About Us

Learn About Sea Potential

Our Mission

Sea Potential bridges generations to expand ocean justice in community.

We empower Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) youth ages 12–18 to develop heart-based relationships with marine ecosystems, heal water-related trauma, and explore maritime careers. Our maritime industry consulting centers on creating workplaces that prioritize diversity and inclusion, moving beyond assimilation to empower the next generation to thrive.

seapotential-logo

Our Vison

We envision a world that promotes representation over assimilation. A world centered in reciprocal healing and relationships where everyone is seen, heard, and valued.

Meet the team

Ebony Welborn

Ebony Welborn

Co-Founder/Director of Workforce Partnerships

Savannah Smith

Savannah Smith

Co-Founder/Director of Programs

Nalani O'brien

Nalani O'brien

Program Manager

Angela Hewitson

Angela Hewitson

Director, Maritime Workforce Strategy & Growth

How we got started

Together

Ebony & Savannah met at Earthcorps, an environmental restoration non-profit, in 2019. They quickly noticed one another’s brown-ness and bonded over their shared lived-experiences and passions.

Since then, they have become best-friends, roommates, and now business partners! At the end of their first AmeriCorps service term in 2019, they participated in a visioning workshop. One by one, everyone in the room answered the question,

“If all of your worries and hesitations subsided, and you could do ANYTHING in the world, what would you be doing?”

Savannah & Ebony were pleasantly surprised that they had a shared dream of creating opportunity in the field of marine science for BIPOC youth, using themselves as direct sources of representation and facilitation. The events of 2020 hyper illuminated the racially fueled systemic injustices that exist within the US. Ebony and Savannah decided there was no time to wait to create the reality they wanted to see. In the span of just two months, they announced their plan, began extensively networking, acquired their business license, secured fiscal sponsorship through Sustainable Seattle, and received their first grant from Justice Outside!

Our Partnerships

ECOSS logo, geometric white shapes in a navy circle
Tacoma School of the Arts
Youth Maritime Collaborative
Washington State Ferries
Port of Tacoma Logo
Justice outside logo reads "Justice Outside" next to three multi-color rocks stacked on top of one another
ECOSS logo, geometric white shapes in a navy circle
Tacoma Science and Math Institute
San Juan Kayak expedition logo with orange letters next to a kayaker with the sun at the back
Maritime Inclusion Partners
Partner in Employment
Skagit Valley College Logo
Tacoma Youth Marine Center Logo
Pierce County Juvenile Court Logo
Duwamish River Community Coalition
Maritime Institue of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) Logo
Maritime High School
Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade
Sustainable Seattle
Young Women Empowere d Logo
Communities for a Healthy Bay Logo
Seattle Aquarium Logo
River Access Paddle Program Logo
Outdoor Asian
Foss Waterway Seaport Museum
Washington Trust for Historic Preservation Logo
Vashon Nature Center
Sealife Response Rehab and Research Logo
Na'ah Illahee Fund
Green Seattle Partnership
Earthlab University of Washington
Black in Marine Science Logo
Earthcorp logo is army green circle with light green letters that read "local restoration, earthcorps, global leadership"
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Logo
Washington Maritime Blue
NW maritime center
Friends of the Seattle Waterfront Logo
Foss Waterway Seaport Museum
Puget Soundkeeper Logo
University of Washington School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
Center for Wooden Boats Logo has white letters on a rectangular rust orange background, next to a silhouette image of a orange sailboat against white
Puget Sound Pilots Logo
King County Department of Natural Resources, Wastewater Treatment Division Logo
Tacoma Boat Builders Logo
Washington Sea Grant
Environmental Science Center Logo
Environmental Science Center Logo
Golden bricks events
Black Star Farmers Logo
DVSA Duwamish Valley Sustainability Association logo in white letters against a dark green background.
Outdoor Asian
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