Congratulations
Winners and Finalists
At this year’s Island Finance Forum, we dedicated a special session to celebrate and announce the winners and finalists of the twelve unique categories of the first annual Island Innovation Awards. The Island Innovation Awards, run in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative, recognizes individuals, organizations and projects driving positive change for remote and island communities globally. By sharing the winners and finalists of each category, Island Innovation hopes to inspire positive change and expand the global knowledge-sharing platform for island communities everywhere.
This year has been an amazing showcase of island talent from all across the world, and Island Innovation would like to sincerely thank all those who applied and nominated someone else to the awards and to those who attended the awards ceremony. The support of our community, award partner, and panel of judges, have helped to make this inaugural Island Innovation Awards a huge success that we are very proud of.
The official awards ceremony, which took place on the final day of the Island Finance Forum, was presented by Island Innovation CEO James Ellsmoor, and featured a keynote address from former President of the United States, Bill Clinton as well as a presentation by Rachel Moriarty, Head of Prize Design and Impact for The Earthshot Prize. As an official nominating organization, Island Innovation was invited to nominate several applicants from the Island Innovation Awards to this year’s Earthshot Prize.
The winners and finalists of the Island Innovation Awards were selected and announced during the live ceremony by members of an esteemed panel of judges, and winners across each category had the opportunity to address a global audience of island stakeholders and share more about their projects and innovations.
Visibility
Recognition
Feedback
Opportunities
Inspire Others
Meet the Winners and Finalists
Below is the list of the winners and finalists of this year’s Island Innovation Awards. Make sure to check out their projects and see how islanders are leading the charge in solving some of the world’s most pressing issues.
Future Island Leader Award
Ronelle King
Job Title: Founder and Director
Organization: Life In Leggings: Caribbean Alliance Against Gender-based Violence (lifeinleggings.org)
Initiative: Life In Leggings: Caribbean Alliance Against Gender-based Violence
Location: Barbados
Mark Jacinto
Job Title: Curator
Organization: Online SDG Youth Action Forum (facebook.com/groups/OnlineSDGYouthActionForum)
Initiative: Online SDG Youth Action Forum
Location: Luzon island, Philippines
Sidney Jules
Job Title: Manager
Organization: RMI (https://rmi.org/people/sidney-jules/)
Initiative: Dominica Schools Resilient Microgrids
Location: Dominica
Island Innovator Award
Radhames Carela
Job Title: Master Ceramicist
Organization: Wine To Water Dominican Republic (winetowater.org/our-work-dr)
Initiative: Ceramic Water Filter
Location: Dominican Republic
Colin Philp
(Passed away in 2021)
Job Title: Former manager of Leleuvia Island Resort (leleuvia.com/en/), Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Duavata Sustainable Tourism Collective (https://www.duavatasustainabletourism.org/), Co-Founder of the Sustainable Sea Transport Initiative
Initiative: Reviving environmental stewardship in Fiji through traditional sailing
Location: Fiji
Crystal Díaz
Job Title: Co-Founder, Partner and Co-CEO
Organization: PRoduce (puertoricoproduce.com/)
Initiative: PRoduce
Location: Puerto Rico
Women SDG Leadership Award
Gina Ebanks-Petrie
Job Title: Director
Organization: Department of Environment, Cayman Islands Government (doe.ky/#)
Location: Cayman Islands
Keithlin Caroo
Job Title: Founder & Executive Director
Organization: Helen’s Daughters (helensdaughters.org/)
Location: Saint Lucia
Lusia Latu-Jones
Job Title: President/Director
Organization: Tonga Youth Employment & Entrepreneurship Inc. (tyeetonga.org)
Location: Tonga
Most Impactful Island Innovation Ambassador
Alfredo M. Coro II
Job Title: Municipal Mayor
Affiliated Organization: Municipality of Del Carmen, Siargao Islands, Philippines (visitdelcarmen.com/mayors-corner/)
Location: Siargao Island, Philippines
Maria Chnaraki (Hnaraki)
Job Title: Adjunct Professor | Associate Teaching Professor / Scientific & Educational Consultant
Affiliated Organization: Drexel University (drexel.edu/) / Kids Love Greece (kidslovegreece.com/en/)
Location: Crete, Greece
Emilio De Jesús
Job Title: Microgrid Researcher | Laboratory Professor / Co-founder – Content Creator / Host
Affiliated Organization: Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (pucmm.edu.do/) / Energía Journal (anchor.fm/energiajournal)
Location: Dominican Republic
Zaidy Afrin
Job Title: SIDS SDG & Blue economy researcher
Affiliated Organization: World Maritime University (wmu.se/)
Location: Fiji
Sustainable Energy Initiative of the Year
Scaling Smart, Solar, Energy Access Microgrids in Haiti
Affiliated Organization: EarthSpark International (earthsparkinternational.org)
Location: Haiti
Chalki GR-eco Island
Affiliated Organization: Municipality of Chalki Island (dimoschalkis.gr/en/)
Location: Luzon island, Philippines
Solar Schools
Affiliated Organization: Blue Planet Energy (https://www.blueplanetenergy.com/)
Location: Puerto Rico
Resilient Island Award
Marine Megafauna Conservation Organization’s
Educational programme in South East Mauritius as part of their main Project “Conservation threatened marine megafauna species in Mauritius”.
Implementing organization: Marine Megafauna Conservation Organization (marinemegafaunaconservation.org)’s educational programme in South East Mauritius as part of their main Project “Conservation threatened marine megafauna species in Mauritius”
Implementing partners: The GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP), UNDP, and the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Recreation.
Location: Mauritius
Resilient Islands project in Jamaica (part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI))
Implementing organization: The Nature Conservancy
Implementing partners: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IRFC)
Location: Jamaica
COVID-19 response award
Reach Within: Getting to the root of childhood trauma, simply.
Organization: Reach Within (https://www.reachwithin.org/)
Location: Grenada
Caribbean E-Learning Platform
Organization: Carbon Zero Institute of Trinidad & Tobago (czitt.com/)
Location: Trinidad & Tobago
Level Up Grant Programme
Organization: N.C.B Foundation (myncb.com/Corporate-Social-Responsibility)
Location: Jamaica
Blue Economy Initiative Award
Regenerative seaweed farming and net recycling linked to improved Marine Protected Areas (iMPA)
Organization: Coast 4C (coast4c.com/)
Location: 10 small island villages in the Philippines across the central and western Visayas, and expanding to a further 20 small island villages.
The Sea Power project
Organization: Aqua-Farms Organization (AFO) (afo.or.tz/)
Location: Unguja and Pemba islands, Zanzibar, Tanzania
The Sea Academy project
Organization: SULUBAAI Environmental Foundation inc. (sulubaai-foundation.com/)
Location: Pangatalan Island, the Philippines
Sustainable Company of the Year
Island Green Living Association
Location: St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
Island Growers Barbados Limited
Location: Barbados
Firdous Biotech
Location: Zanzibar, Tanzania
Most Transformational Government Sustainability Initiative
Food Tourism and Agritourism Initiative (FTAI)
(Produktif Turism Blong Yumi Initiative) (https://www.agritourismvanuatu.com/), part of the Vanuatu Sustainable Tourism Strategy
Government Department: Vanuatu Department of Tourism (tourism.gov.vu/index.php/en/)
Location: Vanuatu
Sustainability Charter of the Azores
Government Department: Azores Destination Management Organization – Azores DMO (sustainable.azores.gov.pt/en/)
Location: Azores
Guam Green Growth Initiative
Government Department: 80-member Working Group of government, academia, private sector, non-profit, and youth partners facilitated by the University of Guam Center for Island Sustainability.
Location: Guam
Green Finance and Investment Award
CARICOM Development Fund with their Credit Risk Abatement Facility (CRAF)
Location: Barbados
SMILO (Small Islands Organisation)
Location: SMILO is located in France and supports 40 small islands around the world.
Coast Funds
Location: Canada. The organization serves many Indigenous Nations who are located on islands and whose territories cover islands and archipelagos in the Pacific Northwest.
Innovative Island Research Award
Agricultural genebank research
Organization: Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePACT) operated by the Pacific Community (SPC)’s Land Resources Division.
Location: Viti Levu, Fiji
St. Vincent Volcanic Ash Upcycling Project
Organization: Global Emergency Relief, Recovery and Reconstruction (GER3) (ger3.org/), in collaboration with many individuals and organizations, both local and international.
Location: St Vincent, St Vincent & Grenadines
AZORES – ALL IN BLUE – Tourism & Autism
Organization: Azores All In Blue (azoresallinblue.pt/)
Location: Azores
The Earthshot Prize
Island Innovation is an official nominating organization for The Earthshot Prize a global prize launched by Prince William, designed to solve our planet’s greatest environmental challenges. Island Innovation has been invited to submit nominations across all five categories. Winners in each category are awarded £1 million to help scale and roll out their innovations.
Island Innovation Awards
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