LEADERSHIP Conversations with the Captains of Industry On a Quest to Rid the World of Junked Plastic
More than 11 million metric tons of plastic waste enter the oceans each year, says a 2022 United Nations report. Vanessa Coleman’s company, Los Angeles-based Oceanworks, seeks to halt that pollution. The company helps brand owners source recycled materials and lets them buy credits that fund the removal of plastic waste from the environment. Oceanworks is the third venture Coleman has helped to launch since her days as an engineering grad student at MIT. “I’m an entrepreneur at heart,” she says. “I like creating things in the world that weren’t there before.” Coleman gave us a look at how she leads Oceanworks and some of the company’s exciting recent activities. IL: How and why did you come to co-found Oceanworks? I’d been reading a lot about the challenges our oceans are facing. Also, through my travels—partly with Saha Global, the nonpro t I helped to found in Africa—I’d experienced the increase in plastic waste in the environment worldwide. In places where there used to be land or a beach, there’s now a mass of plastic waste. I wondered how to create solutions that might help accelerate the reclamation of that waste at scale. Then one of my investors connected me with Rob Ianelli [now the company’s president], who had the original concept that ultimately turned into Oceanworks. He made sunglasses out of recycled ocean plastic and wanted to scale that concept with larger brands that had big supply chains. He and I started working together, and we built the company from there. IL: What prompts manufacturers to work with your company? Based on their own corporate goals or customer desires, manufacturers often look for more sustainable material streams. They need competitive costs, quality, and reliability at scale. We provide access to feedstock that they wouldn’t be able to access otherwise. They can get traceability, allowing them to document claims about the origins of their recycled content. And they can count on us for reliability and capacity. IL: What early experiences helped shape you as a leader? I was rst exposed to entrepreneurship through a graduate course at MIT called Energy Ventures. Engineering and business students formed teams to take forward a business idea.
Vanessa Coleman CEO, Oceanworks
An entrepreneur at heart, Vanessa Coleman knows it takes 10 shots to score one goal. That’s why she takes risks, stays persistent, talks to people, and is a good listener–all characteristics that helped build Oceanworks’ success.
by Merrill Douglas
14 Inbound Logistics • September 2023
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