Maybe it’s the salty ocean air filling your lungs, the briny sweetness of a freshly shucked oyster, or the joy of spotting a couple of otters holding paws in the wild. You care deeply about the oceans, waterways, and the people who depend on them.

And you believe women and genderqueer people deserve equal voice and leadership because when they’re excluded, the whole industry misses out on talent, innovation, and resilience.

But maybe you’ve felt this way:

  • Concerned that fewer than 5% of seafood executive leadership roles are held by women. You walk into a boardroom or scroll the leadership page of a company and realize almost every face looking back is a man.

  • Frustrated that the industry talks about diversity or inclusion but moves at a snail’s pace (or worse, you watch as gains start to roll back). How many times have you read about a company announcing some wonderful new policy, only to never hear about it again? 

  • Unsure how to take meaningful action when the problems feel so big. Scrolling through your phone, you see yet another story about women seafood workers in another country being exploited, or small-scale fishers losing access to the waters they depend on. 

  • Worried about what the future holds for seafood, our planet, and the people who depend on it. The thought creeps in when you look at your kids, your friends, your colleagues, and wonder what their opportunities (and their access to seafood) will look like years from now. 

Now imagine instead…

  • Reading a profile of a woman CEO who just led her seafood company to record profits and feeling proud instead of discouraged over your morning coffee.

  • Attending an industry event where the panels reflect the diversity of the community you know and love. You look around the room, energized by new voices, new ideas, and the sense that everyone belongs here.

  • Seeing communities thrive because policies reflect justice, sustainability, and lived experience. You walk the docks or visit a farm and notice people proud of their work, supported by systems that actually listen to them.

  • Celebrating a conservation win—a fishery recovers, a coastline is restored, or bycatch numbers drop dramatically because diverse voices were finally part of the decision-making.

  • Watching a seafood company thrive because it embraced equality. The balance sheets look strong, recruitment is easier, and buyers proudly source from them because they’re leading the way.

  • Witnessing young people grow up with healthy oceans and an industry where they see themselves reflected in its leaders is a glimpse of the future we’ve been fighting for—full of possibility, pride, and momentum.

  • And knowing YOU helped make it happen. When you see progress, you can point to it and say, “I was part of this.”

That’s exactly what your donation fuels: 

  • $5,000 → Secures 5 seats for team members at a seafood company to join the Gender Equality Dialogues (GED), a program that equips seafood leaders to move from awareness to action—breaking down gender barriers, committing to measurable change, and reshaping the industry for long-term resilience.

  • $500 → helps us pay for the operational costs of the Gender Equity Index Assessment Tool, which helps seafood businesses and organizations reflect on their internal practices and identify opportunities to advance equity in their workforce.

  • $100 → supports a Bloom membership, a networking community for women and genderqueer people in the seafood sector

Here’s what people are saying about SAGE’s work

From October 1st to October 31st (our birthday month!)—you can help us reach our goal of $5,000 and show the seafood sector that equality isn’t a “nice-to-have.” It’s our future at stake.

Not ready to donate? You can still invest in this brighter future:

  • Leave a review for our podcasts, The Conch and In Hot Water which we co-created with our friends at Seaworthy. By taking 3 minutes to do this, you can make sure the perspectives and solutions of women and genderqueer leaders working in seafood and conservation reach farther.

  • Follow SAGE on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok so you can understand the issues holding seafood back, and meet the people proving a better future is possible.

  • Sign up for our newsletter so you can turn your care for seafood and justice into clear, simple actions that actually make a difference. 

One day, you’ll open your news feed and see stories of diverse leaders driving seafood forward, thriving communities, and conservation wins that give us all hope.

And you’ll know: you helped make that happen. That’s the best birthday gift our team at SAGE could imagine.

~Julie, Becca, and Cameron 

Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE)