Emma founded ENB Sea Keepers, a nonprofit building a new generation of conservation leaders and protecting marine life through locally-led marine stewardship, coral restoration, youth empowerment, and sustainable livelihood programming.
It began in 2021, initially as a marine conservation initiative protecting reefs in her home community of East New Britain, and later evolved into a conservation model grounded in traditional Indigenous knowledge and cultural governance. The organisation now trains youth leaders in conservation techniques and ecotourism, and runs marine conservation school awareness programmes aligned with the Papua New Guinea national curriculum. It also supports volunteers in securing employment within the sector.
ENB Sea Keepers has cultivated 3,000 coral fragments across three restoration sites in East New Britain and Madang Province. Of these, 1,500 fragments proved resilient to coral bleaching. The organisation has also run conservation awareness and marine stewardship activities reaching 1,106 people, including youth. The organisation ‘graduated’ 47 university volunteers from ENB Sea Keepers programming, an estimated 13 of whom have gone on to access long-term employment who would otherwise be unemployed, and trained 11 active youth leaders in ecotourism and other professional skills. Additionally, ENB Sea Keepers remains involved in building local conservation data sets, ward development plans, and governance processes.
Emma connected with fellow Ambassador Bodhi Patil of Inner Light Foundation, who visited Papua New Guinea in March 2025 and provided ENB Sea Keepers with $15,000 in funding. This support was vital following a cyclone that damaged the local community, helping to cover food and recovery costs. Bodhi also brought a filmmaker to document ENB Sea Keepers’ work, soon to be developed into a documentary.
“Meeting Bodhi and him coming and amplifying our work was huge for us... That was through One Young World.”
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