Connecting
Thinkers to Doers

Co-Founder & Managing Director

Michael Conathan is an ocean policy specialist with over 18 years of experience driving action on international, federal, and regional marine and maritime initiatives with a focus on growing the sustainable Blue Economy. His consulting clients have included the Environmental Defense Fund, the Ocean Foundation, the World Bank, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Sustainable Ocean Alliance. Mike’s work centers on the belief that compromise and collaboration are fundamental to durable policy solutions. Prior to co-founding Upwell, he worked the lead staffer on the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard, supporting Sen. Olympia Snowe (R, ME), founding director of the ocean policy program at the Center for American Progress, and then Executive Director of the Aspen High Seas Alliance and a Senior Fellow for Ocean and Climate at the Aspen Institute. In 2014 he co-founded the National Ocean Protection Coalition, an organization that directly led to the establishment of marine national monuments in the Atlantic and Pacific that now permanently protect over a million square miles of America’s ocean. He holds an M.A. in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island and a B.A. from Georgetown University and now lives in South Portland, Maine with his wife and teenage child.

Co-Founder & Director

Caroline Rosenberg is a seasoned professional in strategy and execution.  She has worked with both large and small non-profits and is known as a people-first leader. She loves strategic business planning, removing barriers so that experts can do their best work, and injecting levity while solving complex problems. Caroline worked at the Gates Foundation for over 15 years leading global grantmaking teams to achieve success by building the operational infrastructure required to deliver ambitious goals. Caroline is an eager learner in the ocean health and climate space and pivoted away from philanthropy to expand her horizons. She worked with Sustainable Ocean Alliance as a senior strategy and project leadership consultant as she first dipped her toes into the ocean space.  Caroline is excited to apply her extensive experience and mastery of tactical planning to the challenges and opportunities associated with building a healthy ocean ecosystem. Outside of work, Caroline loves to collect beautiful things and pretends her house is an art gallery despite her family making lots of crumbs and leaving unfolded blankets everywhere.