Call of the Sea would like to introduce you, our family of supporters and stakeholders, to our new Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Gertz. Steve was elected by the Board in October and has been an active Board member of Call of the Sea/Educational Tall Ship since 2013 and Chairman of the Board since 2014. Working closely with the former CEO, and the entire project team throughout the years, Steve has helped guide the organization from early strategy, fundraising and budgeting, through the merger of COTS with the Educational Tall Ship organization, through establishing a higher level of visibility for COTS in the Bay Area, through the challenges of raising money to keep construction of Matthew Turner proceeding and for operating Seaward. Steve has agreed to step in, on an interim basis, to ensure the continuity of management remains strong through the completion of Matthew Turner, as the organization heads for the finish line and gets her sailing, with ultimate goal of offering opportunities for Bay Area youth on Seaward and Matthew Turner, as we provide experiential learning platforms for students highlighting marine ecology, stewardship of the oceans and maritime education.
Steve has been President of Sage Associates, an advisor to and investor in early-stage, high-growth ventures for over 20 years. Before that he had a lengthy corporate career in technology, finance and consulting. His prior positions included CEO, President and CFO of several venture-backed startups, including Match.com and Leverage Information Systems, as well as serving as a senior partner at Diamond Technology Partners, a publicly-traded management consulting firm, now part of PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Currently, he still mentors, manages and invests in early-stage ventures. In parallel with his entrepreneurial activities Steve taught entrepreneurship as an adjunct professor at Miami University (Oxford, OH) and lectured at the University of California, Berkeley.
Call of the Sea’s former CEO of seven years, Charles Hart, has accepted the position of CEO at the San Francisco Maritime National Parks Association. Mr. Hart remains a dedicated Board of Director member for Call of the Sea. Congratulations, Charlie!
Generous capital funding provided in part by the philanthropy of
Tom and Staci Reily
