I was invited to speak at the 7th International Marine Conservation Congress and chose to speak about the strengths and weaknesses of 30x30 on the ocean.  Sharing my remarks here for posterity. Welcome to the Beyond 30x30 Era This is my first time in South Africa, and I just want to thank our wonderful hosts for welcoming us all here, and for treating us all so well in your home. I also want to thank the SCB marine section, the conference steering committee, and the conference co-chairs for hosting an excellent conference this year. And I want to thank all of you for getting up so early on the last day of the conference to come to hear me speak. My name is Angelo Villagomez, and I live in Washington, DC and work for an organization called the Center for American Progress. My work these days is almost solely focused on the waters of the United States, so I want to recognize that there are people from 72 countries here and that my experience may not be applicable or relatable to y

Edz and I attended the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.  This was my second turn as a delegate from the Northern Mariana Islands.  I was also a pledged Clinton delegate in 20 16.  Edz was not a delegate, but came along for the ride.  As a second time delegate, I had a much better set of expectations heading to Chicago.  The DNC is a chaotic, overwhelming, exhausting experience where you get very little sleep. Our first stop in Chicago after dropping our bags at the hotel was Wrigley Field, where we caught a game between the Cubs and the Blue Jays. I had read that the Daily Show was going to be at the stadium.  I thought that meant they were going to have cameras doing interviews for the show, but they were doing meet and greets with the correspondents.  We went to Wrigleyville two hours before the first pitch and met Desi Lydic and Michael Kosta. There was a delegate party later that night, but only Laila Staffler and I went.  We couldn't get Edz a ticket,

I've been advocating for marine monuments and national marine sanctuaries in the US Pacific territories since 2007.   I've literally been there since the beginning, as  I was seated about 10 feet away from George W. Bush  when he designated the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument in 2009.    I am also the conservation chair for the  Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument Community Group, founded the Friends of the Mariana Trench, and wrote the nomination for the erstwhile Mariana Trench National Marine Sanctuary.   I was involved in efforts to expand the Pacific Remote Islands in 2014 and Papahanaumokuakea in 2016.  But  I was not involved in the 2022 effort to ask President Biden to expand the Pacific Remote Islands using the Antiquities Act (although I did review some of their materials ahead of launching their campaign), nor was I involved in nominating the area as a proposed national marine sanctuary. National marine sanctuaries are designated with a pu

We organized a second Upwell conference this year.  It was co-hosted by Azul, Center for American Progress, and Urban Ocean Lab, was supported by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthjustice, Green 2.0, and the Ocean Defense Initiative, and  made possible by funding from Mosaic, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Oceankind, the Walton Family Foundation, and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.  I had the honor to introduce our keynote speaker, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.  Here are my remarks:  Hafa adai. Happy Ocean Week! Happy Pride! I also want to welcome all of you to Upwell 2024 It’s an honor to stand before you today as we gather to discuss critical issues related to our oceans and their future My name is Angelo Villagomez and I am thrilled to be your MC today Upwell 2024 is not just another conference – it is a movement. A wave of change that seeks to address the inequities that have plagued our ocean for far too long. As we gather here, we r

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland at Upwell 2024 I joined the Center for American Progress in November 2021 and have been able to use that platform to advocate for better management of the Mariana Trench -- and many other marine protected areas in the United States. On June 4, during the Upwell 2024 conference held at the Center for American Progress, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would soon implement final management plans for the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument and the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument. In response, I issued the following statement : "These two marine monuments were designated during the Bush and Obama administrations, but their management plans have languished in bureaucratic limbo for years. This announcement is a critical step toward achieving effective management for huge swaths of protected waters in the United States and protecting 30 percent of the ocean by 2030. Together, t

Edz at the 2016 DNC in Philadelphia I don't usually ask friends for money on the Internet -- unless it's to purchase lottery tickets  -- but Edz and I are hoping to attend the Democratic National Convention this year and flights and hotels in Chicago are expensive. Would you be willing to donate $10 to support our participation?  We can accept donations via PayPal , Venmo , and CashApp .  To show our gratitude, I'll send everyone who donates at least $10 one of these limited edition retro Northern Mariana Islands donkey buttons.  The logo is from my run for Saipan mayor  in 2009, and features a donkey wearing a mwaar.   Everyone who donates $10 will receive one of these limited edition buttons Please make the donation using one of the apps listed above and then send me an email with your physical mailing address at angelovillagomez at gmail dot com.  I'll send you a button in the mail. DONATE USING  PayPal DONATE USING  Venmo DONATE USING  CashApp This will be our secon

Speaking at Our Ocean A few months ago, a colleague put me in contact with the editor of Smithsonian's Native American magazine.  She asked me to write something about my Chamorro culture and how that relates to ocean conservation and my career. I wanted to tell the story about how everyday Indigenous lessons learned growing up on an island developed my sense of values and ethics.  My first draft was just over 1,000 words, then the editor had me fill in more of the story, growing it to 2,000 words.  Then she told me I had to slash it back down to 1,000.  The result was  Dreaming of a Protected Ocean .  There's a longer version of this I'd like to write one day. I also wrote an article for the annual Our Ocean conference taking place in Greece this year.   Now Is the Time to Secure President Biden's Ocean Leadership Legacy  calls on the Biden administration to do the same things I also called on them to do in 2022 and 2023 . I will freely admit that the Our Ocean confere