Silverstein holds a B.A. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and an M.A. in Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to heading Seacology, Silverstein served as Executive Director of the Goldman Fund, a San Francisco based philanthropic foundation. During his 18 years there, he presided over the awarding of $105 million in grants. Also while at Goldman, Silverstein oversaw the Goldman Environmental Prize, dubbed the "Nobel Prize of the Environment." Duane Silverstein became Seacology's first employee in 1999, and its headquarters were relocated to Berkeley, not far from his residence. Under Silverstein's leadership, Seacology has launched over 300 projects on islands around the world, conserving of terrestrial habitat and of marine ecosystems, and supporting indigenous island communities with schools, health clinics, and fresh water systems. In the course of his work, Silverstein has traveled to 184 islands in 74 countries.
Awards and recognition
In 2009, he was selected as an "All-Star Among Us" and honored at Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game. Silverstein was a 2010 recipient of the Jefferson Award for Public Service in the San Francisco Bay area. He was also named as one of Sunset Magazine's "Superheroes of the Deep" in September 2010. On behalf of Seacology, he received the Prince Albert II of Monaco Laureate for Outstanding Innovation in 2015. Having worked in island and marine conservation for 30 years, Silverstein has authored 30 articles for Asian Geographic, Fathoms, Ocean Geographic, the Oakland Tribune, and other publications. He has appeared in Scuba Diving Magazine, the Divers Alert Network, the San Francisco Chronicle, and was featured in a Daughtry music video devoted to the world’s unsung heroes. Silverstein is a National Fellow of the Explorers Club and of the Royal Geographical Society. He is a founding board member of San Francisco’s City Arts & Lectures program and served on the board of Northern California Grantmakers, a consortium of philanthropic organizations. He is a board member of Seacology UK, Seacology Japan, and Seacology Scandinavia. Under Silverstein's leadership, Seacology has won various awards including the United Nations Climate Secretariat's Momentum for Change climate action award, and was named one of the best U.S. nonprofits to work for by job-search website Talentdesk.
