Hi there - I'm a crisis responder, writer + PR pro
I raise awareness about pressing issues and deploy to emergency zones around the globe. Want to know what it's like to live aboard a refugee rescue ship? Writing a piece on the exploitation of our oceans? Looking for stories about resilience--not just pain and suffering? I'm your girl.
Like lots of people, I'm trying to do my small part for this big world of ours. I spent the past 10 years as a global spokesperson and content creator for the Red Cross Red Crescent. Now, I'm with National Geographic Pristine Seas, a team of badass folks trying to protect marine biodiversity in the tropical Pacific. Mostly though, I'm just a tree hugger.
Gathered here, my portfolio: A selection of stories I've placed, written, produced, am quoted in, or otherwise made happen.
Watch my vlog: Life at sea aboard a refugee rescue ship
What’s it like to work on a ship rescuing refugees? I take viewers into my 2021 mission aboard the Ocean Viking—a rescue vessel in the Mediterranean Sea. The ship’s crew come from countries all around the globe and work together to navigate the choppy waters, search for people in distress at sea, and care for those rescued.
People fleeing the Libya seek safety from war, conflict, and persecution. In rickety boats and deflating rafts, they have to no chance of making it to safe land on their own—yet they try because people feel it’s their only option. Thousands die every year as they attempt the crossing.
In this vlog, we don’t show survivors’ faces because we’re trying to give them privacy and ensure their identities are protected. But we take you aboard the ship, where so many of them have found a reason to hope.
“Hustle culture will have you believing that to rest or pause means you are falling behind. Even in this fast moving world, the opposite is true. Claiming time to replenish allows us to take deeper, longer, more deliberate strides when we are ready to move forward.”
Cleo Wade