Mars Coral Reef
Restoration

The transformation we need for our ocean won’t come from one project, one community, or one idea working in isolation. It takes a tide of people, stories, and energy moving together—a critical mass big enough to shift the system. For a long time, I kept asking myself: how do we get there? 

That question began to find its answer in 2023, on a trip to Lamu. I was part of a team supporting The Ocean Trust as they helped the community bring back their reef and set up a community protected area. It was here that I first met the Mars Sustainable Solutions team and heard about Hope Reef in Indonesia. The story of how they had worked with the island communities of Badi and Bontosua in Indonesia to attempt the unprecedented—and actually bring back a dead reef to life, 112,000 sqm of reef restored globally to date! This struck me deeply.

I remember sitting down with Professor David Smith, whose way of seeing the ocean and its future left a lasting mark, and talking about what it would take to unlock this kind of momentum in Kenya. Little did I know that one year later, I would be invited to become a Sheba Hope Grows™ Ambassador myself. When the offer came, I didn’t think twice. The vision spoke to the same things I’ve been working toward on my journey.

A thriving ocean community — a living network where ideas flow. A space where local changemakers, scientists, storytellers, fishers, youth, and global allies can come together to share knowledge, amplify solutions, and learn from one another. A space that celebrates diverse voices in the marine world, where connections spark collaborations, and where action on the ground inspires action elsewhere.

For me, this was about building real bridges—bringing the national and global community closer to the powerful grassroots solutions that often go unseen. It was about carrying these voices into the spaces where they need to be heard, closing the gap between actors in the Kenyan marine sector, and opening the door for youth to step in and shape the future alongside them.

It started by telling stories that matter, of powerful voices from the ground; Katana, Amina, Hamisi—voices often overlooked, yet driving real impact for the ocean offering replicable models, from Kuruwitu to Lamu, solutions born from deep culture and lived experience, and of knowledge that could so easily be lost if not carried forward.

But stories couldn’t stop at the shoreline. I also needed to reach decision-makers — the people shaping policies and conditions on the ground. So the journey took me somewhere completely different: COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The setting couldn’t have been further from the Kenyan coast, but my purpose remained the same — to carry coastal community voices into rooms where they are too often missing. I wanted to shift the narrative: to show global delegations what they stand to gain when they work hand-in-hand with local actors, and to highlight the critical role communities can play in achieving global goals.

Of course, bringing voices together is one thing — turning that energy into collective action is another. I came to see that if we wanted these emerging connections to lead to real change, we’d have to intentionally organise for collaboration. As an ambassador, I found myself in the perfect position to help make this happen: sharing local co-management models at the Kivukoni Eco Festival close to home, and presenting global network approaches at the International Funders for Indigenous Peoples (IFIP) Global Conference. In those spaces, bridging messages of hope and urgency became a shared act. We weren’t just raising awareness — we were creating a cultural shift.

Still, as I met different organisations and people, questions lingered in my mind: Are we aligned on the same vision? Are we truly heading in the same direction?

The answer began to take shape during a series of community screenings of Reef Builders, a documentary presented by SHEBA®, that we hosted in Kenya. I witnessed something remarkable unfold. Fishermen, women groups, and youth gathered for a community dialogue after the film, each bringing their own perspectives to the table. Views were shared, questioned, and reimagined. Out of those conversations emerged a shared vision—a collective sense of the future they wanted for their marine area and the people who should shape it.

We spoke about courage, resilience, and what it truly means to pass on a thriving ocean to the next generation. The discussions sparked fresh energy, with communities beginning to see themselves not merely as users of the sea’s resources, but as stewards of something far greater. This momentum from the screening series went on to catalyse the development of marine education programmes, reconnecting young people with the ocean and their role in protecting it.

Piece by piece, I could see things starting to come together. The local was meeting the global, wisdom was joining hands with science, and stories were turning into action. And in that growing network, shared hope was beginning to take root.

For me, being a Sheba Hope Grows Ambassador™ is about weaving connections—bringing people, places, and ideas together and creating the space for them to thrive. I see it as tending to a living network: nurturing relationships, and helping these connections grow strong enough to spark action.

Because after all transformation is not passive.