Dr. Karen Sumser-Lupson has spent more than 30 years working at the point where oceans, policy, and people meet. She has helped governments, regional bodies, and international institutions turn ambitious marine and ocean, earth and climate goals into workable strategies, always with an eye on what will actually hold up once implementation begins. She currently serves as an Ambassador for the International Peace Foundation, International Ambassador for the African Blue Economy Round table and as Commissioner of the African Maritime Safety and Security Agency and as an International Expert in Maritime Safety and Security for the European Commission, roles that keep her close to the realities facing coastal nations across Africa and beyond. Her work has shaped the Integrated Maritime Strategy for the Horn of Africa and a Blue Economy Roadmap spanning 13 Overseas Countries and Territories, aligning ocean development with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework, and the EU Green Deal. Blue Economy and Regional Leadership Karen's project history reads like a map of the world's most vulnerable coastlines. She led the design of a new EUR 30 million EU programme identifying sustainable marine and maritime projects to grow Mozambique's blue economy, promote sustainable use of the oceans, and create jobs. As she guided 13 member states toward sustainable ocean resource use and a shift away from carbon-fuelled maritime economies. Her field experience spans Kenya, Djibouti, Seychelles, Mauritius, Mozambique, Comoros, Madagascar, and Tanzania, most recently through the EU Port Security Programme assessing port compliance and maritime safety across nine African nations. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Institutional Capacity Building Karen brings deep technical fluency in results-based management, having applied ROM and EVAL methodologies across multiple EU-funded programmes, including the mid-term and final evaluations of the Maritime Security Programme (MASE) across Eastern and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean. As Team Leader for Turkey's Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, she strengthened institutional research and statistical capacity to support modernized, evidence-based grant mechanisms. She has also led the Critical Maritime Routes Programme's Monitoring, Support and Evaluation Mechanism (CRIMSON), assessing EU maritime security initiatives across West Africa, East Africa, and South-East Asia. EU and UN Engagement Her work sits within some of the most significant multilateral frameworks in ocean governance, including the EU's MASE and Critical Maritime Routes programmes, the African Union Maritime Charter, the Yaoundé and Djibouti Codes of Conduct, and UN Sustainable Development Goals frameworks. She has represented high-level stakeholders including IGAD, EAC, IOC, ECCAS, and ECOWAS, and holds a professional membership with the United Nations Committee for Trade and Development. Academic Foundation Karen holds a PhD in Geographical Sciences, focused on Ocean Governance from the University of Plymouth, with research spanning marine law (UNCLOS), ocean governance, and environmental protection, alongside a Graduate Diploma in Law, an MSc in Social Science with a focus on monitoring and evaluation, and a Certificate in Education. This combination of legal, technical, and social science training underpins her ability to move fluidly between policy design, legal frameworks, and on-the-ground implementation