The World Ocean Council has appointed Leslie-Ann McGee as programs director. MGee is charged with improving ocean business community engagement in marine spatial planning (MSP) and ocean policy.
Her responsibilities include ensuring that national ocean policy and planning in the United States has the coordinated, proactive involvement of a well-informed multi-industry leadership group; developing a comprehensive understanding of the industry stakeholders in each of the nine National Ocean Policy regions in the United States; establishing a regional ocean business council in three of the U.S. national ocean policy regions; and organizing a national ocean policy conference for industry.
McGee previously worked for Battelle Memorial Institute, where she served as the director of ocean and coastal solutions since 2009. Through her leadership, Battelle has played an important role in WOC progress, especially in MSP and the recent WOC Sustainable Ocean Summit, where she served as vice chair.
“The World Ocean Council has created an important non-confrontational, non-regulatory venue for the ocean business community to collaborate on ensuring responsible use of marine space and resources. I am very excited to join WOC in this journey and look forward to working with industry, government and NGO colleagues to contribute to WOC’s success,” said McGee.
McGee’s background makes her ideal for helping lead WOC efforts to develop collaboration and leadership in finding solutions to the shared marine environmental challenges facing ocean industries. She has experience, credentials and reputation as an excellent collaborator and has developed successful partnerships with industry, NGOs and other stakeholders to form cohesive management strategies.
