{"id":30075,"date":"2024-03-21T14:56:59","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T18:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/?p=30075"},"modified":"2024-03-21T14:57:01","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T18:57:01","slug":"supporter-spotlight-lex-sant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/","title":{"rendered":"Supporter Spotlight: Lex Sant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Oceana Board Member Lex Sant on how helping people and the oceans goes hand-in-hand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The elements found in human blood and seawater are remarkably similar. For Lex Sant, this fact hints at a larger truth: people and nature are interdependent. As president of the Summit Foundation, Sant is focused on improving the well-being of the oceans and the many who rely on them \u2014 the same goal that drew him to join Oceana\u2019s Board of Directors in June 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 25 years ago, Summit adopted the Mesoamerican Reef as a conservation priority. Despite being the longest barrier reef system in the Western Hemisphere \u2014 stretching about 1,005 kilometers (625 miles) along the coasts of Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico \u2014 the reef was overlooked by many philanthropy
organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Lex Sant. \u00a9 Philip Bermingham<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The Mesoamerican Reef supports the livelihoods of nearly 2 million people engaged in fishing and tourism, and protects many more from rising sea levels and severe weather. Sixty percent of Belize\u2019s population lives along the coast. But overfishing, habitat loss, and climate change challenge the Mesoamerican Reef and the ecosystems it supports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Lex Sant\u2019s parents, Roger and Vicki Sant, founded the Summit Foundation, they took a holistic approach to environmental problems. \u201cYou can\u2019t really address the health of the Mesoamerican Reef without also considering the well-being of the people who depend on the reef and those who live and work in the watersheds adjacent to it,\u201d Sant said. Summit focused on gender equality in countries adjacent to the reef, recognizing that human dignity and prosperity go hand-in-hand with the health and abundance of the reef.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Foundation\u2019s early work with the Mesoamerican Reef inspired it to sponsor the creation of the Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Initiative\u2019s Reef Health Index, which has been published roughly every two years since 2008. Aggregating scientific measurements across the entire reef to indicate its health, the Index has become central to the Summit Foundation\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vicki Sant led the Foundation as its president from its creation in 1991 until shortly before her death in 2018. In the last five years, Lex Sant has served in that role. \u201cI\u2019m very proud of the work we\u2019ve done to refine our identity and values in a way that honors the intention with which the Foundation was created and allows those values to animate our work in the future,\u201d said Sant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, Sant joined Oceana\u2019s Board of Directors, inspired by \u201cthe clarity with which Oceana establishes the goals of its global campaigns.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOceana seeks solutions with ambition, focus, and a necessary sense of urgency,\u201d said Sant, \u201cMoreover, Oceana\u2019s care for the nexus of ocean health and human well-being resonates with me. I am excited to work together with Oceana to restore the health of the oceans and their abundance and biodiversity around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oceana Board Member Lex Sant on how helping people and the oceans goes hand-in-hand The elements found in human blood and seawater are remarkably similar. For Lex Sant, this fact hints at a larger truth: people and nature are interdependent. As president of the Summit Foundation, Sant is focused on improving the well-being of the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":538,"featured_media":30082,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"location":[],"expedition":[],"campaign":[],"ppma_author":[352],"class_list":["post-30075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","infinite-scroll-item"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSupporter Spotlight: Lex Sant | Oceana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lex Sant on how helping the oceans and people goes hand-in-hand\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Supporter Spotlight: Lex Sant\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lex Sant on how helping the oceans and people goes hand-in-hand\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Oceana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/oceana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-21T18:56:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-21T18:57:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2024\/03\/reefbreak-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1419\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sarah Holcomb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Oceana\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Oceana\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sarah Holcomb\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"sarahholcomb\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#\/schema\/person\/485a08f2c94ecf959a5e87850a63a58f\"},\"headline\":\"Supporter Spotlight: Lex Sant\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-21T18:56:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-21T18:57:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/\"},\"wordCount\":473,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2024\/03\/reefbreak-1.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/\",\"name\":\"Supporter Spotlight: Lex Sant | Oceana\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2024\/03\/reefbreak-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-21T18:56:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-21T18:57:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"Lex Sant on how helping the oceans and people goes hand-in-hand\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2024\/03\/reefbreak-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2024\/03\/reefbreak-1.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1419,\"caption\":\"Aerial of the Belize Barrier Reef at Goff's Caye. \u00a9Oceana\/A. Ellis\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/homepage\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Supporter Spotlight: Lex Sant\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/\",\"name\":\"Oceana\",\"description\":\"We are Protecting the World's Oceans.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Oceana\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2021\/06\/oceana-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2021\/06\/oceana-logo.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Oceana\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/oceana\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Oceana\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/oceana\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/oceanaorg\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#\/schema\/person\/485a08f2c94ecf959a5e87850a63a58f\",\"name\":\"sarahholcomb\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/bb7e29fc92b563430acdbf2cb697d767\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b3ef0286254e8e1107e7b4fd1223116fb93a8687bfd4265dd62a50b054a89d01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b3ef0286254e8e1107e7b4fd1223116fb93a8687bfd4265dd62a50b054a89d01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"sarahholcomb\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/author\/sarahholcomb\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Supporter Spotlight: Lex Sant | Oceana","description":"Lex Sant on how helping the oceans and people goes hand-in-hand","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Supporter Spotlight: Lex Sant","og_description":"Lex Sant on how helping the oceans and people goes hand-in-hand","og_url":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/","og_site_name":"Oceana","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/oceana","article_published_time":"2024-03-21T18:56:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-21T18:57:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1419,"url":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2024\/03\/reefbreak-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sarah Holcomb","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Oceana","twitter_site":"@Oceana","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sarah Holcomb","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/"},"author":{"name":"sarahholcomb","@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#\/schema\/person\/485a08f2c94ecf959a5e87850a63a58f"},"headline":"Supporter Spotlight: Lex Sant","datePublished":"2024-03-21T18:56:59+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-21T18:57:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/"},"wordCount":473,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2024\/03\/reefbreak-1.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/","url":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/","name":"Supporter Spotlight: Lex Sant | Oceana","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2024\/03\/reefbreak-1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-03-21T18:56:59+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-21T18:57:01+00:00","description":"Lex Sant on how helping the oceans and people goes hand-in-hand","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2024\/03\/reefbreak-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2024\/03\/reefbreak-1.jpg","width":2048,"height":1419,"caption":"Aerial of the Belize Barrier Reef at Goff's Caye. \u00a9Oceana\/A. Ellis"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/supporter-spotlight-lex-sant\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/homepage\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Supporter Spotlight: Lex Sant"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/","name":"Oceana","description":"We are Protecting the World's Oceans.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#organization","name":"Oceana","url":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2021\/06\/oceana-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2021\/06\/oceana-logo.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"Oceana"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/oceana","https:\/\/x.com\/Oceana","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/oceana\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/oceanaorg"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#\/schema\/person\/485a08f2c94ecf959a5e87850a63a58f","name":"sarahholcomb","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/bb7e29fc92b563430acdbf2cb697d767","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b3ef0286254e8e1107e7b4fd1223116fb93a8687bfd4265dd62a50b054a89d01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b3ef0286254e8e1107e7b4fd1223116fb93a8687bfd4265dd62a50b054a89d01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"sarahholcomb"},"url":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/blog\/author\/sarahholcomb\/"}]}},"authors":[{"term_id":352,"user_id":538,"is_guest":0,"slug":"sarahholcomb","display_name":"Sarah Holcomb","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b3ef0286254e8e1107e7b4fd1223116fb93a8687bfd4265dd62a50b054a89d01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","phone":"","last_name_2":"","last_name":"Holcomb","first_name":"Sarah Holcomb","job_title":"","user_url":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/538"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30075"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30075\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30085,"href":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30075\/revisions\/30085"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=30075"},{"taxonomy":"expedition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/expedition?post=30075"},{"taxonomy":"campaign","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campaign?post=30075"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oceana.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=30075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}