Since 2013, Paul has been in the small traditional fishing community of Andavadoaka in Madagascar, living alongside fishermen and women, working to empower them to lead on the management of their marine resources in a way that works for people and nature. He has worked in various capacities over the years contributing to a wide range of Blue Ventures’ projects — specialized in strengthening community governance, amplifying community voices, and creating connections across a variety of stakeholders, from international donors to rural communities.
Currently, he works with a very talented and mostly local team to coordinate activities including fisheries and mangrove management, alternative livelihoods and community health projects in a 50 village region with over 20,000 people who rely directly on the ocean or the health services that the community health workers we support provide. Being embedded in the community for so long he’s been able to bridge language gaps, raise voices from the field to impact the strategic direction of our globally growing organization and ensure that we are true to our values of communities’ first, transparency, and humility.