Reef Without Borders Is Now a Legal Nonprofit Corporation

Reef Without Borders officially became a legal entity on May 18, 2026, when the Texas Secretary of State issued our Certificate of Formation under File Number 806607296. What began as a vision to protect and restore coral reefs across the Indo-Pacific is now a formally incorporated domestic nonprofit corporation in the State of Texas with a founding board of directors, a governing set of bylaws, and a founding team ready to get in the water.

The organization was founded by Clarisa Strohmeyer, a Filipina-American with 25 years of scuba diving experience in Philippine waters. She founded Reef Without Borders after returning to dive sites she had known since 2003 and finding them fundamentally changed. The colors were muted. The coral structures were fractured. The silence underwater was louder than it had ever been. Incorporation was the decision to stop watching and start building something with the capacity to act.

The founding board of directors brings legal, financial, and organizational expertise across three continents. Vanessa L. Iway, J.D., a graduate of the Ateneo de Manila School of Law, serves as President and Legal Counsel. Rosalinda Maddoux, CPA, a licensed tax accountant with 17 years of experience in Fort Worth, Texas, serves as Treasurer. Renato B. Solis, a management consultant with over three decades of experience in Cebu, Philippines, serves as Secretary.

Field operations in Cebu are led by Dindo C. Paquibot, Director of Dive Operations, a PADI-certified Dive Instructor with 20 years of professional experience in Philippine waters and five years of direct coral nursery and transplantation work at Maribago Bay, Lapu-Lapu City. He is supported by a science partnership with the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute, the national leader in coral reproduction research.

With incorporation complete, Reef Without Borders has applied to the IRS for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. The organization's first program, Reef Rescue Dives in Cebu, is in the planning stages. The Adopt-A-Coral fundraising campaign and the first field mission to Moalboal and Malapascua are being scheduled for later in 2026.

Here is where we stand as of our founding date:

The reef work begins in 2026. The first Reef Rescue mission will be filmed in full from entry to coral planting and published publicly on our YouTube channel and website. Every donor who supports that mission will receive a full impact report including photos, GPS coordinates, and survival data at 6 and 12 months.

The reefs cannot wait. Neither can we.

Contact: info@reefwithoutborders.org • reefwithoutborders.org • Houston, Texas