SPRINGFIELD, VA – January 22, 2026 – This week, Alanna Keating, Director of Outreach at BoatUS Foundation, received Boating Industry’s 2025 Women Making Waves Award at the ELEVATE Summit in Orlando, Florida. Alanna was recognized for her contributions to the boating industry. The Women Making Waves program honors women in the industry who contribute greatly to the industry’s success as they lead their organizations and peers.
For more than two decades, Keating has been a trusted name in the boating industry, partnering with hundreds of organizations to help make boating safer and pursuing prestigious grants that greatly benefit recreational boaters and support the safety and practice of clean boating. Under her leadership, BoatUS Foundation has been awarded several national and regional grants and continues to grow its presence as a leading nonprofit organization that aims to reduce boating accidents, grow safe boating educational outreach, and increase stewardship of waterways for more than 50 years.
Alanna joined the BoatUS Foundation in 2005, with a background in environmental management, quickly leading projects that required compliance, precision and collaboration. As Director of Outreach, Alanna spearheaded the growth of the Life Jacket Loaner Program, the first nationwide program of its kind that allows families to borrow life jackets at more than 600 loaner sites across the country. She also facilitated the Reel In and Recycle Program, which has helped build more than 13,000 fishing line recycling bins.
More recently, Alanna secured a prestigious $10 million NOAA grant that supports abandoned and derelict vessel (ADV) cleanup efforts in coastal and Great Lakes waters across the country, and she is also leading the development of a national ADV tracking database, the first of its kind.
“I am so honored to be recognized as a Women Making Waves this year. My dad loved boating, and some of my greatest memories are boat days with my family growing up. Being able to bring that to other people and help keep them safe on the water is my passion,” said Alanna Keating, Director of Outreach at BoatUS Foundation. “I hope my enthusiasm for this industry and the work being done in safe and clean boating inspires other women to join us. There is so much opportunity to find your place in the industry and to make a lasting impact. There is incredible work being done within the industry in S.T.E.M., conservation, social marketing and more, which needs passionate people to drive change.”
Keating also maintains an active presence on numerous industry working groups, including the Aquatic Invasive Species Commission (commissioner and steering committee member), the Education and Outreach committee of the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, the Virginia Abandoned and Derelict Vessel Working Group, and several NOAA committees and working groups on marine debris issues including fishing line recycling, shrinkwrap recycling, and abandoned and derelict vessels.
For more information on the BoatUS Foundation and to learn more about our grants, please visit boatus.org.
About BoatUS Foundation:
The BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water is a national leader promoting safe, clean and responsible boating. Funded primarily by donations from the more than 740,000 members of Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS), the nonprofit provides innovative educational outreach directly to boaters and anglers with the aim of reducing accidents and fatalities, increasing stewardship of America’s waterways, and keeping boating safe for all. A range of safe and clean boating courses – including the nation’s only free online boating safety course – can be found at https://boatus.org.
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