Dawn M. Martin joined SeaWeb in 2004 as Executive Director and became President and Chair of the Board in December 2006. Under her leadership, SeaWeb established offices in France and the United Kingdom, expanded its programs in the Pacific Islands, forged new alliances to protect the world's ocean, and doubled the size of SeaWeb’s budget and staff. She serves as a Principal for the Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea and on the advisory committee of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School. She also sits on the Steering Committee as a founding member of the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands that works to ensure implementation of the international ocean commitments made at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development.

As an effective advocate in public policy and political circles for more than 20 years, Martin brings a multi-disciplinary approach that builds on her skills as an attorney, policy analyst, strategic communications professional, ocean conservation expert and political strategist. During the Clinton/Gore Administration she held several posts, ultimately serving as Associate Deputy Administrator at the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Previously Martin served as founding Chief Operating Officer at Oceana, an international ocean conservation organization and Political and Legislative Director for American Oceans Campaign. She co-chaired the national Clean Water Network and co-authored “Estuaries on the Edge: The Vital Link Between Land and Sea.”
A native of Los Angeles, California, Martin received her undergraduate degree from Loyola Marymount University and her Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles in 1986. She studied international human rights and humanitarian law at the International Institute for Human Rights, Strasbourg, France and the Henry Dunant Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, Geneva, Switzerland.