Articles Steward Leadership

Training a new generation of ocean leaders

Indonesia, Malaysia

Coral Catch has trained over 44 Indonesian women as ocean conservation leaders while restoring 2.4 hectare of reef and planting more than 5,000 coral fragments around Gili Air.

Rose Huizenga

Founder & Executive Director @ Coral Catch

See profile

Posted 25/09/2026

Challenge

When Coral Catch founder Rose Huizenga began working as a dive instructor in Indonesia, she noticed who was missing. Though the ocean shaped life across the islands, no women appeared in dive shops or marine conservation roles. Many lacked access to swimming and diving instruction, technical training and professional networks.

At the same time, coral reefs around the Gili Matra Marine Park were deteriorating under climate and local pressures. Restoring them would take more than planting coral. It would require people with the skills and commitment to monitor reefs, adapt methods and keep returning to the water. Coral Catch was built around a conviction that these two gaps could be closed together.

Solution

Coral Catch sought to combine Rose’s deep passion for ocean conservation with a commitment to women’s empowerment to create sustainable, inclusive, community-driven efforts.

Coral Catch’s ten-week scholarship gives Indonesian women a route into this meaningful imagework. Each participant completes 180 hours of theory and 54 hours underwater, combining professional dive training with marine science, coral restoration, research and community engagement.

Participants learn as a group, gaining mentors, professional contacts and room to build confidence through practice. After graduating, they join the “Superwomen” network, where alumni share opportunities and continue supporting one another’s careers.

Their classroom extends beneath the surface. Within a 2.4-hectare site at Gili Air, participants plant and monitor coral, build restoration structures and contribute to research with university and conservation partners. Swimming lessons and other outreach activities bring the work into the surrounding community.

Grants and sponsorships cover much of the programme, while two conservation expeditions generate around US$30,000 annually. Led by Coral Catch Superwomen, the expeditions invite women into the world of Coral Catch — combining ocean adventure, conservation, leadership, courage and sisterhood. Participants experience the work alongside the women leading it, while helping fund future scholarships.

What began with four women during the pandemic has grown into a network of 44 graduates, with all remaining engaged in conservation or sustainable tourism.

Impact

What began with four women during the pandemic has grown into a network of 44 graduates. All remain engaged in conservation or sustainable tourism, and more than half have gained professional diving qualifications.

For alumna Ica, seeing other women established in those roles changed what felt possible. “Seeing women divemasters and instructors in Coral Catch made me believe this path was possible,” she said.

The reefs carry their work too. Coral Catch has outplanted more than 5,000 coral fragments, restored 850 square metres of degraded reef and installed over 300 restoration structures. It reports a coral survival rate of 94 per cent across its monitored work.

More than 700 community members have also participated in Coral Catch’s outreach. A total of 117 local women received swimming lessons, while its teams conducted 103 beach clean-ups and 54 educational sessions. In 2025, the Coral Catch Conference brought together 85 women from nine countries, widening a sisterhood that began on one small Indonesian island.

Future outlook

Coral Catch started with a simple idea: what happens when women who have traditionally been left out of marine conservation are given the opportunity to lead?

The future is about taking that idea further. By 2030, Coral Catch aims to have built a network of 100 local women working alongside their communities to protect and restore reefs across Indonesia and beyond.

Coral Catch wants to see a growing generation of women not only participating in marine conservation, but shaping it; leading research, managing programmes, making decisions and becoming the role models they may never have had themselves.

Coral Catch's role is to create the opportunities, platform and network around them and to keep standing behind them as their leadership grows.

Coral Catch is a women-led marine conservation organization based on Gili Air, Indonesia, with a mission to empower 100 Indonesian women by 2030 to pursue careers in marine conservation. At the heart of our work is a fully funded scholarship program that gives Indonesian women access to diving, marine science, coral restoration and leadership training, while creating real pathways into conservation careers. But our work goes beyond scholarships. We restore and research coral reefs, create opportunities for local communities to access and connect with the ocean, and build a growing network of women supporting and learning from each other. Because at Coral Catch, we don't measure success only by the number of corals we plant. We measure it by the lives we transform along the way. Because we believe reef restoration isn't just about rebuilding ecosystems. It's about making sure the people closest to them have the skills, confidence and opportunity to protect them.

Explore Topic

Equality Climate Change Governance Sustainability Steward Leadership

Want to leave a comment? Sign up or log in.

The SL25 partners - Steward Leadership Institute, the INSEAD Hoffmann Institute, WTW and The Straits Times - are not responsible for the statements and opinions expressed by the organisations behind the SL25 projects. These organisations are responsible for the truthfulness, accuracy and completeness of their content in their applications as well as those presented on this site, which are not guaranteed by the SL25 partners. All information on this site reflects the submissions received as of 15 Apr 2026, the closing application date for SL25. Inclusion to the SL25 list is based on the particular project(s) described in the application form. SL25 is not intended as a blanket endorsement of the organisation as a whole.

Be the first person to leave a comment!

Want to leave a comment?

Have a perspective worth sharing?

Submit an idea, propose a course, or start a conversation that moves the field forward.

Submit an Idea Join the Commons