Executive Director
He/Him

John Hansen is the Executive Director of the West Coast Ocean Alliance, serving as lead staff for WCOA since its inception in 2018. John previously served as lead staff for the West Coast Regional Planning Body, formalized in 2015 through Executive Order 13547 under the Obama Administration, a precursor to WCOA. Before that, John coordinated the West Coast Ecosystem-based Management Network, a non-profit project connecting coastal communities focused on new approaches to ocean management, and as policy staff at the Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources. John has a B.S. in Aquatic Biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a Master’s of Marine Affairs from the University of Washington. John lives with his wife and four children in Lafayette, CA.

Tribal Engagement Manager
She/Her

Margaret brings together Tribal Nations on the West Coast and facilitates inter-Tribal solidarity and dialogues around health, uses, and issues of the ocean. She has over a decade of experience working with and for coastal Tribal Nations in Oregon to expand capacity, improve consultation responsibilities, protect lifeways and sacred places, and assert the inherent sovereignty of tribes. She has extensive experience reviewing large complex projects, analyzing and applying cultural resource protection regulation, and promoting accurate, appropriate, and meaningful Tribal representation. She advocates for mutual decision making and consensus based approaches to advance inclusion of Tribal expertise and perspectives. Based in Florence and Corvallis, Oregon, Margaret is a citizen member of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw and has roots in the Siuslaw and Coos Bay areas where her ancestors lived since time immemorial.