This year’s 2022 Ashley Award recipients are Maya C. Delaney ’13 and Dana N. ‘Denley’ Delaney ’13.
Maya Delaney is a second-year MBA student at MIT Sloan School of Management, focusing on the intersection of ocean conservation and finance. She aims to advance private finance solutions that accelerate the sustainable development of Blue Economy industries across small island developing states, including in her home country: The Bahamas.
Previously, as an associate with the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA), Maya supported the launch of the Sea Change Impact Finance Facility (SCIFF), which will scale investment into ocean and coastal resilience, and into climate mitigation and adaptation efforts.
Earlier, at Albright Stonebridge Group – a geopolitical consulting firm – Maya advised cross-sector initiatives that sought to scale climate finance in emerging markets, and drafted policy guidance for countries seeking to attract investment in low-carbon, natural capital projects.
She attended Stanford University, where she earned a B.A. in International Relations and an M.A. in Sustainability.
Dana Delaney, also known as “Denley”, leads the National Geographic Society’s portfolio of ocean-based tools and technologies used to conduct innovative ocean exploration. As a Senior Manager on the Exploration Technology team, Denley elevates the projects of National Geographic Explorers through cutting-edge technologies that capture unique storytelling content and scientific data from remote marine environments, and behavioral data from charismatic marine species.
Denley developed her passion for the ocean while growing up in The Bahamas. She received her undergraduate and master’s degrees from Stanford University in marine science and environmental communication. Denley is driven by her belief in the strong connection that we all have with the natural world, and her desire to understand, preserve and protect the habitats and biodiversity of our ocean.
We look forward to welcoming Maya and Denley back to Deerfield on Wednesday!