The Everblue Model
Sea Forward
Ocean Health Fund
Collective philanthropic capital is pooled, deployed across globally diversified ocean impact funds, and regenerated back into the ocean. Capital doesn’t just arrive and settle. It pools, channels, upwells, and ripples outward.
© Sally Bartel
How the Everblue Model Works
From isolated giving to collective ocean impact
The Everblue Model brings together donors, DAF holders, and foundations to pool resources into a shared, science-grounded fund of ocean impact funds. This unlocks access to diversified ocean investments that may be out of reach individually.
As investments generate returns, they go back into the fund to be redeployed, can be returned to donors’ individual accounts, or granted to nonprofits. This approach builds a self-renewing engine for ocean impact — an everblue endowment for the ocean.
How capital becomes ocean impact
Four movements. One continuous cycle of renewal.
Pool
Donors make charitable, tax-deductible contributions to the Sea Forward Ocean Health Fund through ImpactAssets or Catacap, pooling into a single unified, impact-first investment vehicle for ocean health.
Channel
Capital is channeled to funds investing in ocean positive businesses and high impact grantees. Our investment committee screens every opportunity against rigorous ocean-health criteria,
Upwell
Like nutrient-rich water rising from the deep, returns surface as ecosystems recover and new capital flows are generated. Returns can be redeployed, creating a regenerative model for ocean impact.
Ripple
Impact radiates outward as we connect ocean innovators and communities, measure and share what we learn, inspire follow-on investors to scale what works, and help build the next generation of ocean leaders.
Returns reinvested ⋅ Impact compounds ⋅The cycle continues
The Everblue Model in practice
Collective Access to Impact Funds
Through a multi-donor DAF structure, Sea Forward aggregates capital across foundations, DAF holders, and individual donors to access diversified ocean funds that may otherwise require large individual minimums.
Science-Grounded Diligence
Founded by a marine biologist, investments are guided by science and measured by what actually changes in the ocean. Sea Forward’s investment committee screens opportunities against rigorous ocean-health criteria, financial sustainability, and scalability.
Capital That Upwells
As investments generate returns, capital rises back to the surface — cycling to be redeployed, returned to donors’ accounts, or granted to nonprofits. Like ocean upwelling that brings nutrients from the deep to fuel new life, every contribution keeps working for the ocean long after it’s made.
Portfolio Themes
Where we invest
Sea Forward Ocean Health Fund targets high-impact opportunities across six interconnected ocean themes.
Sustainable Aquaculture
Fish farming systems designed to produce food with minimal environmental impact — reducing pressure on wild populations while building regenerative, ocean-positive food production at scale.
Science-Based Monitoring Tools
Technology platforms, satellite imagery, and AI-driven analytics that make ocean health measurable and transparent — turning scientific data into actionable intelligence for investors and policymakers.
Circular Economy
Business models that eliminate ocean-bound waste and keep marine resources in productive use — from plastic alternatives to closed-loop seafood supply chains and materials recovery.
Biodiversity
Investments in marine protected areas, habitat restoration, and species recovery that build the ecological resilience oceans need to function — and that healthy economies depend on.
Climate
Blue carbon, coastal resilience, renewable ocean energy, and maritime decarbonization to address a changing climate by supporting a thriving ocean.
Regenerative Nature-Based Solutions
Reef restoration, kelp farming, seagrass protection, and mangrove recovery — scalable approaches that regenerate marine ecosystems while generating measurable financial and ecological returns.
The Portfolio
Sea Forward invests in thoughtfully selected ocean impact funds across all six themes — each vetted for scientific rigor, financial discipline, and measurable ocean outcomes.
Sea Forward Ocean Health Fund is administered through ImpactAssets, a leading nonprofit impact investing platform that manages over $3 billion in assets under management. ImpactAssets provides the Donor-Advised Fund infrastructure that makes collective ocean investing possible. Philanthropic flexibility. Investment discipline. Ocean impact at scale.
Ecosystem Partners
Working Together for the Ocean
Sea Forward is part of a broader ecosystem of organizations committed to mobilizing capital, innovation, and collaboration for ocean health.
An independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit financial services firm and leading impact investing management platform
A peer community of DAF holders sharing knowledge to mobilize the ~$330 billion sitting in DAFs
A global community of impact investors seeking positive impact across the spectrum of capital
A global community of impact investors seeking positive impact across the spectrum of capital
A global coalition accelerating innovative solutions for ocean health
You can connect your capital to the current. There's an ocean of opportunity here — and a community ready to welcome you into it.
Ready to create ripples?
Your contribution — at any level — pools with others, flows into globally diversified ocean impact funds, and keeps working as part of a growing and self renewing endowment for the ocean. Together, we create the current.
© Sally Bartel