Every Other Breath: Toniic’s Laura Francis & Simon Pickard on Investing to Save Our Oceans

"The ocean is responsible for every other breath we take." So how do you turn charitable dollars into investments that save it?

Laura Francis spent 27 years as a kelp forest diver, educator and ecologist at NOAA's Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, and is now founder and fund director of the Sea Forward Ocean Health Fund. Simon Pickard ran emerging markets funds in London, Paris and Geneva until the daily red-and-green scoreboard made it stop feeling like investing; today he is a board director of Toniic, the global community of impact investors. Together they co-lead Toniic's Ocean Working Group.

Their answer: charitable money doesn't have to be given away once. It can be invested in coral farms, kelp and turning fish waste into feed, then come back and go out again. The working group started in 2020 expecting three or four people; more than 74 joined. Members have mobilized a couple of million dollars into the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, and 21 now pool their giving through Sea Forward, a fund of 12 ocean funds reaching more than 200 companies in 53 countries.

In this episode:

• An 11-year-old holding a baby shark up to the light on a boat off Santa Cruz Island, and the teacher she went back to thank • Simon's "hamster on a capitalist wheel," and the Munich meeting where he found his tribe three weeks before the world shut down • A giant manta swooping down to look Laura in the eye in Raja Ampat • Coral Vita: Hurricane Dorian brought 17 feet of water to a farm built for nine and wiped out every coral. The team spent weeks helping their neighbors, rebuilt, and has replanted more than 15,000 corals off Grand Bahama. • Why Toniic has a no-pitching rule, and what happens when investors can talk about their mistakes • What actually happens to $10,000 invested in the Sea Forward Ocean Health Fund through CataCap • What Simon would tell a friend who loves the ocean and has money sitting in a donor-advised fund

Also mentioned: Katapult Ocean, SWEN Blue Ocean, Mana Blue Planet, Blue Marine Foundation, Sustainable Ocean Alliance, 1000 Ocean Startups, Rachel's Network.

Join the Sea Forward Ocean Health Fund on CataCap from $100 at https://catacap.org/investments/seaforward. Laura covered the fee, so 100% of what you give goes to work for the ocean, and you can also join her in the Coral Vita bridge round at catacap.org. If this episode meant something to you, follow Catalytic Capital and send it to one friend who loves the ocean.