SEGO Initiative’s Ocean Awareness & Activation Season
Online Ocean Education Sessions

SEGO Initiative, a not-for-profit association dedicated to environmental causes,
is offering online webinar sessions as part of its educational programming toraise awareness and inspire people to take action against the issues facing theoceans and the planet.
The sessions are a lead-up to the association’s second #TogetherApart International Coastal Cleanup. For morethan a decade, SEGO Initiative has been organizing the Fujisawa Beach Cleaning Project/Clean S.E.A. The Project
includes three pillars:•••

Volunteering with the participation of corporate,family and student volunteers
Public education via citizen science and art
Reconnecting to the marine environment that weare trying to protect via sailing

The fall cleanups are part of the International Coastal
Cleanup Campaign (ICC) that is held annually in more than
100 countries. Due to Covid-19, the association will once
again lead #TogetherApart ICC cleanups for volunteers toconnect, clean and collect close to where they live, workor play. As always, all debris will be counted and results
aggregated so that participants can know how much they
have intercepted from the waste stream that inevitably
leads to our oceans.
This fall programming only happens with the generous
support of our corporate sponsors. But we do need yourhelp. As we expand into winter and spring programming,
we would be more than happy to welcome new supporters!

More information can be found on the Expo Mer Fujisawa
website, SEGO Initiative’s online space dedicated to sharing
inspiring artworks and featuring a diverse array of speakers
and artists who offer local, regional and global perspectives.
https://art.segoinitiative.org/sessions/Webinar program sponsored by:Date: Sept. 16, 2021 | Time: 5­–6:45pm | Platform: Zoom | Language: English and Japanese
Topic: Meet Ai, Subaquatic Messenger, double freediving Guinness World Record holder,
Ocean Ambassador of Japan’s Ministry of the Environment (5–5:45pm, English and Japanese)
Break—Intermission with Videos (5:45–6pm)
	Meet Ellen, Executive Producer of the Oscar-winning documentary My Octopus Teacher& CEO of WaterBear Network (6–6:45pm, English)
Organizer: 一般社団法人SEGO Initiative
Contact: Alana Bonzi alana@segoinitiative.org
For registration and inquiries: art.segoinitiative.org/sessions

SPEAKERS’ BIOS
Ai Futaki, Subaquatic Messenger
二木あい 水族表現家
Double freediving Guinness World Record holder and Ocean Ambassador of Japan’s
Ministry of the Environment, Ai Futaki is one of the very few people in the world whoconveys the splendors of the sea to us through various means.
By representing the aquatic realm in a way that the world has never seen, Ai highlights
the meaning and expression of the human–water connection. Her films are featured on
television programs, commercials, and exhibitions around the globe. In 2019, she had
her first exhibition as a photographer in Madrid, and in Tokyo in 2020.
素潜りギネス世界新記録を2種目樹立。環境省「森里川海プロジェクト」海のアンバサダー。
水族表現家という日本国内外問わず唯一無二の存在として、水中と陸上の架け橋となるべく世界を舞台に活動。空気ボンベを使わず、海洋哺乳類と同じ様に自分の肺一つで潜り、彼らの中に溶け込むことで仲間の一員となり、ありのままに、ある時は被写体、そしてまたある時は自身が撮影者として「私たちは自然の一部であり、自然と共に生きている」そんな繋がりを表現している。
TEDxTokyoスピーカー、2012年情熱大陸「二木あい」ワールドメディアフェスティバル金賞。NHK特別番組「プレシャスブルー」がシリーズ番組となっている。近年では、ISSEYMIYAKE や世界的な写真家とのコラボレーションなど国の枠を超えて活躍。写真家として個展「中今」を 2019年にスペイン マドリード、2020年に銀座にて開催。

Ellen Windemuth, CEO of WaterBear Network
Ellen is the CEO of WaterBear Network, overseeing the strategy and direction ofthe new free streaming platform dedicated to the future of our planet.
Prior to WaterBear, Ellen was owner and CEO of Off the Fence, having founded thecompany in 1994. Under her leadership, Off the Fence acquired, produced, and coproduced more than 6,000 hours of content.
Ellen is a seasoned executive producer and distributor, and has produced morethan 500 hours to date herself. She executive produced My Octopus Teacher, which
won this year’s BAFTA and Oscar for Best Feature Documentary. She is the Chairof the Jackson Hole Film Festival Board, Honorary President of the Sunnyside Doc 2019
festival in La Rochelle, France and is active in conservation and land development. Ellen
was presented with Wildscreen’s Christopher Parsons Outstanding Achievement Awardin 2018. She has three children and a great passion for the outdoors.

MODERATOR’S BIO
Tsuyoshi Nakai, Vice President, J.P. Morgan Chase
JPMC Go Green Japan and Japan Philanthropy Committee Member
Tsuyoshi has been an active member of the Japan Philanthropy Committee for morethan 10 years and a Go Green Japan member for two years. During this time, hehas organized many activities for J.P. Morgan Chase volunteers, including cleanup
activities at Mt. Fuji and awareness tours at Fuji Harness Guide Dog Center.
He is a founding member of J.P. Morgan Chase’s Go Green Japan chapter which leads
the employee effort for green actions in the office. Go Green organizes sessions onsustainability topics such as plastic pollution and provides clear actions employees cantake to help reduce their plastic footprint at work.

Simon Bray, Executive Director, J.P. Morgan
JPM Go Green Japan

Simon is the lead and founding member of J.P. Morgan’s Go Green chapter in Japan.
Go Green’s mission is to harness the collective power of the firm’s employees to makea positive contribution towards the environment and climate change. Go Green aims
to give all employees access to environmental education, information and events
to encourage a focus on sustainability both at work and at home. Simon has beenleading the Japan chapter’s efforts since 2019, including overseeing and organizing
awareness events, speaker sessions and environmental cleanups.

My Octopus Teacher

Co-Exist「共に生きる」SEGO Initiative
Michel and Alana Bonzi
Founders

SEGO grew out of our Fujisawa Beach Cleaning Project, which westarted in 2009. Its goal was to bring foreign and Japanese people
together to give back to the local community. We are based 800 metersfrom the sea in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, and as both of us are
originally from coastal areas, it was natural for us to look to the ocean
and beach as the best way for us to meet our goal. Volunteers aremainly staff from corporate sponsors, their families and local youth. Overtime, the Project has evolved into three key pillars: volunteering, public
education via citizen science and art, and reconnecting to the marine
environment via sailing.