After more than 50 years of hard work, dedication, passion for and belief in PADI® by our loyal membership and divers around the world, we are undeniably The Way World Learns to Dive®. Together we have become the trusted authority in diver education. PADI Members have been training millions of souls around the planet to confidently and comfortably explore the underwater world – from the surface to the abyss.  The diving experience is sensory; it wraps around our bodies, our hearts and our souls.

Collectively, PADI is pulling millions of people into our family to educate, to explore and to act. These millions can help heal the ocean through their choices and look into the future with optimism.  The PADI family is positioned to help monitor and steward ocean health for future generations by training a global community of passionate people who care about protecting the ocean, both above and below the surface.

This year and for years to come, we are making a bold commitment to both our legacy as responsible ancestors and to our future.  In the next 50 years, the PADI family, through dedicated outreach and partnerships with like-minded concerned people and organizations, will aggregate a billion torchbearers to actively explore, steward and protect our ocean. Based on current population trends, to do this we will need to touch the lives of one out of every 10 people.  This is PADI’s new mission: Create a billion torchbearers to explore and protect the ocean.

By the nature of what we already do, the PADI Experience invites everyone to explore the ocean.  We are influencers. We create divers and explorers. We provide the road map to becoming advocates for our ocean who are also part of the solution. I know this because most of you are already doing it. Let’s do it more, and do it faster.

There are five words that say it all.  SEEK ADVENTURE. SAVE THE OCEAN.℠ Enabling discovery. Restoring the ocean. They go hand in hand, because we can’t really have one without the other.  This is the time. Our time. Our opportunity. It is our responsibility to step up and lead the changes that make a difference.

Let’s join together, united as ambassadors with a common mission to attract and create torchbearers who explore and protect our ocean. Together we will succeed because we have hope and optimism, and we are taking action.

With hope and optimism,

Drew Richardson

PADI Worldwide, President & Chief Executive Officer

For more from PADI visit www.padi.com.

Source: www.divenewswire.com.