Founder and managing Director of Ocean Recovery Alliance, a non-profit organisation, Douglas Woodring focused on bringing innovative solutions, technology, collaborations and policy together to improve the health of the ocean. The group, Ocean Recovery Alliance is the first non-profit organisation to be working with both United Nations Environment and the World Bank of plastic pollution and ocean issues.
Woodring was awarded the coveted global Prince Albert Prize for Innovative Philanthropy in January 2018 and has been called a UN Climate Hero and a Google Earth Hero for his efforts. He is active in the environmental community and has been the Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce's Environmental Committee in Hong Kong.
Through working directly with companies, hotels, banks and governments, Woodring consults on how these organisations can reduce their "plastic footprints". Woodring is also a founding member of the Clean Capitalist Coalition, and leads the discussion on clean tax cuts and green financial tools which can drive investment and capacity building in the recycling and material recovery industry globally.
Woodring has been on the advisory board of the XPrize, and The Economist's World Oceans Summit, and in 2011, he co-authored the United Nations Environmental Program Yearbook chapter on the danger of plastic in the ocean.
He has a background in technology with 35 years of experience working in Asia in a number of different industries within environment technology and new media platforms. With 4 years in asset management, Woodring has set up the framework for a Global Environment Technology fund with Merrill Lynch.
Following his contribution to sports, he has been nominated three times as World Open Water Swimmer of the Year for his innovative contributions to swimming and the environment. He recently was named in the top 50 "watermen" in the world. Woodring has a dual masters and an undergraduate degree in Economics and Political Science.
