The Team

Julie Andersen
Founder & Executive Director

Few people leave successful careers to pursue a passion for the planet. A creative visionary, marketer and lifelong entrepreneur, Julie has channeled over 15 years of advertising, strategy, media and organizational experience running her own multi-million dollar business and managing dozens of employees into a new quest: building environmental awareness and fueling change. Julie is a social media and marketing expert, having founded and run three successful, global NGOs - Shark Angels, United Conservationists and Shark Savers - and consulting to countless others including Sea Shepherd, PEW and WildAid during the past five years. Julie focuses on developing advocacy through innovative outreach, education, social media, and interactive campaigns. Julie leverages her foundational business, marketing, film and development expertise to inspire planetary preservation while bringing a unique perspective and deep commercial capabilities to social causes.  

Jamie Pollack
Director of Operations

Jamie’s background is in advertising, client management and graphic design. For twenty years, she worked in the business world, gaining valuable experience building brands and creating marketing strategies for her clients. She designed and developed 360 degree marketing campaigns producing targeted, functional and brand specific websites, online media, print and marketing collateral materials, direct mail, corporate identity and advertising. Her clients included banking, insurance, cable & telecomm, real estate, health, travel, luxury, retail and conservation. When the 2008 recession hit the advertising world, she decided to pursue another path. She helped co-found Shark Savers and is currently on the board of Shark Angels and is the Director for Global Operations. She oversees all operations of Shark Angels including the online store, marketing and fulfillment and serves as the treasurer.

Paul Wildman
Director of Media

Paul Wildman is a talented filmmaker who is trained as a cinematographer, classical artist, and graphic designer. Combining a broad range of shooting, editing, animation, photography, new media, technology and drawing skills, he is in a unique position – able to deliver high quality visual efforts while bringing innovative approaches to his work - online, on screen and offline. With over 13 years filming, editing and field producing commercial advertising, films, television, and independent projects, he has worn many different hats and has a wealth of experience from which to draw upon – for any type of production. Paul is also heavily committed to the environment, donating thousands of hours to support non-profits. Paul currently serves as the chief designer and brand expert, and is responsible for all film and creative efforts, for Shark Angels, United Conservationists and Fin Free, and previously for Shark Savers and Sea Shepherd. 

Gretchen Marie
Campaign Director

Lisa Harris
Events & Media

Florentine Leloup
Executive Director, Shark Angels France

Florentine started her career by studying communication and language sciences. She first created an agency which aimed to organize events for non-profit and to put biodiversity issues in the spotlight. She created one in France and one in Montreal. Her ambitions have always aimed to create closer links between social-economical and social-environmental solutions, which means lot of personal studying. As conservationists, we often speak about education and future, so she also focused on the intergenerational aspect of conservation. She quickly made the choice to concentrate her energy on sharks and ocean conservation, so she closed her own french activity and she went on with Shark Angels france and the “Maud Fontenoy Foundation”.

Spencer Steward
Campaigns

Spencer received his degree in Marine Science from the University of Miami, Florida. While there, he assisted with research on both lemon and nurse sharks. He has since finished his master's and soon hopes to begin his PhD in Marine Science at USF. He is currently a volunteer diver at the Florida Aquarium as well. He has big plans to bring shark conservation awareness to the world with the help of Shark Angels.

Kelly Overton, MPA, MPH
Senior Advisor

Kelly is the founder and board chair of People Protecting Animals & Their Habitats-PATH Inc. Kelly has fifteen years experience managing progressive nonprofit organizations. Kelly has a broad academic background and has received a BA in Human Services Management from the University of Massachusetts/Boston, a MPH in International Health and Development from Tulane University School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, a graduate certificate in Conservation Biology from Columbia University’s Center for Environmental Research and Conservation, and a MPA from Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government. He lives in New York City.

Sanaa Benjelloun
Chapter Development

Sanaa Benjelloun has been working in conservation for the past four years; she was the outreach coordinator for Shark Savers, a shark conservation organization based in New York. She also worked with the Pew Environment Group working on a ban to outlaw the use of surface longlines in the Gulf of Mexico. She holds a degree in Psychology from both universities in France and the US. Sanaa has a very eclectic professional background; from working in the PR department of International Festivals releases to fundraising for Care International, an NGO fighting global Poverty or working for French Financial Bank. She employs her diverse experiences to create the best tools to fight for the conservation of sharks. She sits on the advisory board of Shark Angels US and has been working on developing other chapters - including France - where she is the chairwoman of the board.