Mark Spalding is a man of many talents ­– ­former lawyer, car enthusiast, current President of the Ocean Foundation, the list goes on. Under Mark’s leadership, the Ocean Foundation has seen astronomic growth – from a $200,000/year budget in 2003 – to a remarkable $8 million/year through strategic planning and project building. Above all, the Foundation seeks to deepen and reinforce the relationship between human beings and the ocean that surrounds them. Mark currently serves on the Sargasso Sea Commission, is an active member of the Ocean Studies Board of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (USA), and is the Rockefeller Climate Solutions Fund advisor and the Credit Suisse Rockefeller Ocean Engagement Fund. In this conversation, Nai’a and Mark chart their unconventional path to conservation, discuss funding at scale, diversity and equity in science, and bond over the Pacific Ocean.