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BOARD OF DIRECTORS


Donald R. Tomlin, Jr. (Chairman)
President/Owner, Tomlin & Company, Inc.
Alfred Balm (Vice Chairman)
Chairman, Emergo, Ltd., Canada, Switzerland
John Englander, (ex-officio)
Chief Executive Officer, International SeaKeepers Society
Jim Gilbert (Board President)
Former Editor-in-Chief, ShowBoats International
Lee R. Anderson (Chairman 2002-2003)
President, APi Group, Inc.
Jean-Michel Cousteau
President, Ocean Futures
Patty Elkus
Director's Cabinet, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
J. Mark Grosvenor (Chairman 2004-2005)
Chairman, Grosvenor Industries
James S. Offield
Owner, AuctionAir LLC
Vee King Shaw
Chairman, The Shaw Group, Singapore
Jay Wade
President, Red Earth Systems
Rear Admiral Richard D. West, USN (Ret.)
President, Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE)
Frank Wlasek
MetalNave, Brazil
Michael T. Moore, Esq. (Secretary)

Donald R. Tomlin, Jr
Don Tomlin has spent approximately a decade and a half in the real estate business followed by a decade and a half in the media business (TV, radio and newspapers). Mr. Tomlin acquired, managed and sold a diversified media company which owned 22 radio stations, 9 television stations and 104 daily newspapers in the US.

Mr. Tomlin operates a private investment banking business, Tomlin & Company, Inc., and through affiliates such as Belmoro Corporate Advisors, LLC has provided merger and acquisition advisory service for more than $5 billion of transactions in the last few years to companies in the print and electronic media arena. Tomlin interests also include a venture capital investment company that provides capital to start up and early stage, technology related businesses.

Mr. Tomlin has developed over 6,000 multi-family housing units in US resort areas valued at over $700 million. In addition, he has significant experience with syndicated bank loans and bond issues. As the lead investor, Tomlin interests have provided the capital for the development of the City of Ayrsley, in Southwest Charlotte, North Carolina, and for Park West, a 1,600(+) acre mixed-use community in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.  With his brother Pat Tomlin, Don developed Lake Carolina, a 1,600(+) acre mixed-used development in Columbia, South Carolina.

Mr. Tomlin is married to Rachelle Boyer Tomlin and has three young children.

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Alfred Balm
As Chairman of the Emergo Group, Alfred Balm has pursued and developed business opportunities in Asia, South America, the Caribbean, Africa, North America and Europe. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Business Leader Award from the University of Calgary, Faculty of Management and was nominated for Emerging Markets CEO of the Year Award at the 1994 joint annual meeting of the World Bank and IMF in Madrid.


Mr. Balm brings to the board of The International SeaKeepers Society his vast international experience in dealing with captains of industry, governments and charitable organizations. Mr. Balm is a Dutch citizen, married with two sons and a resident of Switzerland.

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John Englander
John Englander was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the International SeaKeepers Society in 2004, bringing diverse expertise both as a successful entrepreneur and in his work with non-profit marine environmental organizations.  Under Englander’s leadership SeaKeepers has established independent offices, created its own calibration laboratory, forged new links with the scientific and government communities, and strengthened fund development.

Virtually all of Englander’s experience relates to the ocean in one form or another. For many years he was a recognized leader in the recreational diving industry. He owned and operated the world's largest diving operation in the Bahamas - the Underwater Explorers Society (UNEXSO) based in Freeport. Englander also created The Dolphin Experience, an innovative close-encounter program which is still highly successful. While on the Diving Industry Board of Directors, he was asked to head their non-profit environmental organization, Ocean Futures. From Ocean Futures he was hired by Jacques-Yves Cousteau to become CEO of the Cousteau Society, where he served briefly until Cousteau’s death.

Englander has some 5,000 dives to his credit, including leading expeditions under the polar ice cap and to Lake Baikal in Siberia. He serves as a Director of the PADI Foundation, which awards 30-40 marine related scientific grants each year. In the early 1980's he served as President of NAUI worldwide, one of the major diver certification organizations. He is a pilot with 3,000 hours mostly in the Bahamas and Caribbean. John and his wife Linda live in Boca Raton, FL with their young daughter.

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Jim Gilbert
Jim Gilbert is the founding editor-in-chief and former president of ShowBoats International, the journal of record for the luxury yacht industry. Under his leadership the magazine has galvanized the private and corporate sides of the yachting community in support of marine conservation. He is also a founder of the International SeaKeepers Society.

Through charitable events and private donors, Mr. Gilbert has raised more than $10 million for various international programs, including numerous coral reef research and preservation projects through the Museum of Oceanography in Monaco and the Rosenstiel School at the University of Miami. He created the Bal de la Mer, an annual marine conservation fundraiser held each year in Monaco under the High Patronage of the ruling Grimaldi Royal Family. Mr. Gilbert also established the SeaKeeper Award, an annual award in recognition for lifetime achievement in the field of marine conservation.

In 2006, Mr. Gilbert received the prestigious Leadership Award from the International Superyacht Society.

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Lee R. Anderson
Lee R. Anderson served as Sea Keepers Chairman from November 2001-October 2003 and in that time, among his accomplishments perhaps none was more lasting than the instrumental role he played in strengthening Sea Keepers member base. Known for his gregarious nature, Lee and his wife Penny served as exceptional ambassadors for the organization and continue to introduce friends and colleagues to the work SeaKeepers does.

Like so many of our members, Lee spends a great deal of time on his yacht and believes fervently that we all have a responsibility to learn as much as we can about the world's oceans in an effort to one day eradicate the damage they've sustained and help to protect them for future generations.
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Jean-Michel Costeau
As Executive Vice President of The Cousteau Society for nearly 20 years, and now as Founder and President of Ocean Futures Society, Mr. Cousteau travels the globe, meeting with leaders and policymakers at the grassroots level and at the highest echelons of government and business. Ocean Futures Society, a non-profit marine conservation and education organization, serves as a voice for the ocean by communicating in all media the critical bond between people and the sea and the importance of wise environmental policy.

Mr. Cousteau has produced over 75 films, received the Emmy, the Peabody Award, the 7 d'Or, and the Cable Ace Award. He currently resides in Santa Barbara, California.
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Patty Elkus
Patty ElkusPatty Elkus is an active community leader volunteering with non-profits in the San Diego community.  Raised in Silicon Valley her interests include the earth sciences and advocating for the health and well-being of children.  With a talent for bringing people together in support of a worthy cause, Ms. Elkus has served on San Diego Boards of ARCS Foundation, Inc, (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists, whose mission provides graduate scholarship support in the natural sciences, medicine, and engineering), the Rady's Children's Hospital Auxiliary of San Diego, Poway Chapter, and as President of the National Charity League, Poway Chapter.  Patty is also a contributing member of the San Diego Women's Foundation. 

With a background in PR/Advertising and Graphic Design, Patty has developed an expertise in non-profit Special Events and Fundraising Development.  As a member of the EW Scripps Associates and the SIO Director's Circle in San Diego, and long-time Birch Aquarium supporter, along with her husband who serves on their Advisory Board, Ms. Elkus has been named to the Director's Cabinet of Scripps Institution of Oceanography by Director Tony Haymet.  Patty looks forward to contributing to the synergy between the International SeaKeepers Society and SIO in their joint initiative, the Coastal Monitoring Project.

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J. Mark Grosvenor
Mr. Grosvenor is Chief Executive Officer of Grosvenor Industries, originally established in San Diego in 1979. Grosvenor Industries also owns and operates Grosvenor Square Shopping Center. Since 1979, Mr. Grosvenor has built three hotels and has founded or become involved with many other national businesses. In 1984, he started Medallion Foods, Inc. in Newport, Arkansas, a snack food manufacturing company supplying Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and Costco as well as other companies. In 1989, Grosvenor formed GHG Hospitality, Inc., which owns and operates eleven hospitality projects including motels, hotels, resorts, and marinas across the United States. In 1973 he founded Jaymark Financial, a real estate company with offices in San Diego, Tokyo and Osaka, Japan.

Mr. Grosvenor was Chairman of SeaKeepers from 2003-2005. He resides in both Wyoming and California. [For Spotlight Article click here]
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James S. Offield
James OffieldJames S. Offield was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois.  He was educated at the Fenn School in Concord, Massachusetts, Westminster School in Simsbury, Connecticut and Menlo School of Business Administration located in Menlo Park, California. Mr. Offield currently serves as Vice President and Assistant Secretary of the Offield Family Foundation in Chicago, Illinois and is on the Board of Trustees for both the Little Traverse Conservancy in Harbor Springs, Michigan and the Westminster School in Simsbury, Connecticut.  In addition, Jim serves as Co-Chair on the Northern Michigan Hospital Foundation Board in Petoskey, Michigan.

As an owner of several yachts, Jim has had the pleasure of scuba diving all over the world, and is passionate about the preservation of our oceans. Jim has also been involved with financial support for the Wild Dolphin Project as well as the Billfish Foundation. 

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Vee King Shaw
Mr. Shaw is founder of The Shaw Group in Singapore. He is the Chairman of the Cinematographic Film Distributors Association, Chairman of the National Fire Prevention Council, and is an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medicine in Singapore. He lives in Singapore.

Mr. Shaw is a passionate and accomplished fisherman, scuba and free diver who cruises extensively in Asian Pacific waters aboard his yacht SeaShaw. He has held several free diving fishing records.

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Jay Wade
Jay Wade founded his first company in 1988, developing software designed for use in electronic case management systems for the U.S. Federal Court system. After successfully growing and selling that company in 1999, Mr. Wade continued on to pursue business interests in other technology-related fields. Currently, Mr. Wade splits his time between Red Earth Systems, an information technology professional services firm; Coyote Customs, a manufacturer of custom metric choppers; and Sub Aviator Systems a manufacturer and operator of winged submersibles. He lives in Oklahoma City.
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Richard D. West
Rear Admiral Richard D. West, U.S. Navy (Ret), became President and CEO of CORE in August 2002. Admiral West leads and manages CORE’s mission to promote, develop, and support efforts to advance knowledge and learning in the science of oceanography and to disseminate such knowledge to the scientific community and to the public.

Admiral West came to CORE from the Department of the Navy where he completed his most recent tour of duty as Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy. During his three years as Oceanographer and Navigator, he managed a $400 million annual program providing oceanographic, meteorological, geospatial information and navigation support to the Navy.
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Frank Wlasek
As part of an international demonstration project, the SeaKeepers Society has equipped the first of several liquefied natural gas tankers traversing the coastline of Brazil and the mouth of the Amazon River with its ocean-monitoring module. The monitors are being installed on tankers built by Metalnave, whose chairman is Founding Member Frank Wlasek. Metalnave is donating the funds for this important project, which has the backing of several universities in Brazil, where Mr. Wlasek lives.
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Michael T. Moore
Michael T. Moore has been practicing maritime and aviation law for over twenty years. Before founding his own firm he was a partner with Holland & Knight and chaired the firm’s Marine and Aviation Practice. He has also served several terms on the firm’s board of directors. Prior to Holland & Knight, Mr. Moore was associated with Messrs. Burlingham, Underwood & Lord in New York and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia offices. Mr. Moore is included in Who’s Who in American Law and is a fellow of the American Bar Association. Mr. Moore is also a member of the board of trustees of the United Way of Greater Miami, a former chairman of the Alexis De Tocqueville Society and the Coral Gables Youth Center Advisory Board. Mr. Moore is chairman of the board of the United States Coast Guard Foundation and President of the Admirals of the Fleet of Florida. Mr. Moore resides in Coral Gables, Florida.
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