Our Founder
Clarisa Briones Strohmeyer
Founder & Executive Director
Filipina-American. 25 years diving Philippine reefs. Founder of a nonprofit built on one belief: the reefs of the Philippines can recover, and the people who know them best should help lead the work.
Clarisa Strohmeyer with her son
She fell in love with the reefs before she knew what they meant.
On one of her first dives off Gilutungan Island, Cebu, a school of enormous batfish met her the moment she entered the water and stayed with her the entire dive: hovering, turning, watching with the calm of a reef that had never learned to be afraid. She was in her early twenties. She didn't know yet that she'd spend the next two and a half decades chasing that feeling across the Philippines.
Moalboal gave her her first shark and her first sea turtle in a single dive. Malapascua showed her a pygmy seahorse no larger than a thumbnail, clinging to a sea fan at twelve meters. Off Masbate she swam beside whale sharks, the largest fish on earth, and understood what it means to be small in a world that is mostly water.
"The reef was alive in a way that's hard to describe to someone who's never been inside it. You didn't dive through the reef. You dived with it."
A dive log written in memory.
Gilutungan Island, Cebu
Where giant batfish followed her from entry to exit on her earliest dives, an escort she has never forgotten.
Moalboal, Cebu
Her first shark. Her first sea turtle. One dive, one reef, two encounters that changed how she saw the ocean.
Malapascua, Cebu
A pygmy seahorse no larger than a thumbnail on a sea fan at 12 meters. Her first thresher shark at dawn.
Manta Bowl, Malapascua
A devil ray glided past her at a cleaning station, silent and immense. One of the most profound moments of her life underwater.
Masbate, Philippines
Where she first swam alongside whale sharks and understood what it means to be small in a world that is mostly water.
Maribago Bay, Lapu-Lapu City
Where the reefs showed her what was at stake. The site that moved Reef Without Borders from an idea into an organization.
The reefs were fading. She decided watching wasn't enough.
In 2019 she returned to the reefs she'd been diving for nearly two decades. What she found wasn't catastrophe. It was something quieter and harder to witness. The colors were muted. Coral structures that took decades to grow were bleached or broken. The fish were fewer, and the silence was louder. The reefs weren't gone. They were diminished, visibly, within a single lifetime of diving.
She had a full career in operations and communications. She was raising her son in Houston. She had every reasonable excuse to observe, feel sad, and move on. But she'd been watching these reefs too long to pretend that watching was enough, and she had the organizational experience, built managing teams across six countries, to do something about it.
"I didn't start Reef Without Borders because I thought I could bring back every reef. I started it because I couldn't think of a good reason not to try."
Reef Without Borders was incorporated in Texas in May 2026. It isn't a large organization. It has a founder with a camera and a dive kit, a science partner in a local marine science institution, a dive team in Cebu, and a board of directors who believe the same thing she does: the reefs of the Philippines are not gone yet, and the window to help them recover is still open. The first restoration mission enters the water in Q4 2026 at Kontiki, Mactan, Cebu.
The experience behind the mission.
Reef Without Borders isn't Clarisa's first organization. She spent 15 years building systems, managing teams, and running communications for mission-driven institutions before founding this one.
Operations Leadership
Former Operations Director at International Business Times, managing a fully remote team of 50+ staff across six countries. Built the coordination infrastructure for a global editorial and marketing organization from the ground up.
Nonprofit Communications
Communications and Marketing Director at a Catholic Church in Houston, managing website, social media, donor communications, and board reporting. Freelance communications coordinator for the Diocese of Dallas and multiple Catholic nonprofits since 2016.
Donor Operations and CRM
Experienced in HubSpot, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, and Asana. Led fundraising administration for the UPAAH Houston annual gala that raised $100,000 in scholarships for students in the Philippines. Manages donor records, engagement analysis, and leadership reporting daily.
Community Leadership
Vice President, University of the Philippines Alumni Association Houston Chapter, leading member communications, quarterly newsletters, and scholarship fundraising. Holds a BS in Tourism with a Minor in Marketing from the University of the Philippines.
Digital and Technical Skills
Proficient in WordPress and Elementor Pro, Adobe Creative Suite, Canva Pro, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Meta Ads Manager. Built and manages the Reef Without Borders website independently. Google certified in Project Management, Data Analysis, and Digital Marketing.
Dive Credentials
25 years of active scuba diving in Philippine waters, including Mactan, Malapascua, Moalboal, Masbate, Gilutungan, Manta Bowl, Maribago Bay, and dozens of sites across the Visayas. Certified Advance Open Water and Nitrox.
From the water she knows best.
These images were taken across Clarisa's 25 years of diving Philippine reefs. Every site pictured is part of the ecosystem Reef Without Borders was founded to help recover.
The reefs are still here. So is the chance to bring them back.
If you've dived these waters, love these reefs, or believe some things deserve protecting, there's a place for you in this work. The first mission enters the water Q4 2026.
Reef Without Borders
A U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit funding coral reef restoration in Cebu, Philippines through field-based work, scientific monitoring, and community partnerships.
Houston, Texas • info@reefwithoutborders.org • EIN 42-2691547
