Five groups share in different governance aspects of the WIO-COMPAS Program.

Certification Bodies. The WIOMSA Board serves as the legal entity to the WIO-COMPAS Program. The WIOMSA Board and the Coastal Resources Center at the University of Rhode Island (CRC/URI) serve as the co-certification bodies. The Board also provides technical oversight, guidance, credibility, promotion and fundraising for the Program as a whole.

Advisors -- Partner organisations provide guidance and feedback to the certifying bodies on how to maintain rigor, decentralize the Program and identify opportunities for certification offerings. The committee is comprised of regional and international capacity-building institutions.

Program Secretariat -- WIOMSA has dedicated staff who serve as the Secretariat for WIO-COMPAS. Their role is to provide coordination and day-to-day operations and act as a hub for assessors. The Secretariat (and local partners) manages all logistics and marketing of the certification offerings.CRC/URI assists the Secretariat in developing their capacity and procedures through back office support, Program development and delivery, as well as providing technical support to the Program as a whole.

Assessors  -- Assessors  acting  as  independent  experts,  are  responsible  for  evaluating  each  candidate's competences through a process that includes application interviews, mentoring candidates through their portfolio and reports, conducting the assessment event and providing recommendations to the Board for certification of successful candidates. Assessors conduct the assessment activities only.

MPA management  organizations  -- The  MPA management  organizations,  both  government  and  non- governmental, play a key role in promoting the Program, encouraging staff to apply, endorsing the application of individual candidates, confirming validity of application materials, facilitating the case study process, verifying portfolios and most importantly supporting MPA PROs upon their return to work. Representatives are invited as members of the Advisory Committee.


Figure 3. WIO-COMPAS organizational structure