From Barcelona to NYC: The Ocean Connections Platform.
TOC wins Gold, Two Silvers, and Bronze at the 2025 Anthem Awards.
The platform earns multiple honors at the Anthem Awards in New York, which celebrate social and environmental impact worldwide.
The Ocean Connections Platform, launched in Barcelona, was honored as a It was recognized as an award-winning platform in Sustainability in Sustainability, Environment, & Climate in The 5th Annual Anthem Awards.
Anthem Awards Winners are selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Judges for the 5th Annual Anthem Awards include Nancy Brown, Chief Executive Officer, American Heart Association; Anjelika Lours’ Kour, Creative Director & Managing Partner, DD.NYC®; Miguel Castro, Head of Global Media Partnerships, Gates Foundation; Belén Frau, Global Communication & Positioning Manager, IKEA; Heather Malenshek, SVP & Chief Marketing Officer, Land O’Lakes, Inc.; Singleton Beato, Global EVP, Chief DEI Officer, McCann Worldgroup; Trovon Williams, Sr. Vice President of Marketing & Communications, NAACP; Lauren Garcimonde-Fisher, Vice President of Brand, Planned Parenthood; Roma McCaig, Chief Public Affairs and Impact Officer, REI Co-op; Brett Peters, Global Lead, TikTok for Good, TikTok; and Michelle Waring, Steward for Sustainability and Everyday Good, Tom’s of Maine, among others.
The Ocean Connections Platform (TOC) won four awards in total:
The Ocean Connections Platform powered by Old Surfer won one Bronze Award in Sustainability, Environment & Climate in the Partnership or Collaboration Category.
And, one of the projects that are within the platform, The first AI Shaper to create sustainable surfboards, won three awards in Sustainability, Environment & Climate:
One Gold Award in the Partnership or Collaboration Category
One Silver Award in the Best Use of AI Category
And one Silver Award in the Education or Literacy Program or Platform Category.
“This has been a challenging year for the impact sector, but the Winners of the 5th Annual Anthem Awards have shown their resilience and continued commitment to a better tomorrow,” said Anthem Awards General Manager, Patricia McLoughlin. “This year’s winners are a source of hope, and I am excited to celebrate their work with the world today.”
“I’m incredibly proud of what we’re building with The Ocean Connections Platform, and of the incredible talent and heart of the Old Surfer team, who turn ideas into impact and science into stories that move people, brands, and institutions to action. None of this would be possible without their vision, passion, and relentless commitment. Thank you, team — this is yours,” said Creator of TOC platform, and CEO & Founder of Old Surfer agency, Xavier Rubio Franch.
“Awards are not the destination, they are a reminder. A signal that we’re on the right wave — and that much bigger ones are coming. Thank you to everyone who believes in this journey.
Let’s keep creating Blue Storydoing for the oceans. Let’s keep building. Let’s keep creating impact that matters.”
The 5th Annual Anthem Awards received more than 2,000 submissions from 42 countries worldwide. By amplifying the voices that spark global change, the Anthem Awards are defining a new benchmark for impactful work that inspires others to take action in their communities.
Winners include: Paris Hilton, Frances Tiafoe, Brooke Eby, Tim Gill and Scott Miller, and Vincent Stanley- Director of Philosophy at Patagonia, with Special Achievement Awards for using their platforms to fight for meaningful change.
The 2025 Anthem Winners also include the most impactful projects, like the Sabrina Carpenter x PLUS1 campaign, Andrew Garfield and Sesame Workshop’s touching message, Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty, Headspace, The Mel Robbins Podcast, work from Katie Couric and more.
Winners include brands, organizations and media such as:
Google, BBC, WWF, Red Canary Magazine, World Economic Forum, ABC News, World Surf League, Mobilize Recovery, and DEPT®
You can view the full list of winners on the official Anthem Awards website:
https://www.anthemawards.com/winners/list/#sustainability-environment-climate/all/1985/-1
About The Anthem Awards:
Launched in 2021 by The Webby Awards, The Anthem Awards honors the purpose & mission-driven work of people, companies and organizations worldwide. By amplifying the voices that spark global change, they’re defining a new benchmark for impactful work that inspires others to take action in their own communities. The Anthem Awards honors work across seven core causes: Diversity; Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging; Education; Art & Culture; Health; Human & Civil Rights; Humanitarian Action & Services; Responsible Technology; and Sustainability, Environment & Climate. This season’s sponsors and partners include AARP, Virgin Hotels NYC, The Bloom, The Social Innovation Summit, Sustainable Brands, NationSwell, and TheFutureParty. The Anthem Awards were founded in partnership with the Ad Council, Born This Way Foundation, Feeding America, Glaad, Mozilla, NAACP, NRDC, WWF, and XQ.
About The Ocean Connections Platform:
The first platform dedicated to Blue Storydoing, supporting the oceans, by creating and spreading content with real impact.
From Storytelling to Blue Storydoing:
Day by day there are more and more projects with the aim of protecting and regenerating the indispensable resources of the oceans. However, despite these great efforts, many projects do not achieve visibility, or well, they do not manage to tell what they do in the most attractive, inspiring or connected way with the stakeholders, thus remaining without the collaboration to their causes of a larger and more participatory community.
That is why The Ocean Connections created a new concept for the Blue Economy:
BLUE STORYDOING FOR THE BLUE ECONOMY. The famous storytelling merges with the depth of data and technology, achieving a method created to generate differentiation, engagement and amplification, aligned with the sustainable objectives of each project.
BLUE STORYDOING represents the evolution of Storytelling, because it is the story with facts, in motion and in synergy with the Blue Economy – based in Barcelona- a city chosen by UNESCO as the HUB of the economy that makes visible and recognizes the value of oceans as an engine of sustainable development, innovation and social well-being.
What do we do at The Ocean Connections?
We create documentary pieces and inspiring content with high impact on the Blue Economy. Starting from Blue Storydoing actions in favor of the oceans, the work is to give them the dimension that many projects fail to reach, producing world-class inspiring content to make their actions visible and amplify them, spreading them within a larger, open, and participatory community.
