Ambassadors

The Seasteading Institute ambassadors are volunteers committed to promoting the seasteading vision and representing the organization.

We speak your language 🇳🇱 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 🇯🇵 🇮🇷 🇵🇹 🇪🇸 🇹🇷

Each ambassador’s efforts are crucial to the success of The Seasteading Institute’s movement building campaign. Ambassadors take on an important role representing the organization and advocating on behalf of the movement at conferences, schools, other events, online and through other special assignments. We seek to maximize the usefulness of any ambassador’s unique skill set.

  • Australia 🇦🇺

  • Austria 🇦🇹

  • Belgium 🇧🇪

    • ali-ambassador

      Ali Montazeriha

      Ali lives by a Darwin quote, that it is not the strongest of species that survive but those who are the most adaptable towards change! Since fully grasping the meaning of this sentence he has lived his life by looking into the future and trying to understand where the world is going. Ali studied Business Administration and chose to enter a conservative diamond trading business as a business development manager. He soon came to the conclusion that he was much more into innovation and the future in general instead of looking at what has been forged for thousands of years underground.

      He is currently the managing director of an accelerator in Belgium as well as an investment analyst for a prominent Belgian VC-Fund. He spends most of his free time reading philosophical books and this inspired him to get involved with The Seasteading Institute. Eventually he would like nothing more than to actually build a fully operational and self-sustaining seasteading that could prove once and for all that people can organise themselves in a civil manner without government interference and that it could lead to an immense progress forward by taking away anything that stands in the way of innovation. Right now he’ll be focusing on building a team of people with similar visions and goals in the Belgium to exchange ideas and tap into opportunities. Don’t hesitate to get in touch!

    • frederic-pons-2

      Frédéric Pons

      Humanist and visionary, Frédéric wishes to contribute to a more harmonious and beautiful world. The combination of progress and aesthetics is his leitmotiv. During his 24-year professional marketing path, he has developed and released innovative projects for famous international brands. Eventually he has created two innovative startups in the luxury market, both featuring progress and aesthetics…

      Now, Frédéric wishes to dedicate a part of his time and energy to raise awareness, and support a realistic, daring and promising project that may improve the way we live, and restore the subtle balance of Nature. As a child, he was already dazzled by “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas” from Jules Verne. Seasteading is then obvious to him. He plans to advocate and act on behalf TSI to make this global sustainable solution true, to initiate pioneer and efficient models of civilization and trade.

  • Brazil 🇧🇷

    • bruna_augusto_pereira

      Bruna Augusto Pereira

      Bruna is a biologist and Founder/First President of NGO ReCivitas, a think tank that develops innovative social technologies, widely published academic journals, books, conference materials and university extension courses. At NGO ReCivitas, she handles joint coordination and project implementation. Since 2008, she has worked on the development of policies regarding Basic Income Guarantee, referenced in international non-governmental social security in Quatinga Velho. Bruna is currently working on the development of the social network of Direct Democracy: Governe-se.

    • marcus-vinicius-brancaglione-300x300-1

      Marcus Brancaglione

      Marcus is Founder and current President of the NGO ReCivitas, a think tank that develops innovative social technologies, widely published academic journals, books, conference materials and university extension courses and extension publications (developed through classes under his professorship). Since 2008, he has worked on the development of policies regarding Basic Income Guarantee, referenced in international non-governmental social security in Quatinga Velho. Marcus is the creator of the social network of Direct Democracy: Governe-se, and the intellectual property RobinRight license.

    • renan-rocha-2

      Renan Rocha

      Renan is an environmental, electrical, and renewable energies engineer pursuing the combination of skills and knowledge required to engineer a safer, cleaner, more prosperous and socially acceptable world. Collaborating in the field of Genetic Engineering, Renan was, during his undergraduate years, a researcher at CNPQ – The Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development. He was responsible for the analysis, selection, and development of studies in one of all the various forms of luminescence present in nature, bioluminescence, as a renewable energy source capable of attenuating the environmental energy stress needed to supply large urban centers. He has characterized, in silico, a bioluminescent enzyme that has the potential to meet current and future needs. Renan has also established – on his campus – a program to prevent violence against women. The program aimed to raise awareness, in the psychosocial sphere, about violence, especially against women, by providing a restructuring of dysfunctional beliefs on the roles of social actors; developing relational skills; and encouraging societal positive integration in communities. Renan says he is powered by the most renewable energy source in the Universe: Love.

  • Canada 🇨🇦

    • bill-lewis-professional-006

      Bill Lewis

      Bill Lewis is a creative and analytical entrepreneur and futurist. He is passionate about innovation, organizational development, and STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). After earning his degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Waterloo in 1997, Bill learned the best leadership, strategy, and management practices during his career in mobile equipment which includes working for Volvo Construction Equipment.

      Bill’s dedication to youth development is evidenced by his delivery of financial training to classrooms of 16 year-olds as a volunteer for the local Junior Achievement Charter and by his ownership and operation of the first Canadian Franchise of Engineering for Kids for 5 years, a STEM enrichment program. He attained certification in Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to fill a desire to learn more about the span of perspectives that other people hold in order to serve them better.

      In 2018, Bill founded the Tomorrow Today Society Incorporated, a non-profit organization of citizens that are dedicated to welcoming the future. We seek to build awareness of the best technologies in existence and promote their adoption locally. Bill has spoken at the Mars Society Convention on the need for technical professionals to practice outreach as research and progress, more than ever, requires direct public support.

      That innovative people need a new frontier and a fresh start to raise the pace of progress to an acceptable level is clear and Bill is happy to help the Seasteading Institute build awareness and find sustainable technology to aid its cause.

    • mason-leschyna-2-2

      Mason Leschyna

      Mason works as an emergency physician and inventor. He earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering before completing his medical studies. In addition to his work, he is also interested in law and how it can be used to advance, or hinder, human society. Mason is extremely interested in seasteading for both the political-legal as well as technical possibilities it offers. He believes that seasteading will both provide a refuge from intrusive government overreach while also serving as a stepping stone to living in space and on other planets.

  • Croatia 🇭🇷

  • Denmark 🇩🇰

  • France 🇫🇷

    • benoit-robein-2

      Benoit Robein

      Born in Strasbourg, Benoit graduated with a degree in Architecture in Paris.
      After working in Finland, New York and Paris, he founded his own architecture and engineering office in Paris.
      Since 2005, he has joined a big company of construction and real estate development, first in Paris and then in Bordeaux.

      Benoit is passionate about new ways of living, building and imagining the city of tomorrow through the third industrial revolution: a greener, more respectful, freer and more affordable city for all.

      For him, participating in the seasteading adventure came naturally. Being an Ambassador at The Seasteading Institute is working, thinking, imagining a world more free, more respectful, more balanced, close to nature where everyone has his place where one’s freedom stops where the neighbor’s freedom begins.

  • French Polynesia 🇵🇫

  • Germany 🇩🇪

    • jan-jackson-2

      Jan Mundin

      Jan is a WHU- and Stanford educated entrepreneur. Apart from Seasteading, he is passionate about PsychTech (psychology + data science). Previously he has worked as a backend developer, interim CEO and in the blockchain space. He lived and worked/studied in: China, US, India, UK, Thailand, Germany. Jan has been to Ephemerisle and is amazed by the Bay Area Seasteading community. He hopes to make more people in Berlin aware of the possibilities that come with Seasteading.

    • picture_spiekermann-1

      Jan Spiekermann

      Jan-Olav ”Joe” Spiekermann is a Security and Safety Consultant of German, Danish, French and Swedish ancestry who resides in Kiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein. Born in 1991, he attended school in the Hanseatic City of Lübeck. After that, he studied in Marburg, Altenholz (near Kiel) and Lübeck.
      He is involved in micronationalism as a Diplomat of the Principauté de Bérémagne (Canada / France) and the Karno-Ruthenian Empire (Brazil). The United States Transhumanist Party appointed him as Advisor on Seasteads and Micronations. Mr. Spiekermann served as a nonpartisan of local parliamentary committees and as an electoral assistant. He currently studies law in Hamburg and is running as an independent candidate for mayor in a small town in Lower Saxony.

      Having lived close to the sea for most of his life, he supports the idea of seasteading, because he believes that seasteading is the best way to create better, more humane, peaceful and sustainable forms of human coexistence.

  • Ghana 🇬🇭

  • Greece 🇬🇷

  • Hong Kong 🇭🇰

    • leonhard-weese-2

      Leonhard Weese

      Leonhard comes from a small but fairly autonomous region in the mountains of Italy, where he learned early how well small local governments perform when compared to their centralist counterparts. He went on to study economics in Vienna, prompting an interest in the ideas of competitive governance and seasteading. Leonhard currently lives in Hong Kong, where a metropolis struggles and strives between an authoritarian government and a laissez-faire economy, and where moving onto the waters seems like a very logical next step. Since earning a Masters degree in statistics, he has been working in data analytics and later with online privacy tools. Leonhard hosts the Seasteading as well as the Bitcoin meetup groups in Hong Kong. He also promotes the vision of seasteading through boat tours, taking advantage of the city’s industrial harbor and existing boating culture to create attractive and relaxing social events.

      “I believe the people in Hong Kong who are curious and supportive of the idea should be regularly brought together, and maybe one day we can move out of the Pearl River Delta into the unchartered territories of the South China Sea.”

  • Hungary

    • Bence Kun

      Bence is a PhD candidate and former lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Jena, with additional
      degrees in Economics and International Relations. An alumnus of the University of Warwick, he has
      just returned from a semester-long research visit in Oregon to his hometown of Budapest, Hungary.
      His interest in seasteading is primarily theoretical: Bence believes that seasteading provides an
      opportunity to settle seemingly irresolvable political conflicts through their distribution in space. He
      is keen to explore how small communities define their identity by experimenting with different forms
      of governance. He is looking forward to working with like-minded researchers from different
      backgrounds, and hopes that his passion for the humanities allows him to contribute to the
      discussion around seaborne platforms. Bence is currently translating seasteading material into
      Hungarian and German.

  • India 🇮🇳

  • Italy 🇮🇹

  • Japan 🇯🇵

    • rsekine_headshot-1

      Ryota Sekine

      Ryota Sekine grew up in Singapore with Japanese nationality. He is an entrepreneur based in Chicago with extensive experience in healthtech and supply chain. He studied at the University of Chicago where he was exposed to a wide range of economic and sociological theories that later kindled his interest in seasteading, floating cities and alternative governance. He is optimistic that our quest to build self-sustaining societies on the ocean will help us make massive progress with many of humanity’s grand challenges such as water and food security. He is determined to work with like-minded people around the world to secure a sustainable and abundant future for the next generation.

  • Malaysia 🇲🇾

    • adam-potter-2

      Adam Potter

      Adam is a researcher, vlogger and writer who likes to explore integrated solutions to the world’s complex problems through dialog with passionate people from diverse backgrounds. Adam loves motorcycles, diving, travel and living in Malaysia. Adam would like to help move the aims of seasteading forward primarily through collaborative writing projects in a variety of outlets.

    • 20180313_095203

      Dan Barbulescu

      Dan is an investment manager by career and a mathematician by training.
      In the last 15 years he represented institutional investors including Oil Terminal Constanta, Romania, the largest maritime energy storage operator in the Black Sea.
      After researching ways to provide 100% renewable energy to off-grid islands, in 2017 he, along with Mark Pillsworth, founded Energy Storage Rights, a green start-up based in Canberra, Australia.
      Together with Australian National University and University of Innsbruck Austria they are developing a floating solar+energy storage solution that plans to benefit the Seasteading Institute projects and help finance seasteads by converting floating breakwaters that protect the floating islands into a 24hours/day renewable energy generators. Surplus energy could then be sold to nearby Island Nations where electricity is currently prohibitively expensive.

  • Malta 🇲🇹

  • Mexico 🇲🇽

    • luis

      Luis Felaco

      Luis Felaco is a multifaceted person: he studied biology in Venezuela, and graduated as a biologist and a dive instructor in the same year. During his bachelor’s degree he was involved in university politics in the most important university of his country. He left Venezuela to pursue his master’s degree in marine aquaculture in the Canary Islands where he started working in integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) while also doing specializations in island sustainability and environmental impacts.

      He moved to Yucatan, Mexico to get his PhD in marine resources; specializing in sustainable sea cucumber, seaweed, and fish aquaculture. This skillset put him on his new path of a consultancy business, working with marine aquaculture startups in different countries like Panama, Belize, and Mexico. Luis cleans underwater environments and does cave diving in his spare time.

      Luis is interested in Seasteading because of the multiple opportunities it offers for sustainable food production, diving tourism and, being an immigrant, the political aspects of ensuring more freedom for everyone.

    • mlehmitz-mtn-bike

      Matthew Lehmitz

      A Botanist with an interest in long term regenerative ecosystems and biosphere, Matthew enjoys a diverse array of activities. His primary areas of research at this time involve the development of UAV or Drone technology for the purpose of high precision imaging on isolated plant species in difficult environments. This decreases the cost and difficulty associated with a variety of information gathering goals. He is also working on sending plant experiments to space on an independent satellite. This format will be useful for testing new species and their interactions with other species in enclosed environments. By adding in elements such as rotation and natural sunlight new insights can be gained into the best ways of succeeding at sustaining life beyond Earth.

      A long time fan of science fiction, Matthew has always been fascinated by new technology and ideas. As a member of the transhumanist community, he considers thinking about new ways for humans to live together is always a worthwhile endeavor.

      He has always loved exploration and the idea of colonizing new worlds fits beautifully with the ideas of seasteading. The idea that we can learn to live in new places and find better ways to coexist with the natural world is a thrilling one. He is eager to share this with people and looks forward to the opportunity to meet new likeminded individuals and find ways to achieve the aims of Seasteading.

  • Netherlands 🇳🇱

  • New Zealand 🇳🇿

  • Nigeria 🇳🇪

  • Pakistan 🇵🇰

  • Panama 🇵🇦

    • aldo-antinori-2

      Aldo Antinori

      As an innovation marketing professional with experience in developing startups in emerging industries, including blockchain and legaltech, Aldo is a true believer that technology and freedom are the solutions to every problem. His passion for liberty and skills as a connector have taken him to create and bring together blockchain-oriented communities and organize several meetups and conferences in Panama. Aldo co-founded the Panama Digital Blockchain Chamber of Commerce (CCDB), he’s an active member of the Caribbean Blockchain Alliance (CBA) and the Central American Cryptocurrency Users Association (ACUCRIP). He is also an Ambassador to the Zen Blockchain Foundation, a blockchain technology partner of The Seasteading Institute. A devoted #SeaVangelist, Aldo is key to expanding Seasteading regionally and beyond.

      In 2019, Aldo played an instrumental role in helping the Seasteading Institute meet with Panamanian government authorities at the highest level, opening the pathways for the Central American country to become the hotspot of the age of Seasteading.

  • Poland 🇵🇱

  • Republic of Georgia 🇬🇪

    • derek-welch-2

      Derek Welch

      Derek is an international investment banking advisor and entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in the transportation, infrastructure, marine geosciences, and offshore energy industries in over 70 countries. He led two official trade missions for the US government providing project feasibility analysis of foreign transportation infrastructure investments valued at over $8 Billion and has served as an independent advisor to 5 national governments on infrastructure investment and negotiating Public Private Partnerships.

      Derek also spent over a decade as an investor in and Director of International Corporate Development of TerraSond Ltd. (now a subsidiary of Acteon Geo-Sciences in the Data and Robotics Division) where he developed international opportunities in seafloor mapping, marine geophysics, offshore geohazards surveys, oil rig decommissioning, subsea cable surveys and various other types of ocean data acquisition and processing while serving clients such as NOAA, NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory, oil and gas majors and offshore wind developers. TerraSond pioneered the use of Autonomous Surface Vessels (ASV) for nautical charting and cable route surveys in the Arctic.

      Derek hopes to share the technical and financial knowledge of ocean infrastructure that he has gained over his career with potential Seasteaders and to help them move through the project development process from planning to finance and execution.

  • Russia 🇷🇺

  • Singapore 🇸🇬

    • rsekine_headshot-1

      Ryota Sekine

      Ryota Sekine grew up in Singapore with Japanese nationality. He is an entrepreneur based in Chicago with extensive experience in healthtech and supply chain. He studied at the University of Chicago where he was exposed to a wide range of economic and sociological theories that later kindled his interest in seasteading, floating cities and alternative governance. He is optimistic that our quest to build self-sustaining societies on the ocean will help us make massive progress with many of humanity’s grand challenges such as water and food security. He is determined to work with like-minded people around the world to secure a sustainable and abundant future for the next generation.

  • Slovakia 🇸🇰

    • ales_nohel

      Aleš Nohel

      “I have been dreaming about this concept since I have been able to comprehend the size of oil rigs and restrictiveness of governments. I know this is a great proving ground for self-sufficient human colonies that are based on the newest of technologies that can help us prepare for colonization of space and avoid the mistakes of the past. This concept will enable the new countries to leap and bound over existing nations as it happened during the industrial revolution. I would like to be a part of this revolution as I see it as a great opportunity to forward a good cause. The concepts and hurdles are challenging in a way that is similar to those we will face when expanding into space commercially and thus a great opportunity to use my skills and learn to apply them to tough negotiations. I hope to open the eyes of those who doubt the possibilities and benefits of seasteading. With various crises sweeping the world, this may be the best way to introduce new philosophies and socio-economic concepts without much of the resistance one would experience in trying to shift established political and cultural systems throughout the established states. I am eager to be part of this revolution as I like to challenge the status quo.”

  • South Africa 🇿🇦

  • Sweden 🇸🇪

  • Switzerland

    • anders-arfelt-2

      Anders Arfelt

      Anders Arfelt has a rich history working with ocean industries and is planning to assist in our outreach to regulatory bodies and maritime organizations. He is currently director for a Dutch protection and indemnity insurance specialists company, where his specialties include maritime risk management for ocean vessels. Previously he was a senior international affairs officer at the Baltic International Maritime Council (BIMCO), the chief officer responsible for the development of emergency organization at Norwegian Cruise Line, and a maritime casualty manager and investigator at Skuld P&I. Anders holds an unlimited master’s certificate for oceangoing vessels.

      “I strongly believe that the solution to many of the problems experienced globally can be found in the maritime domain,” states Anders. “Therefore, I really want to make full use of my vast maritime experience to further the objectives of The Seasteading Institute. I have practical maritime experience from sailing the largest oil tankers ever built, to sailing cruise ships with thousands of individuals on board, to organizing and assessing safety and investigating accidents. I have lobbied for the shipping industry in relevant international and global institutions in order to seek to influence regulators and administrators. I am convinced that the experience and business models used in the traditional shipping industry, as well as their regulatory framework, will provide many of the solutions required to establish maritime industries and eventually seasteads.”

  • Turkey 🇹🇷

  • Ukraine 🇺🇦

  • United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪

  • United Kingdom 🇬🇧

    • lookingprofessional-2

      John McCone

      John McCone is a writer of Ethics ,Political Philosophy and Economics, currently located in Cambridgeshire, England. In addition to performing work on spectral analysis and magnetic analysis of waves in fusion plasmas, John has been a senator in a small political party. He has organised tours and took part in debates for the Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy, as well as recommended the appointment of the current president of the U.K. division. He is a former member of the E3 Foundation, a prestigious Cambridge based think-tank, working on formulating and driving government policy relating to energy, the environment and the economy, and successfully published a paper making the case for fusion energy as a possible answer to providing limitless carbon-free energy for all humanity. Throughout his career John was concerned by the lack of direction in moral and political thought when compared with the boundless speed of scientific progress and has pondered why this was the case and how this issue could be systematically resolved. As a result of this, John now wishes to apply his expertise to promoting the cause of seasteading.

    • kimberley_profile

      Kimberly Lau

      Kimberley is training to become an Architect at the University of Cambridge. She was born and raised in Hong Kong, and has worked on building projects across Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, and Australia.

      She came across ideas of Seasteading while investigating floating technologies as a way to provide adaptable housing in Hong Kong’s sheltered harbours. Since moving to Cambridge, she is now pursuing a research project on alternative sewage treatment infrastructures for English coastal towns vulnerable to flood and mass emigration.

      She is hopeful that floating architecture can move us forward from today’s stagnated construction industry, and open up pathways to building more adaptable and resilient communities.

  • Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

  • United States 🇺🇸

    • Alabama

      • adam-potter-2

        Adam Potter

        Adam is a researcher, vlogger and writer who likes to explore integrated solutions to the world’s complex problems through dialog with passionate people from diverse backgrounds. Adam loves motorcycles, diving, travel and living in Malaysia. Adam would like to help move the aims of seasteading forward primarily through collaborative writing projects in a variety of outlets.

      • floatingcitytrimmed1

        Connor Tabarrok

        Connor is pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering at The University of Alabama with a minor in Architectural Engineering, and has an academic interest in economics and public policy.
        On his college campus, Connor is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Young Americans for Liberty, Theta Tau; (a professional engineering fraternity), and even serves as a founding father of Theta Xi. As a Seasteading Ambassador, one of his main goals is to spark interest among his fellow college students, and he is working to establish the first Student Seasteading group at the University of Alabama, with hopes that his work can serve as a scaffold for other chapters to be founded across the nation and beyond.
        In his spare time, Connor writes the blog OfAllTrades at alltrades.substack.com on a wide variety of topics, including data based environmentalism and emerging improvements in the human built environment.

    • California

      • charlie-deist-2

        Charlie Deist

        Charlie received his bachelor’s degree in economics from UC Berkeley in 2011, and worked for The Seasteading Institute from 2011 to 2014. He discovered seasteading while facilitating a seminar on Milton Friedman through the DeCal program (Democratic Education at Cal), and quickly began to see government as an industry sorely lacking competition, imagination, and experimentation. This perspective allowed Charlie to put aside his disagreements with peers on controversial political issues, and work toward solutions that everybody wants but nobody gets — prioritizing seasteading technology as the lever for this change.

        “I can imagine no greater calling than the enabling of dynamic, technologically-advanced, and legally autonomous floating cities. I believe seasteading offers the single best opportunity to achieve freedom in my lifetime.”

      • bio_pic_elliot_roth

        Elliot Roth

        Elliot is the founder of Spira, a company that creates replacements for animal and petroleum compounds in the supply chain locally using genetically engineered algae. Spira has received awards from RebelBio, Lighthouse Labs, the World Food Programme, Halcyon Incubator, BeGreen, CommBeBiz, and NSF. He has presented at SXSW, Synbiobeta and Thought for Food. Elliot is a Kairos Fellow and sat on the Virginia Governor’s Council for Youth Entrepreneurship. Before Spira, Elliot graduated with a degree in biomedical engineering; he trained at the Stanford d.School, studied synthetic biology for 12 years and worked for 5 years as a product consultant. He previously founded 7 failed startups and 2 successful nonprofits including an open community science lab and raised over $1,000,000 for various startups. He is incredibly motivated to solve physiological needs using simple biological design. In his spare time he plays music, and is working on side projects to make airships and health clinics on the ocean. He currently builds startup societies near the port of Los Angeles.

      • jia-christopher-2

        Jia Christopher

        Jia Christopher is a long-time seasteading evangelist. Her interest in seasteading organically developed many years ago after frustration with political corruption in the United States and recognizing that experimentation of new and effective forms of government cannot happen on land, as we know it today. Jia serves as chairwoman to the Libertarian party of Placer County, California. In this role, she regularly volunteers in High Schools with voter outreach efforts to introduce the concepts of Liberty to kids, as well as organizing events, such as the Sacramento Pride Parade. Beyond politics, Jia is involved in many non-profit fundraising efforts and instilling volunteerism in her sons.

      • katie-chowne-2

        Katie Chowne

        From Vancouver, it was a natural thing for Katie Chowne to be drawn to all things ocean. SCUBA and kayak certified, for a year even lived on a boat. She first got involved in politics at the age of 18, running for the BC Marijuana Party. This led her to the Libertarian Party and she took on the role of Leader of the federal party from 2011-2014.

        “I appreciate all aspects of what seasteading offers; a chance to start from the ground up, the ability to test some new theories about governance, and create an environment that allows for the use and innovation of new technologies, like algae production for bio fuels and food, water-based agriculture, and all the new technology that will be created to run a seasteading. My goal as an Ambassador is to promote all of these aspects to those around me. Many people are unaware of the freedom, visceral happiness that can be found on water, and I hope to relate this sense of lifestyle every chance I get.”

      • will-otey-2-2

        Will Otey

        William Otey is a graduate of the University of New Mexico having received a bachelor’s degree paid for by working as a deckhand on fishing boats in Alaska. After a great deal of disillusionment with his activities in the Libertarian Party and trying to “change people’s minds” about their political philosophy, he began seriously contemplating the creation of entirely new nations. He realized that this would allow human beings to have any form of government that they desire and experimentation with various political systems could flourish allowing for an evolution. After a great deal of research and writing, he gave several presentations at the Karl Hess Club in Los Angeles (a Classical Liberal dinner club) and continued slowly producing material that would ultimately become The Micronation Revolution. He discovered the Seasteading Institute and was highly influenced by their research and thinking. He is now hard at work on a second book. This new manuscript closely examines the dramatic ethical decline of the American political system. The book is entitled Unmasking the Wizard. He developed many products and is currently awaiting a decision by the U.S. patent office on two utility patent designs pending.

    • Florida

      • michael-p-mccarthy-2

        Michael P. McCarthy

        Maritime and Logistics Consultant with a strong affinity for the seas and oceans. His attraction to Seasteading came about naturally once learning about it. With over 70 percent of the earth’s surface covered by water, it remains as a frontier in many areas, the least being humans residing in seasteads. Michael has had the opportunity to travel and reside internationally. As society continues to evolve and become more in touch with nature, the pursuit for cities and many other structures to be built for
        seasteading seems a natural progression.

    • Georgia

      • derek-welch-2

        Derek Welch

        Derek is an international investment banking advisor and entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in the transportation, infrastructure, marine geosciences, and offshore energy industries in over 70 countries. He led two official trade missions for the US government providing project feasibility analysis of foreign transportation infrastructure investments valued at over $8 Billion and has served as an independent advisor to 5 national governments on infrastructure investment and negotiating Public Private Partnerships.

        Derek also spent over a decade as an investor in and Director of International Corporate Development of TerraSond Ltd. (now a subsidiary of Acteon Geo-Sciences in the Data and Robotics Division) where he developed international opportunities in seafloor mapping, marine geophysics, offshore geohazards surveys, oil rig decommissioning, subsea cable surveys and various other types of ocean data acquisition and processing while serving clients such as NOAA, NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory, oil and gas majors and offshore wind developers. TerraSond pioneered the use of Autonomous Surface Vessels (ASV) for nautical charting and cable route surveys in the Arctic.

        Derek hopes to share the technical and financial knowledge of ocean infrastructure that he has gained over his career with potential Seasteaders and to help them move through the project development process from planning to finance and execution.

      • faruq-hunter-2

        Faruq Hunter

        Faruq Hunter is the co-founder of the Freedom Nation and Freedom Village, Freedom Village is a 205 Acre Maker’s town built exclusively for makers, innovators, artists and creatives by makers, innovators, artists and creatives. 1 hour from the 3rd largest port in the US and the busiest airport in the world, Freedom Village is set in a county that has created the legal leeway that makers need to live a lifestyle of experimentation, growth and freedom. The entire town produces its own food, electricity, water and natural gas on an internally developed distributed energy production Smart Grid and within 25 acres of Organic farms and ranches. Mr. Hunter has been a featured speaker in Black Enterprise Magazine, SXSW, Re:Publica, Georgia Tech’s Impact Series and over 50 additional venues throughout 24 Countries on the topics of innovation, collaboration and technology. As a 13 year old high school graduate who completed his first degree at the International University of Africa in Khartoum, Sudan, Mr. Hunter’s primary focus is on using innovation and sustainability as a foundation for developing systems to create, re-create, rejuvenate and sustain the concept of the rural town as efficient hubs for economic progress and global production.

    • Illinois

      • alex-voss-2

        Alex Voss

        Alex Voss was born in Cincinnati, OH, has an undergraduate degree in Economics from University of Chicago and a Masters in Finance from University of Notre Dame. He is currently studying Austrian Economics with the Mises Institute.

        Alex currently serves as the CFO of TIPOLIS, a company working to develop Free Private Cities and Prosperity Zones around the world. He formerly worked in healthcare mergers & acquisitions. Finally, Alex serves as an advisor for the Atlas Island project and other libertarian projects on land and on the sea.

      • rsekine_headshot-1

        Ryota Sekine

        Ryota Sekine grew up in Singapore with Japanese nationality. He is an entrepreneur based in Chicago with extensive experience in healthtech and supply chain. He studied at the University of Chicago where he was exposed to a wide range of economic and sociological theories that later kindled his interest in seasteading, floating cities and alternative governance. He is optimistic that our quest to build self-sustaining societies on the ocean will help us make massive progress with many of humanity’s grand challenges such as water and food security. He is determined to work with like-minded people around the world to secure a sustainable and abundant future for the next generation.

      • 11148621_10200505234789719_7800143072095413417_n-1

        Shatila Sago

        Shatila D. Sago-Hart is the Founder and First President of the Institute for Youth Leadership and Community Development, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the needs of marginalized youth in minority communities.

        As a staunch advocate for educational equality, Shatila is an Advisory Board Member for Village Leadership Academy, an independent
        elementary school, dedicated to high academic standards, social justice, political and economic equity. She is also an Ambassador and Auxiliary Board Member of the Big Shoulders Scholarship Fund and volunteers with the University of the People, a tuition-free distance learning institution of higher education.

        Shatila’s commitment to international development began when she was an activist student at the University of Illinois where she majored in Political Science and International Relations. Shatila is an alumnus of the Minnesota Studies in International Development, where she completed a year-long research-intensive project in the rural villages near Nairobi, Kenya, exploring the theoretical and practical implications of international development and intercultural issues. In addition to her affiliation with a host of international organizations, Shatila enjoys working with the Young Professionals Network of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

        Shatila holds an MBA in Information Technology Management and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in International Business at Liberty University.

        “I am excited about Seasteading and its audacious vision of political autonomy, social equality, and technological advancement. The Seasteading Movement is the future of sustainable development. “

    • Maryland

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        Margo Duesterhaus

        Margo Duesterhaus is President and co-owner of Triple TeQ, a small consulting business that focuses on integrating people, processes and technology to create successful projects and organizations. She has degrees in Computer Science, Astronomy and Organizational Learning and has worked with a variety of organizations including NASA, NOAA, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is President of her neighborhood community association. She is a founding member of Transition Howard County, which focuses on creating locally sustainable and resilient communities. She is also on the Board of Directors for the Community Ecology Institute, a nonprofit focused on fostering healthy communities through connection with nature.

        She is an avid problem solver, loves innovation, and is passionate about all things that are regenerative. She was drawn to the Seasteading Institute because she believes that humans can create a productive relationship with the ocean that is beneficial to all species and solves several global problems that we currently face. She has lived most of her life in Maryland and is known to be a fish magnet when on or in the water.

    • Nevada

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        Cameron Newland

        Cameron has called many cities home, including Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and London, but his next home will almost certainly be on a seastead! He currently spends most of his time in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, but he also regularly travels to Europe, Asia, and Latin America. An avid tennis player and skateboarder, Cameron also has a keen interest in sailing, and has dreams of buying a single-hulled sailboat to live aboard so that he might become better accustomed to life at sea.

        Cameron began his career building websites and web applications for well-known consumer brands, and later founded two businesses in the electric vehicle industry. He became a supporter of the seasteading movement soon after moving to San Francisco, when he was dismayed to learn that the local government had created a housing shortage by making it nearly impossible to build new housing. To address the local government’s failure to provision such a basic and crucial need, Cameron looked to the sea to provide a space for humans to thrive and build and a fertile environment for the incubation of new and more innovative governments.

        In 2020, Cameron purchased land in the Mojave Desert in order to build a pre-stead (a land-based community with the shared goal of eventually moving out onto the sea). He has been steadily making improvements to the property in his free time including the design and construction of a solar-powered off-grid electrical system that uses electric bicycle batteries to store energy. He plans to build a desert-inspired community structure on the property and hopes to welcome the first cohort of pre-steaders in 2024.

    • New Jersey

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        Joy Torres

        Joy Torres is a peaceful pioneer hailing from southern New Jersey. Growing up in a small beach town, she always loved being by the water. Her favorite pastimes include going to the beach, bay, & rivers around South Jersey. With a passion for helping the community, she maintained a livelihood since 2010 as a massage therapist & yoga teacher for nearly 10 years. In 2019, she became a volunteer coordinator at a food bank & urban hydroponic farm coordinating tasks with youth & special needs groups. In 2020 she became a mentor for her local FIRST Robotics team. In 2021, she started social work as a FEMA crisis counselor offering formal therapeutic support & resources for anyone in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. For fun she enjoys traveling, but even more so she enjoys “veducations” such as attending retreats & workshops to further her life experiences, meeting like minded people, and gaining knowledge & skills like when she built an aircrete dome with a team of 20 people under DomeGaia LLC in the jungles of Tulum, Mexico in just 10 days. Social Impact, Community, Sustainability/Regeneration, STEAM, & mental health advocacy are all essential to the work & life path she walks. She is extremely enthusiastic and driven for her journey with The Seasteading Institute.

    • New Mexico

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        Matthew Lehmitz

        A Botanist with an interest in long term regenerative ecosystems and biosphere, Matthew enjoys a diverse array of activities. His primary areas of research at this time involve the development of UAV or Drone technology for the purpose of high precision imaging on isolated plant species in difficult environments. This decreases the cost and difficulty associated with a variety of information gathering goals. He is also working on sending plant experiments to space on an independent satellite. This format will be useful for testing new species and their interactions with other species in enclosed environments. By adding in elements such as rotation and natural sunlight new insights can be gained into the best ways of succeeding at sustaining life beyond Earth.

        A long time fan of science fiction, Matthew has always been fascinated by new technology and ideas. As a member of the transhumanist community, he considers thinking about new ways for humans to live together is always a worthwhile endeavor.

        He has always loved exploration and the idea of colonizing new worlds fits beautifully with the ideas of seasteading. The idea that we can learn to live in new places and find better ways to coexist with the natural world is a thrilling one. He is eager to share this with people and looks forward to the opportunity to meet new likeminded individuals and find ways to achieve the aims of Seasteading.

    • Texas

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        Lane Stone

        Lane Stone is an engineer and law student, studying patent law. He is incredibly interested in the engineering and legal aspects of seasteading, specifically structural engineering, environmental engineering, and how international intellectual property law will theoretically work as people and businesses migrate to the open ocean.

    • Virginia

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        Connor Tabarrok

        Connor is pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering at The University of Alabama with a minor in Architectural Engineering, and has an academic interest in economics and public policy.
        On his college campus, Connor is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Young Americans for Liberty, Theta Tau; (a professional engineering fraternity), and even serves as a founding father of Theta Xi. As a Seasteading Ambassador, one of his main goals is to spark interest among his fellow college students, and he is working to establish the first Student Seasteading group at the University of Alabama, with hopes that his work can serve as a scaffold for other chapters to be founded across the nation and beyond.
        In his spare time, Connor writes the blog OfAllTrades at alltrades.substack.com on a wide variety of topics, including data based environmentalism and emerging improvements in the human built environment.