The ocean is our shared inheritance.
A community-led platform connecting generosity with the people and ideas protecting it.
01 IMPACT AT A GLANCE
Since 2021, our community has raised over $5 million — powered by love, friendship and a shared belief in protecting what is precious.
15 organisations supported
1,800+ in-person supporters
3 cities: Sydney, Singapore, and New York
The ocean reminds us that what is precious is never ours to own, only ours to protect - with love, humility and courage.
02 HOW SAPPHIRE CREATES CHANGE
Unite, Educate and Inspire:
Community becomes powerful when shared purpose becomes action.
Sapphire brings together people who care deeply about the ocean and connects their generosity with credible, high-potential conservation work. We create the conditions for science, storytelling and philanthropy to move together.
UNITE: We bring philanthropists, scientists, creatives, businesses and advocates together around a shared responsibility to the ocean.
FUND: Through our partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, funds raised are administered and distributed to carefully selected initiatives with the potential for meaningful, accountable impact.
AMPLIFY: We translate specialised work into stories, experiences and conversations that help more people understand, care and act.
03 IMPACT IN ACTION
What generosity makes possible.
Across reefs, coastlines, species and communities, Sapphire has supported people turning knowledge, courage and care into practical progress.
MAP | QUEENSLAND BLUE
Blue Carbon Lab · 2022
Mapping where coastal wetlands can recover across Great Barrier Reef catchments. Building the evidence and relationships needed to turn blue carbon potential into practical restoration.
SURVEY | THE GREAT REEF CENSUS
Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef · 2022
Connecting citizen scientists, schools and reef communities to survey the Great Barrier Reef at scale—giving scientists and managers a clearer picture of change.
DISCOVER | SCIENCE FOR A CHANGING REEF
Lizard Island Research Station · 2022 & 2024
Supporting research fellowships, crown-of-thorns starfish studies and the essential infrastructure behind one of the world’s leading coral reef field stations.
STEWARD | JUNIOR RANGERS FOR COUNTRY
Girringun Aboriginal Corporation · 2022
Helping young people across nine Traditional Owner groups learn on Country, carry culture forward and become the next generation of land and sea custodians.
CLEAN | PLASTIC-FREE SEAS
Take 3 for the Sea · 2022
Taking plastic education to regional and rural communities. Helping young people lead clean-ups, understand marine debris and turn simple actions into lasting habits.
REGENERATE | A LIFELINE FOR CORAL REEFS
Great Barrier Reef Foundation · 2023–2026
Backing Coral IVF, Plant a Coral, seagrass restoration and pathways for Junior Indigenous Rangers—bringing reef science, local leadership and restoration together. Across the work Sapphire has supported, GBRF and its partners deployed over 290 million coral larvae through Coral IVF, tested more than 2,000 colonies for heat tolerance.
REIMAGINE | LIVING COASTLINES
Sydney Institute of Marine Science · 2023
From kelp forests and Living Seawalls to turtles and water quality in Gamay (Botany Bay), this portfolio joined marine science with First Nations knowledge to help coastlines recover.
RESEARCH | SCIENCE ON THE REEF
University of Sydney - One Tree Island Research Station · 2024
Supporting bleaching and recovery research, scientific equipment, station infrastructure and greater access for the next generation of marine scientists.
RECOVER | A FUTURE FOR AUSTRALIAN SEA LIONS
Australian Sea Lion Recovery Foundation · 2024
Funding pup shelters, DNA sequencing, cameras, GPS tags and vital research to better understand—and protect—one of Australia’s most threatened marine mammals.
TRACK | PROJECT HAMMERHEAD
Biopixel Oceans Foundation · 2024
Following juvenile sharks through Queensland waters to identify the nursery, feeding and shelter habitats essential to their survival.
REGROW | REBUILDING THE MEADOW BENEATH THE REEF
SeaGrow · Great Barrier Reef Foundation · 2025
Supporting the world’s largest seagrass nursery and seed-based restoration at a 400-hectare meadow in Rodd’s Bay—rebuilding habitat that shelters marine life, feeds dugongs and turtles, and stores carbon.
CONNECT | THE REEF AUSTRALIA IS LEARNING TO SEE
Great Southern Reef Foundation · 2025
Using film, education and community storytelling to bring Australia’s vast kelp forests into public view—and turn awareness into meaningful action.
REFOREST | BRINGING BACK GIANT KELP
Sea Forest Foundation · 2025
Building a giant kelp seedbank and expanding Sea Trees to return temperature-resilient kelp to Tasmania’s lost underwater forests.
PROTECT | THE FINAL FIGHT FOR THE BIGHT
Surfers for Climate · 2025
Uniting surfers, Mirning Elders, filmmakers and advocates behind permanent protection for the Great Australian Bight and a pathway towards World Heritage status.
SAFEGUARD | A FUTURE FOR SEADRAGONS
Seadragon Conservation · University of Technology Sydney, Sea Life & Jordan Askill · 2025
Combining citizen science, research, aquariums, art and film to understand Australia’s weedy seadragons—and help prevent them from slipping towards endangerment.
04 A COMMUNITY WITH PURPOSE
Different rooms. One shared responsibility.
From large-scale fundraising dinners to intimate conversations, conservation expeditions, student-led action and international gatherings, Sapphire creates different ways for people to move from awareness to participation.
Sapphire Dinner 2025 at the Carriageworks
Sapphire Dinner 2024 at the Tank, Art Gallery of NSW
Youth Program: The next wave of ocean guardians.
Young Sapphires empowers student leaders to turn care into action through school campaigns, art, science, fundraising and community projects - building ecological literacy, confidence and a lifelong culture of stewardship.
“Sapphire’s work is vital for Australia and the world. The culture that Sapphire has built on collaborative impact, building support, and generating funds for the best and brightest initiatives coming out of Australia gives hope for our oceans and our common future. Thank you to the Sapphire committee, who my husband David and I had the pleasure of meeting last year. A special thanks to all our supporters, whose unwavering support since our inception has been instrumental. You are ocean heroes and For The Oceans!”
Susan Rockefeller
Honorary Chair of The Sapphire Project
Founder of Protect What is Precious®
05 A WIDER OCEAN COMMUNITY
Australian leadership, shared with the world.
Through gatherings in Sydney, Singapore and New York, Sapphire connects Australian conservation leadership with an international community of supporters, partners and advocates who believe the ocean's future is a shared responsibility.
06 TRUST AND TRANSPARENCY
How funds are managed.
The Sapphire Project neither receives nor manages proceeds from ticket sales or donations. Funds are administered and distributed by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to eligible ocean organisations selected by the Sapphire committee. This structure keeps project selection separate from fund administration and distribution.
“Sapphire has never been just about raising funds - it has always been about raising each other. At Sapphire Dinner 2025, it felt less like a gala and more like a family table: a gathering of friends, bound not by obligation but by love, trust, and the belief that together we can protect what is precious.
Raising over $5 million in the last five years is far beyond what we imagined, and we hold it with immense gratitude to our friends. But what moves us most is knowing it was achieved not through institutions alone, but through people who showed up with love and stood shoulder to shoulder for the oceans. This is the essence of Sapphire: proof that when community leads, transformation follows.
Thank you to our partners, our friends, and everyone who stood with us this year. Thank you for believing, for showing up, and for making this family what it is.”
Hayley Baillie & Ryan Gollan
Co-Chairs of The Sapphire Project
07 PARTNERS & SPONSORS
Partnership turns possibility into practice.
Our partners contribute funding, expertise, venues, production and reach - creating the conditions for Sapphire to direct community generosity towards meaningful ocean outcomes.
Founding Presenting Partner: Tiffany & Co.
What if restoring just 3% of coral reefs could protect 50% of the entire ecosystem?
Watch Theresa Fyffe, Executive Director of Impact at the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, deliver a powerful TED Talk, a call to action for the future of coral reefs and the communities that depend on them. With breakthrough technologies, local leadership, and a bold plan to restore reefs at scale - we have a lifeline.
“The greatest danger to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”
Robert Swan