Mentor Highlight: Daisy Villareal
- Bianca Kreusel
- May 7
- 3 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Sail Her Dreams is proud to highlight one of our incredible Mentors, Daisy Villareal. As
Assistant Operations Manager for Chicago Harbors and Suntex Marinas, including Montrose Harbor, Daisy plays an important role in keeping our lakefront running smoothly while leading meaningful environmental efforts behind the scenes.
Last season, Daisy joined the Sail Her Dreams program as a mentor, giving participants a behind-the-scenes look at how Montrose Harbor operates while introducing them to the principles of a circular economy. She showed the girls how environmental action and innovation work together by highlighting both the harbor’s trash skimmer, a robot that collects floating debris from the lake, and the impact of materials like boat shrink wrap. By connecting these ideas, Daisy helped the girls understand how waste can be reduced, reused, and reimagined. Through this hands-on experience, they saw that protecting our waterways is not just about cleanup, but about creating smarter, more sustainable systems from the start.
"[We are] collecting all of that wrap that was getting thrown away," Villareal explains. "And there, they collect that wrap, it gets hauled off to a supplier, they bail the wrap, and then they turn that into pellets. [The pellets] can be used for more shrink wrap or for other products."
Today, Daisy is bringing that lesson full circle through an innovative recycling initiative focused on boat shrink wrap, the heavy plastic used to winterize boats. Often treated as single-use and discarded, this material contributes significantly to landfill waste. According to BoatUS, millions of pounds of shrink wrap are used each year across the country. Daisy’s initiative transforms this plastic into reusable pellets, turning waste into a resource and demonstrating how circular solutions can begin right at the dock while reducing environmental impact.
"I know for me personally, it's a goal in my position here to try and implement best recycling initiative practices into our staff," Villareal said when talking about other initatives she's also practicing. "We pretty much wiped out all plastic and we gave our staff reusable water bottles. We work at the marinas. So let's try our best to recycle where we can."
At Great Lakes Sailing & Sail Her Dreams, we believe protecting our waters is a shared responsibility. Daisy’s work shows how small, intentional changes can make a big difference. By participating in recycling efforts, supporting harbor clean-ups, and being mindful of waste on
the water, we can all help protect Lake Michigan for future generations.
As the sailing season begins, we encourage our community to follow Daisy’s lead. The next time you’re at Montrose Harbor and see the trash skimmer or a recycling station, remember that these efforts are driven by people committed to preserving our Chicago waterfront.
We can’t wait to see you on the water very soon!
SAIL HER DREAMS IS A 501(C)(3) Nonprofit Organization
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