Stefanie Brendl is an advocate for sharks, and a creative and social entrepreneur that applies her mixed bag of talents to lead campaigns and projects in all corners of this planet.

As founder and executive director of Shark Allies and team member of various NGO coalitions she has dedicated her last two decades to bringing greater protection to sharks. In the process she has worked on many legislative campaigns to end the trade of shark fins and to assist in the efforts to establish shark sanctuaries and marine protected areas. Stefanie was part of the advocacy team that successfully passed the historic fin ban in Hawaii 2010, which set the precedent for the many state bans that followed. She also developed a successful eco-tourism venture called Hawaii Shark Encounters, one of the first businesses that brought the average non-scuba tourist closer to sharks in the wild. Over the years Stefanie managed a broad range of projects in the Pacific Islands, ranging from TV shows and photographic productions to boat building and fossil fuel free transportation trials. As filmmaker and producer she also filmed and produced a documentary called Extinction Soup about the perils of shark finning.

Most recently, her work has been focused on spearheading the Florida shark fin campaign, which is now on the way to the Governor’s desk.

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