and sustained operations across 4 years.
- Raised $8,500+ from corporate sponsors and individual donors.
- Mobilized 150+ volunteers and collected 2,000+ lbs of marine debris.
- Reached 200+ students through education panels and STEM workshops.
- Featured in the Alameda Post for student-led environmental leadership work.
- Built a 12-person student leadership pipeline that continues to run the organization independently.