Meet the 2021 Ocean Talks Speakers

Joss Kent has been &Beyond’s CEO since January 2012 and has a wealth of travel industry knowledge and experience, grounded in a commitment to make a positive difference to the conservation of land, wildlife and communities.

Joss served in the British Army before working as a corporate finance analyst, graduating with a Harvard MBA and working as a management consultant in the USA and UK. He re-joined A&K as Chief Operating Officer, rising to the post of Global CEO in 2010.

Born and partly schooled in Kenya, Joss has a deep understanding of Africa. His experience as a professional guide underpins his decision-making, which is based on the symbiotic relationship between wildlife viewing, conservation and communities. This remains a core focus for Joss as &Beyond rapidly expands and strives to leave the world a better place through its care of the land, wildlife and people, and the delivery of extraordinary guest experiences.

David Lang is an entrepreneur and writer. He is the co-founder of Sofar Ocean Technologies as well as Open Explorer, which was acquired by National Geographic. He is the author of Zero to Maker. His work has been covered by the New York Times, WIRED, and Outside Magazine. He is a Senior TED Fellow and his TED talks on ocean technology and conservation have received millions of views. He is also a member of NOAA’s Ocean Exploration Advisory Board.

Raphael Sauleau joined Fraser as Chief Executive Officer in April 2016 and paved the way for Fraser’s 70th anniversary in 2017, celebrating 70 years of incredible client service.

In Raphael’s tenure as CEO, Fraser has continued to maintain its position as the leading seller of superyachts, with the highest number both of yacht sales and of combined sales value, as well as grow its yacht management, charter and project management services exponentially.

Thanks to Raphael’s commitment to the industry, in 2018 he was elected by his peers as the President of LYBRA, the Large Yacht Brokers Association, and the head of the MYBA Communications Committee.

Prior to joining Fraser, he held the position of CEO of a UHNW Monaco based family office operating the prime real estate of the Parkview Private Collection. Raphael has a wealth of maritime experience, accrued during his fifteen years spent working at V.Ships, where he held the position of Executive Director of Crew Operations for V.Ships leisure division worldwide.

Patricia Ricard has been nominated to the Presidency of the Oceanographic Institute Paul Ricard in 2005 and has been actively engaged in environmental protection for over 30 years.

Under her Presidency she has made it a priority to bring light to the crucial role of the ocean in addressing climate change and has devoted her energy to raise awareness among population and policy makers.

Between 2010 and 2015 she was also involved with the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) for which she produced a report on biomimicry on the promotion of nature and science-based solutions.

Since then, she’s been the Spokeswoman of the Ocean & Climate Platform, a consortium of 70 major organizations acting for ocean conservation. She helps build bridges between science and policy makers within the framework of the SDGs 13 and 14 and advocates for the inclusion of the ocean in the UNCCC Agenda.

In 2019, she co-led the workstream on “building resilience for marine ecosystems” of the One Planet Lab, an initiative of President Macron, which resulting outputs and recommendations were presented at the One Planet Summits in Nairobi and in Biarritz on the side lines of the G7. She has also been nominated Head of the French Delegation for the Summit of the Two Shores.

With almost four decades of experience in sustainability, Brendan Jack joins the AMAALA team as Chief Sustainability Office. In his role, Brendan envisions and oversees the organisation’s ambitious sustainability goals, as well as wide ranging advice and technical expertise, across the design, construction and operational phases of the project.

Brendan served as Nakheel’s Head of Sustainability and Environment for the past 12 years, where he was responsible for all social, economic and environmental sustainability functions for Nakheel. Prior to which he held a number of industry affiliations, spanning a range of companies, sectors, and countries. This includes Executive Committee member of the National Environmental Law Association in Australia; Board Member for the Emirates Green Building Council in the UAE; as well as serving as a founding member of the Environmental Management Industry Association of Australia (EMIAA).

Over the course of his tenure, Brendan has achieved incredible success as a strategic thinker and innovator, pioneering one of the largest coral relocations anywhere in the world. Brendan has also worked closely with the United Nations University International Network for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) to develop monitoring programs to guide the ongoing marine health of the major Dubai marine projects – the first major program of its type in the Arabian Gulf.

Brendan holds an Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the NSW Institute of Technology, Sydney, Australia and a Post-Graduate in Environmental Management from Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia.