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Fred Sitkins readies Inland Seas for more sailing adventures

It’s a special year for the Inland Seas Education Association. Make that another special year: the organization is on track to serve its 200,000th person this year in its 37th season. At the same time, the ISEA is launching the bidding phase for construction and expansion on its Suttons Bay campus. “We’ve served 192,123 participants since our founding in 1989,” says Skyler Singleton, communications coordinator for the Suttons Bay organization. The numbers continue to grow each year. “We reached nearly 10,000 participants in 2025 alone, so we are definitely on track to hit that 200,000 milestone this fall.” Executive director Fred Sitkins says expansion of the campus will enable it to continue to grow and serve even more. “It’s going to be really strong. Every year is a little bit better,” he says.

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Inland Seas expands, announces fundraising campaign

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.

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