Our Mission
CAPP is in the business of taking a great project, identified through our “Make the Case” competitions, and then providing the infrastructure to empower the world’s stakeholders to adapt, replicate and scale that good project in many other places. This model will be repeated with new stakeholders, programs and regions as CAPP’s facilitation expands.
Our Origin Story
The Commitments Accelerator for Plastic Pollution “CAPP”) program was created in early 2020, and operates under the auspices of Doug Woodring’s Ocean Recovery Alliance. It was formed as a result of its UN Environment’s funded 98-page report published in early 2020 titled “Crafting High-Impact Voluntary Commitments to Prevent or Reduce Marine Litter.” The report was a result of global stakeholders (nations, local governments, NGOs, industry, and civil society) being confronted with the challenges of plastic pollution, with not yet enough being done across communities to reduce its impacts. Even though a wide range of current Voluntary Commitments have been initiated, the study was meant to be a ”Wake-up Call” to all of use in order to improve the value and impact of the collective commitments being made. The unique scorecard and toolkit we created by evaluating over 580 global commitments paves the way for stakeholders to make “Voluntary Commitments 2.0,” which bring more positive impacts to the communities they are meant to serve.
The CAPP Team
Rob Steir
Co-Founder
Rob is a co-founder of Frontline Waste, a waste-to-energy company, focused on developing countries and islands, featuring a 20-100 tons/day slow-pyrolysis solution. He is also a consultant for Ocean Recovery Alliance where he was the main author of a January 2020 United Nations-funded report “Crafting High-Impact Voluntary Commitments to Prevent and Reduce Marine Litter.”
Doug Woodring
Co-Founder
Based in Hong Kong, Doug is the Founder of Ocean Recovery Alliance, a non-profit organisation focused on bringing innovation solutions, technology, collaborations and policy together to impact positive improvements for the health of the ocean. He was the winner of the prestigious 2018 Prince Albert Prize for Innovative Philanthropy for his work with the ocean.
Our Contributors (Current & Past)
Chris Cogley
PR/Communications Guru
Chris is a freelance writer and communications veteran with a background in natural resources. As the communications manager for an international housewares company, he is responsible
for developing and implementing the annual public relations plan,
including crafting and distributing press releases, product spotlights, and promotional campaigns for print and online media outlets.
Katrina Pugh
Co-Founder
Katrina is on the faculty at Columbia University’s Information and Knowledge Strategy Master of Science Program . She researches and leads networks seeking to innovate and scale up knowledge globally. She is on the board of LYRASIS, a global open source non-profit, and has written three books on collaboration, including:
Sharing Hidden Know-How (Jossey-Bass/Wiley)
Smarter Innovation (Ark Group)
Arno Boersma
Co-Founder
Arno is a founding partner of Island Impact, a strategy firm for islands. A knowledge strategist, Arno worked for various multinational firms and development agencies. He was the director of UNDP’s Center of Excellence for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Development States.
Simon Trussler
Co-Founder
Simon is a digital experience expert and information architect for IKnow, LLC, a firm focused on information and knowledge design. Simon was the former Chief Knowledge Officer and consulting Partner at Boston Consulting Group (UK, Sweden, US) and an SVP at Health Dialog.
Please Contact Us
About Ocean Recovery Alliance
