When Tom Kelly, John Elder and Peter Doren founded the Inland Seas Education Association in 1989, they were no doubt pleased it served over 1,100 students on the chartered schooner Malabar that first year. In the three decades since, the organization’s popularity has soared. According to the history timeline on its website, the ISEA has impacted 150,000 individuals since its founding. “It’s the story of our growth, the result of 36 years of doing the work,” says ISEA Executive Director Fred Sitkins. Today, the demand for its programs has outpaced its capacity. Rather than scaling back its mission, the ISEA is pushing forward with the Campaign for the Future of Great Lakes Education, an $11 million initiative to expand its campus, capacity and capabilities to meet the needs of tens of thousands of underserved urban and rural youths around the Great Lakes states.