PAULITA BENNETT-MARTIN

Paulita Bennett-Martin is the Executive Director and co-founder of Sea of Life, a Caribbean-American, women-led nonprofit creating community-centered ocean conservation solutions. She also serves as Senior Strategist for Policy Initiatives at the 5 Gyres Institute, advancing global efforts to curb plastic pollution.

A proud Belizean-American from Belize City and Vero Beach, Florida, Paulita began her career publishing Belize’s first scientific research on plastic pollution, sparking a national grassroots movement. She later managed a NOAA-funded Lionfish project with Emory University in the U.S. Virgin Islands and spent over six years at Oceana, leading campaigns on plastics, marine mammals, and offshore energy—including a successful national push to phase out single-use plastics on U.S. public lands.

Through Sea of Life and its flagship #MorePrideLessPlastic campaign, Paulita champions culturally rooted, locally led conservation across the Caribbean.