About

What is the Shark Conservation Fund?

©Tomas Kotouc

The Shark Conservation Fund (SCF) is a collaboration of philanthropists dedicated to solving the global shark and ray crisis. Our goal is to halt the overexploitation of the world’s sharks and rays, prevent extinctions, reverse population declines, and restore imperiled species through strategic and catalytic grantmaking.

The plight of sharks and rays is an international crisis. Scientists estimate that more than 100 million sharks are killed every year and that nearly a quarter of all shark and ray species are facing extinction, placing them among the most threatened vertebrates on the planet. As these predators play critical ecological, cultural, and economic roles in our oceans and coastal communities, their declining numbers are a growing threat to the health of the ocean and jeopardize the livelihoods and food security of millions of people around the world.

The current scale of conservation efforts does not match this level of crisis. Major investments are urgently needed worldwide in policy development, outreach and advocacy, conservation science, communications and media, capacity building, and long-term monitoring. It is vital that we step up action to save our sharks and rays.

SCF believes that we need a globally coordinated conservation strategy to effectively tackle the current crisis and affect real change in protecting shark and ray populations. We are working at the local, national, and international levels, investing strategically in projects that can turn the tide for imperiled sharks and rays around the world. 

Advisory Board

  • Jim Angell

    President of the Board Paul M. Angell Family Foundation

  • J. Charles Fox

    Executive Director Oceans 5

  • Rebecca Ng

    Senior Program Officer, Vulcan Inc. Portfolio Manager for the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation

  • Ann Colley

    Director of Public Relations and Charitable Giving Moore Capital Management (MCM), LP

  • Trevor Bacon

    Marine Program Officer Moore Charitable Foundation

  • Barney Long

    Senior Director of Species Conservation re:wild

  • Andi Pearl

    Executive Director The Volgenau Foundation

Staff

  • Lee Crockett

    Executive Director Shark Conservation Fund

    Lee is responsible for designing and implementing programmatic and grantmaking strategies, managing SCF’s grantmaking portfolio, forming strategic partnerships with NGOs and other funders, fundraising, ensuring strong operations and governance, and representing the SCF to governments, NGOs, philanthropists, and the public.

    Prior to joining the SCF, Lee spent 20 years working on fisheries management at the state, interstate, federal and international levels with both the US. Government and the non-profit sector. Most recently, he was the Director of U.S. Oceans for The Pew Charitable Trusts where he led Pew’s efforts to establish policies to end overfishing and promote ecosystem-based fisheries management in the U. S. under the authority of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Magnuson-Stevens Act), the federal law that governs ocean fish management. As director, Crockett oversaw Pew’s U.S. fisheries campaigns in the Northeast, South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, U.S. Caribbean, and the Pacific.

    Before joining Pew, Crockett was executive director of the Marine Fish Conservation Network, the largest national coalition dedicated exclusively to promoting the sustainable management of ocean fish. Under his leadership, the campaign was instrumental in efforts to reauthorize and strengthen the Magnuson-Stevens Act in 2007. Previously, he was a fishery biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service, leading agency efforts to protect essential fish habitat. He also served as a staff member of the U.S. House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, working on a variety of fisheries, environmental and boating safety issues.

    Crockett holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in biological oceanography from the University of Connecticut. Before college, he served in the U.S. Coast Guard. He is also an avid angler who enjoys fishing the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay.

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  • Meenakshi Abbi

    Senior Manager, Sponsored Projects Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA)

    Meenakshi Abbi joined RPA’s San Francisco office in May 2012 as a member of the Sponsored Projects & Funds team.. Meenakshi draws on extensive experience to serve as a resource on fiscal sponsorship, financial management, project management, and operational efficiency. Meenakshi has a diverse background ranging from directing programs and computer programming to workforce development and volunteering for social justice organizations. Prior to her current role at RPA, Meenakshi worked at Tides for over four years as a program manager for fiscally sponsored 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) projects, and helped re-launch Tides Advocacy Fund. She was also Director of the Small Business Development Center Technology Advisory Program, a nonprofit dedicated to helping small businesses effectively utilize technology. Meenakshi holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. Her passions include civic engagement, financial inclusion, and social justice. 

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  • Susie Lim

    Grants Manager Shark Conservation Fund

    Susie provides grants management and operational support for SCF. She worked most recently with the ASPCA as Director of Grants Management administering a large-volume grants program. Her past experience includes time at the Tides Foundation managing international grants through the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition.  She has also worked as an Operations Manager in local advocacy and policy focused organizations such as the Center for Working Families (former policy arm of Working Families Party) and ALIGN (formerly New York Jobs with Justice + Urban Agenda).  She was the  Director of Community Affairs for former NYC Council Member EVA Moskowitz (founder of the Success Charter School network).  She brings an in-depth knowledge of international grantmaking, working experience in traditional and innovative philanthropy and operations management in complex and start-up projects with a specialty on intermediary coordination and funding collaboratives. Susie is deeply invested in animal and human welfare.   

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Expert Advisory Panel

  • Dr. Andy Cornish

    WWF-Hong Kong Leader, WWF and TRAFFIC Sharks: Restoring the Balance

  • Professor Nicholas Dulvy

    Canada Research Chair in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at Simon Fraser University

  • Sarah Fowler

    Scientific Advisor, Trustee of the Shark Trust Save our Seas Foundation

  • Rebecca Regnery

    Senior Director, Wildlife Department Human Society International

  • Luke Warwick

    Director, Sharks and Rays Program, Wildlife Conservation Society

Founding Partners

  • Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation

    Through collaborative partnerships, we support innovative projects that protect vulnerable wildlife from extinction.

  • The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation

    Microsoft cofounder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen’s network of organizations, projects and programs work to improve our world. Through Paul G. Allen Family Foundation his team is tackling some of the world’s hardest problems – from combatting climate change to restoring the health of our oceans to disrupting the cycle of homelessness – through an integrated approach that harness the power of data, cutting-edge technology, policy and storytelling. 

  • Paul M. Angell Family Foundation

    Paul M. Angell Family Foundation’s conservation grant making focuses primarily on ocean conservation, with priority focus on: 1) supporting the creation of Marine Protected Areas; 2) encouraging sustainable fisheries management; 3) eliminating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; 4) conserving the worlds shark and ray species; 5) limiting plastics pollution and other ocean debris, and 6) preserving coral species and ecosystems. 

  • Oceans 5

    Oceans 5 makes direct grants, leverages matching grants, provides in-kind services and shares strategic guidance, with a focus on projects and campaigns to constrain overfishing and to establish marine reserves.

  • The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust

    The Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. 

Become a champion for sharks and rays. As apex predators, sharks and rays are the key to the health of our oceans. Yet every day more than 250,000 are killed. Add your name to the list of people that care about protecting sharks and their marine habitats.
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©2023 Shark Conservation Fund