Meet the Speakers + Artists of the Blue Foods Forum
The Blue Foods Forum returns to Portland on February 1–2, bringing together impact investors, funders, producers, nonprofits, researchers, policymakers, and creatives to explore the future of Oregon’s blue foods economy.
This year’s Forum centers around several events, including the Seafaring Speakeasy — an immersive, creative gathering that blends food, drink, art, and storytelling; and the Seafaring Symposium — a deeper, day-long convening focused on systems change, investment, workforce equity, food sovereignty, and scalable innovation across the seafood value chain. View the full event lineup here, and make sure you are registered!
The following industry leaders will be presenting, speaking, and leading discussions at the Seafare Symposium on Monday, 2/2, in Portland, Oregon.
Alexandra Leeper
CEO, Iceland Ocean Cluster | Global Ecosystem Lead, Blue Nova Ventures
We’re thrilled to welcome back Alexandra Leeper, CEO of the Iceland Ocean Cluster and a leading global voice in the 100% Fish movement. Alexandra spoke at last year’s Blue Foods Forum and the Oregon Economics Summit, sharing how Iceland has become a global model for full-value utilization of seafood.
Since last year, the Iceland Ocean Cluster has launched fundraising efforts for Blue Nova Ventures, a new venture fund supporting blue food innovation worldwide. As Global Ecosystem Lead, Alexandra connects entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators across international blue economies. Her perspective offers invaluable insight into where Oregon fits within the global blue foods landscape—and where we’re headed next.
Alanna Kieffer
Founder, Winter Waters & Shifting Tides
The Blue Foods Forum kicks off the broader Winter Waters event series, celebrating creative uses of our coastal bounty. Alanna Kieffer, founder of Winter Waters and Shifting Tides, brings a multidisciplinary approach that blends science, education, seaweed farming, culinary creativity, and storytelling.
Alanna’s work reminds us that knowledge is power—and that meaningful change often begins around a shared table. Her perspective sets the tone for a Forum grounded in curiosity, creativity, and deep respect for marine ecosystems.
Cara Monson
Tribal Resilience Specialist, Coquille Indian Tribe
Place-based leadership is central to the future of blue foods. Cara Monson, Tribal Resilience Specialist for the Coquille Indian Tribe, works to strengthen Food Sovereignty, Water Sovereignty, and Energy Sovereignty for the Tribal Nation.
Cara connects Tribal Members with opportunities like scuba certification through the Oregon Kelp Alliance to dive for Purple Sea Urchins—supporting ecological balance, workforce development, and community-led stewardship. With a background in environmental science, GIS, emergency management, and ecosystem restoration, Cara brings firsthand experience from environmental disaster response, coastal restoration, and ongoing community emergency preparedness.
Julie Kuchepatov
Founder, Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE)
A resilient seafood system must also be a just one. Julie Kuchepatov, founder of Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE), is a leading advocate for workforce equity, safety, and empowerment across the seafood sector.
Julie previously helped build Fair Trade USA’s globally recognized seafood program, advancing worker protections, environmental sustainability, and supply-chain accountability. Before that, she spent more than two decades improving wild fisheries through her work with the Wild Salmon Center and as a founding member of Ocean Outcomes. At the Forum, Julie will help ground conversations around innovation in the realities of people, labor, and equity.
Ephraim Froehlich, Policy Expert, AKWA-DC
Ephraim Froehlich is a policy expert based in Juneau, Alaska. Before founding AKWA-DC, Ephraim worked for over a decade in Congress and in Alaska state government, working on ocean and blue economy policy. AKWA-DC, with assistance from partners at Upwell Collaborative and the Ocean Foundation, has led on policy related to the ocean economy since 2019, helping to pen the first draft of the Ocean Regional Opportunity and Innovation Act, the proposed legislation to authorize ocean clusters domestically, and passing bills and resolutions in multiple state legislatures.
At the Blue Foods Forum, Ephraim will lead discussions on how to advance ocean policy at the state-level while supporting national efforts. This includes the release of a “state policy toolkit” for advocates and policymakers, providing a range of options for engagement.
Bill Tripp, William C. Tripp, Architect
Born on Cape Cod, William Tripp earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oregon and completed graduate work at Princeton University. His research has received a Fulbright Award along with the Ion Lewis and Van Evera Bailey Fellowships.
Alongside his practice, he teaches architectural design, theory, and drawing at Portland State University and the University of Oregon, and frequently lectures on Alvar Aalto, architectural drawing, and ritual space.
Founded in 1991, William C. Tripp, Architect is a collaborative design studio based in Portland’s Pearl District. The firm creates carefully crafted houses, churches, urban spaces, theater sets, and memorials, with a hands on process that moves from sketching and models to detailed construction drawings.
Chef Kari Shaughnessy, Hayward
Kari Shaughnessy began her culinary career at 15 and trained in acclaimed kitchens across the country, from San Francisco Michelin starred restaurants to Maine and Oregon wine country. Her background includes roles at Marla Bakery, Frances, and the Michelin starred Sons and Daughters.
In 2023, she founded Hayward in Carlton, Oregon, earning recognition for its New Northwest Fare, deep local sourcing, and seasonal, farm led cooking rooted in fermentation and whole animal butchery. Within a year, Hayward became a finalist for the 2024 James Beard Best New Restaurant award, with Kari later named a 2025 James Beard Best Chef Northwest semifinalist and included on USA Today’s Best Restaurants list.
Jasmine Novack, Artist
Step into a kelp forest without getting wet! We are honored to feature an immersive kelp installation by Jasmine Novack, a Seattle based cold water scuba diver, underwater photographer, and oil painter represented by the SAM Gallery at the Seattle Art Museum.
This installation is a byproduct of her painting practice. Jasmine documents her dives as reference material, then stitches together that footage to recreate the experience of swimming through a kelp forest. The result is both meditative and transportive, offering viewers a rare chance to feel what it is like beneath the surface.
Oriana Poindexter, Artist
Oriana Poindexter is an American Italian photographic artist and marine scientist whose work bridges photography, marine biodiversity, and conservation. Through diving, specimen collection, and both traditional and alternative photographic processes, she creates works that document changing ocean ecosystems and explore the human relationship with the sea.
She holds a master’s degree from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University. Her work has been featured in major publications and exhibited widely in museums and aquariums in the United States and Europe, with a current solo exhibition on view at the Catalina Museum for Art and History.
Hosted by the Oregon Ocean Cluster in close collaboration with our Winter Waters team and partners including Ecotrust, Oregon Kelp Alliance, Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center, and many other partners, this community-building event sparked lively dialogues about interconnected ecosystems, circular economies, and the future of coastal food systems.
What emerged was not just inspiration - but a wave of tangible innovation - new products, new companies, and deeper connection between projects across Oregon and beyond.