Seafood Choices Alliance

Before joining the Alliance, Mike served as the Environmental and Natural Resources Advisor to the Governor of California, representing the Governor, his cabinet and the state before Congress and the federal government. Mike began his career as Development Associate for American Oceans Campaign in the early 1990s, and since that time has worked to engage businesses, policy makers, and consumers on a wide array of environmental issues. He also worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, forging solutions to water quality and coastal protection challenges. Mike has a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

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Nadine Bartholomew, Business Outreach & Development Manager

Prior to joining the Alliance in 2006, Nadine worked at the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) where she developed and implemented programs that promoted the community relations, supplier diversity and urban affairs initiatives of food retailers and wholesalers including FMI’s Neighborhood Partnership Awards program (NPA). Nadine began her career in the supermarket industry at Giant of Maryland (an Ahold USA subsidiary). As the Marketing Specialist, Nadine was responsible for developing marketing campaigns to promote all consumer-based initiatives for the 192-store chain including Giant’s award winning Healthy Ideas program. She has an MBA from Loyola College of Maryland and is based in the Washington, D.C. area.

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Joey Ritchie Brookhart, Senior Project Manager

Joey manages communications and special projects for Seafood Choices Alliance. Since joining the Alliance’s team in 2001, Joey has directed efforts in the top fifteen U.S. seafood markets to foster awareness for sustainable seafood and enlist the participation of food professionals in this movement. For the past five years, she has managed press outreach and edited the Alliance’s quarterly newsletter Afishianado™. Before coming to the Alliance, Joey worked at the Department of Commerce, where she served as special assistant for ocean issues to the Secretary of Commerce. She speaks fluent Spanish and is conversant in Italian (particularly when cooking), and has an M.A. in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Philip Chou, Conservation Outreach Manager

As Conservation Outreach Manager, Philip helps marine conservation NGOs to identify and implement strategies toward greater environmental sustainability in the global seafood industry. Prior to joining SeaWeb in 2007, he served as China Program Officer for Conservation International, linking businesses, NGOs and governments through biodiversity conservation partnerships in China. A native of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Philip has served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Russia and a forest restoration volunteer in Kenya with A Rocha International. He is fluent in Chinese and conversant in Russian and Spanish. He holds a M.A in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a B.S. in Biology from Guilford College.

Valerie Craig, Senior Project Manager

Valerie came to Seafood Choices Alliance after her graduate work, which focused on the use of economic tools in environmental policy-making such as the use of transferable quotas in fisheries management. Among other projects, Valerie manages the annual Seafood Summit and the publication of Sourcing Seafood: A Professional’s Guide to Procuring Ocean-friendly Fish and Shellfish. Valerie has a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and is fluent in Spanish.

Stephanie Faison, Public Relations

As the publicist for Seafood Choices Alliance, Stephanie has helped create the current social movement towards seafood conservation. She is also the President and founder of Restaurant PR, a firm enabling industry professionals to customize their own individual public relations programs, and is the President of SCO Communications, a public relations and marketing firm with an emphasis on hospitality, food and beverage. Stephanie speaks fluent French, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ithaca College.

Emily Howgate, UK Programme Coordinator

In April 2007 Emily joined the London office of Seafood Choices Alliance and is responsible for helping develop relationships with a broad range of sustainable seafood stakeholders and providing logistical support to the UK program. Prior to joining the Alliance, Emily worked in the marine programs of several conservation organizations. In particular her experience relates to the impact of unsustainable fisheries on marine flagship species, including sea turtles and albatrosses. Through social research she conducted, Emily has a strong comprehension of sustainable seafood and consumer and retailer knowledge associated with this in the UK. Emily is passionate about sustainability and has been involved with environmental education initiatives in the UK. Her commitment to the environment, and particularly the marine realm, was honed through her Ecology degree at the University of East Anglia, UK and also a stint studying in California.

Julia Roberson, European Project Manager

Julia is the London-based representative for Seafood Choices Alliance in Europe, and she also coordinates SeaWeb’s “L’autre Caviar” and Caviar Emptor campaigns, which call for a halt to the international trade of beluga caviar and urge consumers to choose environmentally friendly alternatives. Julia has worked in Europe for six years in public relations, marketing and journalism. She received her bachelor’s degree in communications and English from Appalachian State University in North Carolina.

Melanie Siggs, UK Programme Director

Melanie joined Seafood Choices Alliance in September 2006 to lead the development of the UK programme. Melanie’s background is in the corporate sector, predominantly concerned with natural resources such as agriculture, forestry and food. She has worked in a number of different countries including a period working in partnership with FAO (UN) Fisheries developing international trade meetings in Europe, Japan, Russia and Indonesia. More recently Melanie was Head of Communications for Finnish group UPM-Kymmene, one of the world’s largest forest products groups and acting Head of Corporate Affairs for Australian company Global Renewables, working on a successful £2.5bn PFI (private finance initiative) resource recovery contract bid. Melanie holds a Masters in Responsibility and Business Practice and brings to the team a breadth of business experience, strong skills in strategic positioning and corporate affairs, as well as a personal passion for responsible business.

Elisabeth Vallet, European Programme Director

Elisabeth joined the Seafood Choice Alliance in October 2006 to work with industry leaders and NGOs across continental Europe to increase the market for sustainable seafood. Elisabeth comes from a communications, policy and trade association background. She spent nine years as the Communications and Project Manager of the European Council of Young Farmers, an association based in Brussels that represents young farmers throughout the EU member States. In that role, she worked with private industry, policymakers, consumers, NGOs and other associations. She implemented a pan-European educational project, which aimed to raise the awareness of schoolchildren concerning European agriculture. Most recently, Elisabeth worked for the European Commission at DG Environment. Before her Brussels work, she helped to establish a trade association on biofuels in France.

Staff

Mike Boots, Director