SEA Coastal Leaders 2027 · MarketEdge
Ocean decisions are made globally and lived locally.
A nine-month leadership and organizational development programme for coastal organizations in Southeast Asia and East Africa. Leaders build durable organizations that drive impact in their communities over the long term.
See the programmeThe gap
Funders want to back local organizations. Two barriers stand in the way.
Local organizations need capital and support to grow their impact. Funders and investors say they want to back them. We heard both sides at the Our Ocean Conference.
Finding viable organizations
Funders source through the networks they already know. The same intermediaries keep winning, or steer funders to the same actors. Local organizations often react to project-driven opportunities. They rarely get to shape the interventions their communities need most.
Readiness standards
When funders do find a strong local organization, they hesitate to fund it directly. The organization may lack the standards for due diligence, compliance, or scale. The money goes back to the usual intermediaries.
The result
Change that works at the community level stays cut off from where national and global funders invest their time and money.
The evidence
What 2026 showed
Trusted local leaders carried community voice into global rooms.
We delivered the first year under the UK COAST Programme in 2026. It prepared eight community leaders from six countries and brought them to the Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya. Another 17 Emerging Leaders received virtual capacity building.
The leaders brought what they learned home to their organizations and communities. Within weeks, the cohort was working in new ways.
After the conference
Philippines
Small-scale fisher rights
Two delegates began working with the Bureau of Fisheries and the House of Representatives on the rights of small-scale fishers.
Timor-Leste
A new institution
One leader is proposing a national conservation council. The council would give coastal communities an independent voice in decisions about their coast.
Malaysia
Community co-management
Two leaders are promoting co-management models. In these models, communities vote on decisions about their coastal resources. They do more than give input.
The cohort also stays connected through an active peer network on WhatsApp.
Voices from the 2026 cohort
“Far more than just a networking event, the programme gave us a collaborative space to turn high-level dialogue into practical partnerships.”
Cohort leader, Indonesia, 2026 cohort
What 2027 delivers
Durable organizations, not rapid start-up growth.
SEA Coastal Leaders 2027 builds the skills and voice of leaders of coastal organizations in Southeast Asia and East Africa. It keeps the leadership core of the first year. It adds the route to sustainable growth that the first cohort asked for.
Resilient revenue
We work with each leader to find revenue streams that hold up over time.
Financing that fits
Leaders prioritize the financing channels that suit their organization’s stage and mission.
Systems that matter
Each leader picks the internal systems to strengthen first, such as accounting, operations, or HR.
Our team also helps each leader strengthen relationships and engage new stakeholders. We do this online and through onsite facilitation at the Blue Food Innovation Summit in Bangkok.
What it is
A nine-month programme
Leadership and organizational development for at least eight organizations, selected through a competitive call for applications.
Who
Community-driven organizations
For-profit and non-profit organizations working to improve outcomes for coastal communities in Southeast Asia and East Africa.
When
November 2026 to July 2027
The programme runs from application and diagnostic through to a final growth plan.
Where
Bangkok, April 2027
The cohort meets funders, investors, and partners at the Blue Food Innovation Summit.
The support
What each organization receives.
Readiness diagnostic
Each organization completes a self-assessment or AI-assisted diagnostic. The results identify three priority goals for the programme.
Six live modules
Financing, storytelling, systems and governance, pitching, partnerships, and summit preparation. Each one ends with a practical output.
One-to-one coaching
About 15 hours of coaching for each organization, from coaches based in both regions.
PartnerAI workspace
An AI-enabled workspace helps leaders research funders, draft pitches, and rehearse conversations with simulated investors.
Funder-facing profile
A short profile introduces each organization, its offer, and its community. It goes with every introduction to a funder.
Bangkok week
Leaders attend curated meetings, pitch live, receive daily coaching, and connect with alumni from the first cohort.
Inclusion
Women and young leaders at the center.
Organizations led by women and young people often sit furthest from funder networks, so the programme puts them first.
At least half of the cohort will be organizations led or co-led by women.
Priority in selection
Selection gives priority to organizations led by young people, Indigenous Peoples, and fishers.
The second seat
When an organization sends two representatives, the second place goes to a woman or a leader under 30.
Tracking who benefits
The programme tracks the finance each organization secures by who leads it.
Learn more
Questions about SEA Coastal Leaders?
We would be glad to tell you more about the programme, the 2027 cohort, and the Bangkok week.