OUR TEAM
Staff and Board of Directors
Ana Blanco, Executive Director
Member, Board of Directors
Ana joined IOFF as executive director in 2011. Ana brings a passion for the ocean and more than ten years of experience in executive nonprofit management at various organizations in the Bay Area. Most recently, she served as vice president and development director at BizWorld.org, an educational entrepreneurship curriculum for young students, and as donor relations officer for the San Francisco Foundation. Ana also volunteers with Blue Water Foundation, dedicated to introducing at-risk youth to the joys and challenges of sailing on the San Francisco Bay. As a certified scuba diver, she always looks for opportunities to explore and discover the beautiful underwater world.
Ana has served as a jury member for several film festivals, including JacksonWild, CINEMARE International Ocean Film Festival (Kiel, Germany), San Diego Underwater Film Expo, FICMA Film Festival in Barcelona, Spain and the Brest Surf Film Festival in Brest, France.
Niquole Esters, President, Board of Directors
Co-Chair, Governance Committee
Chair, Volunteer Committee
Niquole is an environmental conservation practitioner focusing on our global ocean. With a background in international relations, governance, and policy, she works in the space between sustainable natural resource management, conservation, and economic development to protect important ecosystems and the services they provide. Niquole has spent 15 years working worldwide with Conservation International and is currently a Senior Director of Development. Niquole joined the IOFF Board of Directors in September 2020.
After nine years in Honolulu, Hawaii, working across the Asia Pacific region, Niquole relocated to Oakland, California, expanding to provide support to the more than 30 countries where Conservation International and its partners operate.
Olivier Jorda, Board of Directors, Treasurer
Chair, Development Committee
Olivier is a seasoned media and technology professional and is passionate about the role that media can play to positively impact our societies and the protection of our planet. Olivier is a fervent advocate of ocean preservation.
Olivier recently moved to San Francisco from London, where he previously worked in various business strategy and leadership roles at Accenture and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Olivier currently works for Oracle driving Oracle’s Global Strategy in the Media & Entertainment industry, and runs the North America Media & Entertainment Industry Board for Oracle.
Olivier joined the IOFF Board in August 2021 after working as a volunteer advisor on the Marketing Committee for a year.
Dr. Dayne Buddo, Board of Directors Vice President
Co-Chair Governance Committee
Dayne serves as the Director of External Engagement for the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia. He is responsible for deepening Georgia Aquarium’s service ties to the community at the local, state, national, and international levels. These mission-based interventions support our Research, Conservation, and Education programs. Georgia Aquarium is a Center for Species Survival (in partnership with the IUCN) and also a UN Decade Collaborative Center for Ocean-Climate Solutions.
Prior to joining Georgia Aquarium, Dr. Buddo was the Director of the Bay Academy – Bay Ecotarium, San Francisco, CA, USA. Before moving to the United States, he served as a tenured faculty member at the University of the West Indies (Jamaica) in marine sciences for a decade, with responsibility for marine research and teaching at the Discovery Bay Marine Lab
Dayne joined the IOFF Board in October 2022 and frequently visits the Bay Area.
Maribel Guevara, Board of Directors
Born and raised in Quito, Maribel holds a degree as a professional tourist guide of Ecuador. She has been an environmental and documentary film programmer for the past 19 years, collaborating with film festivals in the US and abroad including the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital where her love for film started, and where she became involved with the global conservation community. She is currently the Active Cinema manager for the Mill Valley Film Festival in Marin County. This initiative seeks to empower the audience by giving them the tools to take action on issues featured in the films.
Maribel founded the ECOador International Film Festival in 2015, the first environmental film festival in Ecuador where she curates the film program. The festival has attracted the attention and support of several private businesses and government agencies focused on green practices, and has positioned itself as one of the most important film festivals in the country.
Maribel has always been an animal lover; she is an avid birder and a member of the board of American Bird Conservancy as well as an experienced diver with over 400 dives. She lives with her family in San Francisco, CA.
Kristine Severson, Board of Directors
Kris Severson has been working at the intersection of technology and impact for most of her career. With expertise in the emerging field of virtual and augmented reality, she headed HTC’s global initiative called “VR for Impact,” where she collaborated with other non-profits such as Rainforest Alliance and Conservation International to produce content that raised both empathy and awareness of climate issues. She was a recent curator of the annual Games for Change festival and was a prior co-chair of the UN Women’s Global Voices Film Festival. She has also sat on the boards of Artizen, funding female immersive content creators, and The Hydrous, a non-profit organization focused on science-based learning to promote ocean conservancy.
Kris has also been a lifetime volunteer at various animal shelters, including the SF-SPCA and Marin Humane Society. She is both a dog and a cat person, so please don’t ask her to choose.
Ken Wu, Board of Directors
Co-Chair, Volunteer Committee
Ken is an environmentally-minded film aficionado and started as a patron in 2011, when the festival was held at the Aquarium of the Bay, and then began volunteering in 2017.
Ken was born in Taiwan and has lived most of his life in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. He has a background in biological sciences and has been involved with biomedical research in San Francisco. He is very active within the Greater San Francisco Bay Area, contributing his time and skills to many causes with a focus on conservation, social equity, and cycling advocacy.
He is interested in all things outdoors, related to conservation, and can often be found hiking, exploring, and diving along the California coast. He has a passion for the oceans and sees the IOFF as a valuable platform for raising awareness around important environmental issues. Initially contributing as the Volunteer Coordinator, Ken shared his enthusiasm and passion by managing more than 100 volunteers. He joined the Board in July 2023 and is always looking for ways to increase the IOFF reach and impact in the broader community.
2024 Screening Committee
Get Involved
Would you like to join the International Ocean Film Foundation’s Board of Directors? We are currently looking for new members. Visit our page on Volunteer Match to learn more.
We are also looking for volunteers, sponsors, and donors! Learn more about how you can get involved in the foundation with the links below:
Top photo: “The Artic Halocline”, Amy Lauren, USA