MEET OUR SPEAKERS

Ms. Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu is the Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States. She assumed her role in May 2017.

Ms. ‘Utoikamanu is responsible for monitoring and following up on the implementation of all three Programmes of Action under the purview of UN-OHRLLS. She is also called on to advocate for the issues and concerns of these vulnerable countries as well as to ensure their integration into and coherence with global processes, including those related to the 2030 Agenda and other global development frameworks. Ms. ‘Utoikamanu also coordinates advocacy work related to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in forums and platforms outside the United Nations.

Prior to joining the United Nations, Ms. ‘Utoikamanu was Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Tourism, Tonga; Acting Pro-Chancellor and Chair of the Council of the University of the South Pacific (2015); Deputy Pro-Chancellor and Deputy Chair of the Council of the University of the South Pacific (2009-2016); Deputy Director General and Director of Education, Training and Human Development of the Secretariat of Pacific Community (2009-2015); Permanent Representative and Ambassador of the Government of Tonga to the United Nations, United States of America, Cuba and Venezuela and High Commissioner to Canada (2005-2009); and Secretary for Foreign Affairs and European Commission’s National Authorizing Officer for Tonga (2002-2005).

A Tongan national, Ms. ‘Utoikamanu speaks Tongan and English. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Economics (1980) and a Masters in Commerce in Economics (1983) from the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

Frank Bainimarama has been the Fijian Prime Minister since 2007. Under his leadership, Fiji has undergone a broad program of social, economic, electoral and constitutional reforms, leading up to the establishment of Fiji’s first genuine parliamentary democracy of equal votes of equal value in 2014.

The Prime Minister is one of the leading global voices calling on the international community to commit to more ambitious targets to curb the carbon emissions that are warming our planet. Joining his fellow leaders from the Pacific, he is committed to drawing global attention to the impact climate change is having on vulnerable communities, including Pacific Islanders and the residents of other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and low-lying areas of the world.

Session: Grand Opening - Eastern Hemisphere.

Dr. The Honourable Ralph Everard Gonsalves, Political Leader of the Unity Labour Party (ULP), was appointed by His Excellency the Governor-General to the Office of Leader of the Opposition with effect from October 1, 1999. Dr. Gonsalves succeeded the distinguished statesman, the Honourable Vincent Ian Beache, who voluntarily demitted that Office. On December 6, 1998, Dr. Gonsalves was elected Political Leader of the ULP in succession, to Mr. Beache. He is now into his third term as Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, his Unity Labour Party (ULP) having successfully contested the General Elections of 2001, 2005 and 2010.

Session: Grand Opening - Western Hemisphere.

My vision: My overarching vision is for a fairer, more equitable Ireland, where the most vulnerable in society are given top priority in all political decision making.

What I stand for: I stand for access and equality of opportunity. As a mother and ecologist I want my three children to grow up in an ecologically sound country that will recognise their various abilities and be a safe and secure place to live. I want all people, whatever their ability or background, to have a reasonable expectation of a living wage and a roof over their heads.

My priorities: My number one priority is people and the well being of society in general. If we are thriving as individuals, the country, too, is healthier. “Your health is your wealth” is more than a catchy adage. Human health and the health of the environment underpin our ability to survive and are a priority for me. I want to see housing policy and property development that puts the needs of people first – a core principle in providing a decent quality of life for all.

Prioritising the protection of the natural world – air, sea, and land – whilst creating sustainable, green jobs for life.
My experience I’m a mother of three, an ecologist, and an environmental education specialist. I’m a former Greenpeace activist, a former Irish surf champion, and a green entrepreneur. Having grown up in Tramore, Co. Waterford, I’ve been a lifelong nature-enthusiast and environmentalist, with a particular love of the sea. Two years ago I was honoured to be elected as a member of Seanad Éireann. Since entering the world of politics I have worked within committees and on the ground in a number of key areas with an ecological and human dimension to them, tackling environmental and social issues head-on, with passion and dedication.

Session: Technology and Innovation Policy for Island Sustainability.

A seasoned management professional, Alexa Lightbourne currently serves as a Special Advisor to the Premier of Bermuda. Her previous government experience included serving as a Policy Analyst in the Ministry of Health.

In the political sphere, she managed the Progressive Labour Party's successful 2017 general election campaign in Bermuda and was involved as a campaign consultant with political parties in Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts & Nevis and Grenada. She also worked on President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign for President.

In the corporate sector, she was a consultant with Deloitte and worked on a number of private sector management projects. Ms. Lightbourne holds an LLB from the University of Westminster.

Session: Democracy in the Islands: Political, Issue & Public Affairs Campaigns.

Benito Wheatley is the Special Envoy of the Premier and British Virgin Islands (BVI) Government Advisor on International Relations, with a particular focus on the United Kingdom (UK), European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN).

He was formerly the BVI Representative to the UK and EU during which time he served as the Territory’s chief diplomat and Director of the BVI London Office, as well as Senior International Strategist for the Premier’s Office with responsibility for UN and the Commonwealth. Benito is a member of the prestigious International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and AMLP Forum—The Financial Crime and Corruption Association.

He holds a Master of Science degree in Diplomacy and International Strategy from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Morehouse College. He has represented the BVI in numerous international fora on a range of subjects such as financial services, climate change, biodiversity, hurricane recovery and constitutional relations, among other things.

Session: Overseas Territories after Brexit: Opportunities and Challenges of being part of ‘Global Britain’.

As a 14 year old, she co-hosted, for 4 years, the Jamaican TV Talk Show named “Rappin” that exposed youth views and inculcated in her empathy for all youth. She was Queens High School Head Girl and UNDP appointee as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. In 1993, she won the Miss Jamaica World and Miss World Titles.

She’s a Karate black belt and a Karate Instructor and holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Communications from University of the West Indies (UWI). Her leadership qualities shone during her stint at UWI when, as a final year undergraduate, she conceptualized and raised funds to build a much needed Computer Lab for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. She also served as External Affairs Chairperson for the Student Government.

Lisa Hanna became Jamaica’s youngest female Member of Parliament when she was elected in 2007 to represent South-East St. Ann. She has twice been re-elected. She was also Chairperson of her Party’s Region One between 2008-2016 and Youth and Culture Minister from 2012-2016.

In 2013 under her leadership she formed an Inter- Ministerial Committee for Children which involved all relevant Ministries, The Office of the Children’s Advocate; and other State Agencies that worked with Children. This approach yielded great results including the separation of children from Adult Correctional Facilities and police lock ups, the introduction of the Arts For Life Programme at the South Camp Facility for Girls to teach drama, dance and art, the allocation of increased resources to help find missing children under the Ananda Alert System, a 50% reduction in violence in schools under the Safe Schools Programme, more children being removed from state care to family environments, the removal of children being locked up for uncontrollable behaviour, the introduction of the Smiles Mobile Unit to help children with counseling, additional resources to build child friendly spaces at police stations across the country, the introduction of the Children’s Advisory Panel and the implementation of The Keating Report to name a few.

The UN acknowledged these achievements and as a result, Marta Santos Pais, UN Secretary General's Special Advisor on Children and Violence travelled to Jamaica to host the first ever regional conference discuss best practices and solutions for countries in the Caribbean and Latin America.

By 2014 Jamaica recorded solid progress at UNICEF, especially with finding solutions to persistent problems involving child rights. Jamaica’s success, particularly in the way we turned around our approaches to children in lockups and correctional facilities, resonated globally through the walls of the UN. From our interventions and programmes, Jamaica moved up 52 places in the most recent UNICEF Kids Rights Index, to be ranked 51 out of 163 countries globally.

As Minister, she also spearheaded the successful lobby for Jamaica’s first ever election to UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee leading to Jamaica’s Blue and John Crow Mountains’ dedication as an official World Heritage Site.

She currently serves as the Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

She is Treasurer of the People's National Party (PNP)

She’s Married to Richard Lake and is Mother to Alexander Panton.

Celeste Connors has twenty years of experience working at the intersection of economic, environment, energy, and international development policy. Before joining Hawai‘i Green Growth, she was CEO and co-founder of cdots development LLC, and served as the Director for Environment and Climate Change at the National Security Council and National Economic Council in the White House where she helped shape the Administration’s climate and energy policies, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Celeste also served as a diplomat in Saudi Arabia, Greece, Germany, and U.S. Mission to the UN. Celeste is a Senior Adjunct Fellow at the East-West Center. Celeste has served on numerous boards including her current service on Hawaiian Electric Industries, the Global Island Partnership (GLISPA), the Institute for Sustainability and Resilience at the University of Hawaii and Icebreaker One. Celeste grew up in Kailua, O‘ahu.

Session: Plenary Session - Island Collaboration and Planning for the Future.

Marisol Andrade Cárdenas, was born on August 23, 1962, in the Porvenir Commune, Tierra del Fuego Province, near Chile.
Basic studies carried out at the Bernardo O’Higgins School, secondary education is carried out at the Higher Institute of Commerce, with the title of Accountant; In the city of Punta Arenas, in the same city, she carries out higher education at the University of Magallanes, graduating as an Accountant Auditor.

In the workplace, she worked at Hospital de Porvenir, Head of the Accounting Department and in the Provincial Government of Tierra del Fuego, position, Head of Administration and Finance. She currently holds the position of Mayor of Porvenir.

Session: Local Government Roundtable (Sesión en Español)

Pedro Edmunds Paoa has been Mayor of Easter Island for six terms and is a member of the Council of Elders and Honui, which groups together the Rapa Nui clans.

As a Culture Manager and Leader, he participated in the first genealogical research of the Rapa Nui people, in language conservation projects, in toponymy studies and in the projection of the Indigenous Law, which recognized the original peoples of the country.

As a participant in various seminars worldwide and the creator of the LOVE Plan, with its components being Self-Sustainability, Continuous Improvements, Resource Optimization and Respect, Pedro promoted an alliance with the United Nations, making Easter Island a mirror territory of the application of the 2030 Agenda, the basis of the work carried out by the municipality during the pandemic, reaching a territory without coronavirus and establishing itself as the first commune to return to classes.

Session: Local Government Roundtable (Sesión en Español)

Lourdes “Lou” Aflague Leon Guerrero is one of three children born to the late Jesus S. Leon Guerrero and Eugenia A. Leon Guerrero. Along with her brothers Tony and Jesse, she learned from her parents the importance of hard work, compassion, and the responsibility we all have to give back to our community.

A graduate of the Academy of Our Lady of Guam, Lou embarked on a career in nursing, securing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from California State University, and later a Masters of Public Health from UCLA. She has worked as a staff nurse in hospitals in both California and Guam. Lou also has held several management positions in health care at both the Guam Memorial Hospital and FHP Inc., as well as serving on the GMHA Board of Trustees. To this day, Lou continues to be passionate about health care and has maintained her licensure as a registered nurse.

In 1994, Lou was elected to the first of five terms in the Guam Legislature. As a Senator, Lou held the posts of Majority Leader as well as Chair of the Rules and Health Committees. Among her achievements are laws creating the Healthy Futures Fund and banning smoking in restaurants and bars.

With the passing of her brother Tony, Lou assumed the helm at the Bank of Guam as its new CEO and President. Under her leadership, the Bank of Guam doubled its assets to become a $2 billion enterprise. Lou has also served on the boards of many civic organizations. In particular, Lou is a founding member, past board member and past President of the Guam Women’s Chamber of Commerce. Her many awards and honors include Guam Business Magazine’s 2010 Executive of the Year, SBA –Women in Business Champion, AOLG Hall of Fame and American Nurses Association Excellence in Nursing award.

Lou is married to Attorney Jeff Cook and they have two children and seven grandchildren.

Session: Grand Opening - Eastern Hemisphere.

The Hon Enele Sosene Sopoaga is the former Prime Minister of Tuvalu and current Leader of Opposition. Hon. Sopoaga holds a Master of Arts in International Relations, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom. He was born on the 10th February 1956. Below is a summary of Hon. Sopoaga's skills and experience:

Extensive foreign policy analytical and application skills
Development and management of Tuvalu’s diplomatic relations for over twenty years:
foreign policy analysis and implementation, bilateral negotiations, multilateral negotiations, representation in conferences and implementation strategies.

National Sectoral planning skills
Project design, implementation and management. Negotiations and donor co-operation.
Analysis and implementation of macroeconomic policies and aspects of fiscal policies.

Sustainable development experience
Over thirty years of practical work experience both at the local and regional level in thePacific, and management of regional and international affairs and development issues which affect small-island developing States. Extensive involvement in high-level negotiations with development partners on development assistance programmes; advocacy and negotiations on climate change and global warming issues particularly mitigation and adaptation to their adverse effects.

His Excellency David W. Panuelo is the Ninth President of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).

Born April 13, 1964, Panuelo completed his early education on his home island of Pohnpei, and continued his education in the United States of America where he received his Bachelor’s in Political Science from Eastern Oregon University in 1987. Panuelo returned to his beloved home and, aspiring to serve the Nation and its citizens, started his career with the FSM National Government in the Department of Foreign Affairs as a Foreign Service Officer. A year later, he was confirmed as the Deputy Ambassador for the FSM Embassy to Fiji where he served until 1993 where, upon his return to Palikir, he was re-appointed to serve his Nation in the same role at the FSM Mission to the United Nations from 1993 through 1996.

After nearly a decade serving the FSM abroad, Panuelo returned home and, having been recognized as deep, strategic, and passionate thinker, was immediately offered a Cabinet position in the Pohnpei State Government, which he accepted so as to address more focused and pragmatic issues at the state level. In 1997, Panuelo was named the Director of the Department of Resource Management and Development for the State of Pohnpei and, for the next four years, devoted his energy and cross-cultural experiences to enhance the development of resources in Pohnpei, correlating with Pohnpei’s increased GDP per capita. At the end of the Administration in 2000/2001, he returned to the FSM Department of Foreign Affairs and served as the Assistant Secretary for the Division of American and European Affairs.

In 2003, Panuelo—recalling the Government’s desire to grow the private sector and create jobs for the citizens of the Nation—resigned from government work to re-direct his energy and efforts to the development of the private sector. For the next seven years, Panuelo established various businesses ranging from construction to human services, including the non-profit Care Micronesia Foundation.

Having demonstrated to himself that the FSM is capable of sustaining a healthy private sector, Panuelo entered his name in the national elections of 2011 with the goal of developing the Nation’s economy and human capacity.

On May 11th, 2011, Panuelo was seated as Pohnpei State’s two-year Senator from Congressional District Three to the 17th Congress, and was re-elected unopposed in 2013 and 2015. During the special election of 2015, Panuelo entered the race for, and was seated, as the State of Pohnpei’s four-year at-large representative to the 19th Congress, which he maintained into the 20th Congress.

Panuelo campaigned for the March 5th, 2019 election for the State of Pohnpei’s at-large seat for the 21st Congress, highlighting his various service-centered and people-centered accomplishments—including growing the FSM Trust Fund from $11,000,000 to more than $250,000,000—and on May 11th, 2019, Panuelo was elected by the 21st Congress of the FSM to serve as the Nation’s ninth President.

Panuelo is the loving father of five beautiful children and seven equally beautiful grandchildren.

Dr Preeya Mohan is a Fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. She has conducted research on and is widely published in a range of topics focused around Caribbean growth and development, including diversification, natural disasters, extractive industries, firm competitiveness and innovation and entrepreneurship.

Session: Towards Sustainable Island Futures: Comparing Small Island States and Subnational Island Jurisdictions - A Report.

Anil Srivastava, chief executive officer of Leclanché, is a highly successful and experienced executive with a strong track record of building global businesses. His quarter-century experience spans the clean energy, digital technology and telecommunications markets.

He joined Leclanché in June 2014 and has engineered a turnaround of the 100-plus year-old battery manufacturer into a top tier provider of energy storage solutions serving the utilities and mobility/transportation industries.

Previously, Srivastava served as executive partner of Climate Holdings for two years. Prior to that, he was chief executive of Areva Renewables and a member of the Areva Group’s executive committee from January 2009 to December 2011.

For three years, he was the chief executive of a large offshore wind business in Germany. Earlier positions include senior roles in TomTom group, Alcatel-Lucent and AVAYA.

He obtained a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India, and graduated with an Executive MBA from the Wharton School of Business in the United States.

Srivastava is married to his wife and friend of 30 years, Jean Gonsalves, and reside near Lausanne, Switzerland. They have two young adult sons.

Session: Grand Opening - Western Hemisphere.

His Excellency Dr. Didacus Jules assumed the post of Director General, of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States in May 2014. In this capacity he is responsible for driving the regional integration thrust towards a single economic and social space involving ten Eastern Caribbean States.

Dr. Jules has had extensive regional and international experience, most of it focused on education, social policy and organisational transformation. He served as Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Examinations Council (2008-2014) leading a thorough modernization of the Council. He has also served as Vice President Human Resources Cable and Wireless St, Lucia (2005-2008); Permanent Secretary for Education & Human Resource Development St. Lucia (1997-2008) as well as Permanent Secretary for Education and Chief Education Officer in revolutionary Grenada from 1981-1983.

He has provided consultancy services to national governments, regional and international organisations in the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and North America. He chaired the World Bank’s Vision 2020 Committee on Education in the Caribbean and has served on many private sectors, educational, and philanthropic boards.

Gavin is a chartered accountant and chartered tax adviser. Having qualified in Guernsey, he worked in London for a couple of years and qualified as a barrister before returning to the island in 1995, following which he worked in the fiduciary sector.

He was a partner with international accounting firms KPMG and Deloitte and held senior positions locally at Kleinwort Benson and Barclays Wealth.

He was elected to the States of Deliberation in April 2012 and was Treasury and Resources Minister until 30th April 2016. Following his re-election to the States of Deliberation in April 2016, he was elected President of the Policy & Resources Committee, Guernsey’s Chief Minister on 4th May 2016.

Session: Technology and Innovation Policy for Island Sustainability.

Daniel Kammen is Professor and Chair of the Energy and Resources Group (ERG), and Professor in both the Goldman School of Public Policy, and the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. He served as Science Envoy for the US State Department, as Chief Technical Specialist for Renewable at the World Bank, and has been a Coordinating Lead Author for the IPCC since 1999. The IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Session: Grand Opening - Eastern Hemisphere.

H.E. Lois Michele Young is the Permanent Representative of Belize to the United Nations, and the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States under Belize's Chairmanship. She is a lawyer by profession, having served in both civil and high courts in Belize and the Caribbean region for many years prior to serving as Belize’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 2012, and Chair of AOSIS in 2019.

His Excellency Chad Blackman, is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva.

Ambassador Blackman has worked in the international development sector for over fifteen years, and has engaged as an international trade law specialist and development consultant respectively.

He served as a legal Consultant in Caribbean Law Firm, where he led the team on issues international trade and data protection laws from 2016.
Ambassador Blackman is the Chair for the Trade and Environment Committee in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and former Chair of the Trade and Development Committee and chairs the SIDS Group in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
He is an Associate member of the London based, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators , and has both an LLB Law and LLM International Trade Law from the University of Essex.

Anton E. Edmunds is the Ambassador of St. Lucia to the United States and the Permanent Representative of St. Lucia to the Organization of American States (OAS). He is also Saint Lucia’s High Commissioner (non-resident) to Canada, and Ambassador (non-resident) to Mexico.

Prior to taking up his appointments, Ambassador Edmunds worked in the private sector, providing advisory services to governments, businesses, and associations with interests in the Caribbean Basin region. Areas of focus included energy, competitiveness, maritime security, trade facilitation, financial services, business continuity/disaster responsiveness, and tourism.

From 1998 – 2009, Ambassador Edmunds worked with Caribbean Central American Action (CCAA), an independent corporation that promotes private sector-led economic development in the Caribbean
Central America. While at CCAA he was Chief of Party for a successful public/private sector program to protect over US $1billion in trade with Haiti.

He is a contributor to the Inter-American Dialogue’s Latin American Advisor publication; has been a Senior Associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); and the Chair of the Caribbean Program at the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute. He was also the coordinator for a World Bank funded Caribbean Sustainable Energy and Strategy (C-SERMS) Platform.

Ambassador Edmunds has a Bachelor’s degree from The Catholic University of America and a Master’s Degree from the American University.

Session: Technology and Innovation Policy for Island Sustainability.

Anna Baldacchino is a provider of specialist services in the area of Adult Education and Child Development to tertiary education institutions in Malta and abroad. She has served as a Learning Manager at Holland College and part-time lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Prince Edward Island, both in Canada. She has delivered various presentations on themes relating to Adult Education and Child Development in Taiwan, Sweden, Japan, Canada, Australia and Barbados. Anna now teaches at the Faculty of Education (Early Years) at the University of Malta.

Anna holds a Diploma in Early Childhood Education, a Bachelor’s Degree in Child and Family Studies and a Master’s Degree in Education, Leadership and Learning. Her Master’s thesis explored the challenges involved in implementing child-centred learning pedagogies. She also holds a Doctorate from the University of Sheffield in the UK.

Session: Further Education and Preparation for Work.

Dr. Laurie Brinklow is Co-ordinator of the UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability and the Institute of Island Studies at University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, Canada, where she facilitates and supports research on sustainable communities on islands around the world, as well as knowledge mobilization and public engagement activities. She also teaches ‘islandness’ in the Master of Arts in Island Studies program and supervises graduate students. She is Secretary of the International Small Island Studies Association and Treasurer of the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation, and is Iceland’s Honorary Consul to Prince Edward Island. A passionate Islander, her PhD research explored people’s attachment to islands by examining 'islandness' in Tasmanian and Newfoundland artists. She is also a published poet, editor, and former book publisher.

Session: Towards Sustainable Island Futures: Comparing Small Island States and Subnational Island Jurisdictions - A Report.

For the past 8 years, Jim Randall has been the Coordinator of the MA Island Studies program at UPEI and the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Institute of Island Studies. He recently started a second four-year term as UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability. Jim is the Principal Investigator of the three-year Sustainable Island Futures research program being discussed in this webinar. This project brings together researchers and practitioners from 12 island states and subnational island jurisdictions (SNIJs) around the world to examine how different systems of governance (and especially the differences between island states and SNIJs) influence approaches to sustainability and sustainable development. In his spare time, Jim has also just completed a Bachelor's-level Introduction Island Studies textbook that should be in print at about the time this webinar takes place.

Session: Towards Sustainable Island Futures: Comparing Small Island States and Subnational Island Jurisdictions - A Report.

Olly Newton spent 12 years in the Department for Education working on policies including 14-19 diplomas, raising the participation age and finally as Head of Apprenticeship Strategy. Olly is now Executive Director of the Edge Foundation, where he oversees a programme of primary research, is lead author on all of the charity’s policy reports and runs the Edge Future Learning delivery programme for schools and colleges. At Edge, Olly founded the Island Education Network to support and connect islands around the UK and overseas with their education work. In his spare time, Olly volunteers with the Scout Association, is Enterprise Adviser for Firth Park Academy and supports community theatre in Sheffield.

Session: Further Education and Preparation for Work.

Matthew A. McMillan is an accomplished international political & public affairs consultant that has worked in 30 regions, countries and territories around the world. He has won dozens of political consulting awards, has organized large-scale events and has advised Heads of State, Opposition Leaders, Governors, major political parties and well known corporate brands around the world.

In the Caribbean, Mr. McMillan has worked on high profile political, corporate and public affairs campaigns in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Mr. McMillan holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from Columbia University. He is based in Washington, DC.

Sessions: Grand Opening - Western Hemisphere | Democracy in the Islands: Political, Issue & Public Affairs Campaigns.

Victor Richardson, is a seasoned field strategist and political and public affairs management expert with a wide range of experience across many levels of US and international issue, public policy and electoral campaigns. Mr. Richardson has directed projects across North America, the Caribbean, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Africa. He specializes in political management consulting, field systems development, project management and communications. In 2013, he was awarded the "Rising Star" in political consulting by Campaigns & Elections magazine. In 2018, he was given the “40 Under 40” award by the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC).

Mr. Richardson holds a BA (Phi Beta Kappa) in Classics and English from Howard University and an MPP in Public Policy from Georgetown University. He is based on the island of Antigua.

Session: Democracy in the Islands: Political, Issue & Public Affairs Campaigns.

Jan is an experienced Teacher and Adviser with a demonstrated history of working in educational leadership and management across all phases. Skilled in coaching, teacher training and professional development as well as the strategic leadership of curriculum development, careers and employability education. She is an advocate of choice and opportunity for children and young people, with a real passion for life wide and life long learning.

Session: Further Education and Preparation for Work.

Peter Clegg is an Associate Professor in Politics and Head of the Department of Health and Social Sciences at the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.

He was formerly Visiting Research Fellow at both KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of South East Asian and Caribbean Studies, Leiden, The Netherlands, and at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES), University of the West Indies, Jamaica.

His main research interests focus on contemporary developments within the British Overseas Territories and the international political economy of the Caribbean. Recent books include Euro-Caribbean Societies in the 21st Century (with S. Chauvin and B. Cousin) and Post-colonial trajectories in the Caribbean: The Three Guianas (with R. Hoefte and M. Bishop). He has had articles published recently in Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, The Contemporary Pacific, Third World Quarterly and The Round Table.

Session: Overseas Territories after Brexit: Opportunities and Challenges of being part of ‘Global Britain’.

Senator Percy Downe was appointed to the Senate of Canada on June 26, 2003 and lives in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. He is the current Liaison of the Canadian Senators Group, Vice-President of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association, and Chair of the Canada-United Arab Emirates Parliamentary Friendship Group.

Most recently, he served on the inaugural National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, and the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade as Vice Chair.

Before coming to the Senate, Senator Downe was the Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien.

Session: Technology and Innovation Policy for Island Sustainability.

Gerard Prinsen teaches Development Studies at Massey University New Zealand and is Research Associate at the University of Prince Edward Island (Canada). After a professional career in development practice, he turned ‘pracademic’ and most of his research revolves around local health and education services as spaces where small, rural, or remote communities negotiate their relationships with big metropolitan powers.

Session: Towards Sustainable Island Futures: Comparing Small Island States and Subnational Island Jurisdictions - A Report.

Armando A. Valdés Prieto is a lawyer, writer, and political consultant. He is a former Director of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s Office of Management and Budget, President of the Board of the Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation, advisor to two governors, and intergovernmental affairs director at the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, among many other roles in public service.

He has done campaign work in the US, Puerto Rico, Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico, and is a partner at BuzzMaker, a political consulting firm based out of Washington, DC. He is a weekly columnist in the San Juan edition of Metro, and an occasional op-ed contributor to The Washington Post, Latino Rebels, El Nuevo Día and El Vocero.

He holds degrees from Yale (B.A.), Johns Hopkins (M.A.) and the University of Puerto Rico (J.D.). He lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico with his wife, his daughter, a cat and a dog.

Session: Democracy in the Islands: Political, Issue & Public Affairs Campaigns.

Frédéric TARDIEU is a retired property developer who, with his wife, has decided to devote their energy to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems on the tiny island of Pangatalan, in Palawan (Philippines).
Frédéric is president of the Sulubaai Environmental Foundation, a non-profit organization based in the Philippines and France, dedicated to the conservation, protection and restoration of the natural resources of the island of Palawan.

Restoring the coral, creating connected marine protected areas, regenerating fishery resources and helping populations dependent on coral reefs are the main commitments of the SULUBAAI foundation.

Session: Gestion intégrée des ressources naturelles et développement durable des petites iles (Integrated management of natural resources and sustainable development of small islands).

Kalim Shah is currently leading the new Island Policy Lab at the University of Delaware. He is a globally recognized expert on policy and regulatory design and implementation in island states, particularly in environmental, energy, climate and corporate sustainability fields. From his 'institutional structuration' model for meeting national clean energy targets; his 'triple-steam' sectoral climate adaptation approach; his 'legitimacy gap' analysis for building public-private partnerships; and his island-adapted methods for regulatory impact assessments, Kalim continues advancing applied island research. With over thirty research publications, his innovative approaches are being applied by governments, multilateral banks and the private sector in island contexts. Most recently he completed Guyana's first National Climate Change Policy and is now working with Guam and the Marianas Islands to model their national clean energy transition pathways. He is originally from Trinidad & Tobago, is a Fulbright Scholar and holds a Doctorate in Public Policy.

Session: Technology and Innovation Policy for Island Sustainability.

Owner of Barbados' most awarded and regarded advertising firm which also has offices in Trinidad & Tobago, Jevan Jutagir is a Caribbean advertising powerhouse. He has worked with a who's who of corporate clients providing advertising, marketing, public relations and public affairs services. From the financial industry to transport to telecommunications to beverages, his firm represents a who's who of well known Caribbean brands, helping position their companies in competitive markets. Prior to starting RED, Mr. Jutagir worked for a decade in London for global beverage brands and for global advertising firm McCann Erickson. Mr. Jutagir received a degree from the University of Aberdeen after growing up in Trinidad.

Session: Democracy in the Islands: Political, Issue & Public Affairs Campaigns.

Dr Stuart Minchin is currently the Director-General/CEO of the largest intergovernmental organisation in the Pacific. The Pacific Community (SPC) is a science and technology for development organisation owned by the 26 Member countries and territories in the Pacific region. SPC’s 650 staff deliver services and scientific advice to the Pacific across the domains of Oceans, Islands and People, and has deep expertise in food security, water resources, fisheries, disasters, energy, maritime, health, statistics, education, human rights, social development and natural resources. Stuart was previously Chief of the Environmental Geoscience Division of Geoscience Australia.

He has an extensive background in the management and modelling of environmental data and the online delivery of data, modelling and reporting tools for improved natural resource management. Stuart has represented Australia in key international forums and was Australia’s Principal Delegate to both the UN Global Geospatial Information Management Group of Experts (UNGGIM) and the Intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO).

He also currently serves on the Editorial Board of the International Journal “Ecological Indicators”.

Session: Plenary Session - Island Collaboration and Planning for the Future.

Dr. Laura Hosman is Associate Professor at Arizona State University, holding a joint appointment in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and in The Polytechnic School. Her action-oriented work focuses on the role for new technologies in developing countries, particularly in education. Hosman is also co-founder and director of SolarSPELL, an offline solar-powered digital library initiative designed for low-resource locations. The SolarSPELL (Solar Powered Educational Learning Library) is portable, rugged, and filled with localized, open-access content, and paired with locally-based trainers, in order to build critical skills like information literacy.

Session: Technology and Innovation Policy for Island Sustainability.

Bochra Nabli is the President of Kerkennah Island Committee and an elected at the Kerkennah Town Council. She is also the President of the Tourism Comity and a Professor of History and Geography in Kerkennah. She has always been very active in various civil society organisations of Kerkennah.

Session: Gestion intégrée des ressources naturelles et développement durable des petites iles (Integrated management of natural resources and sustainable development of small islands).

Louise is the Principal of the Guernsey College of Further Education, a general Further Education College which forms part of the Guernsey Institute delivering all Further, Higher and professional learning for the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Louise has worked in education for over 24 years, originally teaching Health and Social Care, she was a qualified nurse working in Guernsey, UK and Australia; she has also worked in Public Health. Louise has Cert Ed, a BSc in Health Studies, and an MSc in Education and is currently studying for a Professional Doctorate in Education part-time with the University of Exeter. As Principal, she is committed to working in partnership with industry to ensure that the curriculum matches local current and future needs, both for students and to support economic development. She is committed to the development of excellence in teaching and learning and is always seeking new ways to enable and support innovation in vocational pedagogy.

Session: Further Education and Preparation for Work.

Evangelia Papoutsaki, PhD Cardiff, is the SICRI Convenor (Small Island Cultures Research Initiative) and Associate Professor at the University of Central Asia; Editor in Chief of ePress, Unitec Auckland, New Zealand and former International Research Fellow at the Center for Pacific Islands Research at Kagoshima University. Her professional background and academic interests are on island studies and communication for social change. She has extensive experience in the Pacific, including her previous position as Head of Communication Arts Department at DWU in Papua New Guinea, involvement in major research projects and editorial roles (Island Studies Journal and SHIMA, Okinawa Journal of Island Studies, Contemporary PNG Studies Journal and Pacific Journalism Review). She has published three edited volumes on Pacific and PNG communication issues.

Session: Local Government Roundtable (English session).

Jean Hervé Bararizafy was born in Ambilobe, in the Diana region in Madagascar, and graduated from the National Institute of Tourism of Madagascar. He is an expert in Malagasy marine protected areas, as he has worked in many different marine protected areas in the country, including Masoala, Marojejy, Isalo, Kirindy Mité. All these sites have their own specificities and endemic species that need to be well known to be protected efficiently. He currently is the Director of the Marine Park of Nosy Hara.

Session: Gestion intégrée des ressources naturelles et développement durable des petites iles (Integrated management of natural resources and sustainable development of small islands).

Arthur Trembanis is the director of the Coastal Sediments, Hydrodynamics and Engineering Laboratory (CSHEL) in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment at the University of Delaware. The work of CSHEL involves the development and utilization of advanced oceanographic instrumentation, particularly autonomous underwater vehicles for seafloor mapping and benthic habitat characterization. He received a bachelor's degree in geology from Duke University in 1998, a Fulbright Fellowship at the University of Sydney in 1999, and a Ph.D. in marine sciences from the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences in 2004.

Session: Technology and Innovation Policy for Island Sustainability

Mrs. Hélène Morin has a solid experience in management and coordination of collaborative European projects and she is specialized in technical and financial management of those consortium oriented towards innovation and cluster development. As representative of the ICE project coordinator and together with her team, she is first supporting demonstration pilotes, making sure it is in line with business expectation actions and, second, overlooking all communication activities around the project.

Session: Intelligent Energy Solutions for Isolated Territories: The Ushant Case Study

Sébastien is a founding partner at Edenway in charge of Project Coordination and Business Development. He has 20 years of experience in consulting at both strategic and operational levels. His expertise is based on the management of innovative projects with multidisciplinary teams. In ICE, he is supporting BDI in the Management and Communication work packages.

Session: Intelligent Energy Solutions for Isolated Territories: The Ushant Case Study

Dr Phedeas Stephanides is an environmental social scientist who draws from disciplines such as Human Geography, Science and Technology Studies (STS), and Environmental Sociology. His research is concerned with the changing relations between science, innovation and society in contemporary democracies, particularly in environment and sustainability contexts and in response to issues of energy, climate change and emerging technologies. In his capacity as a Senior Research Associate in Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia, he has successfully engaged with key stakeholders and energy publics at an international level to explore the full range of forms of public participation around sustainability transitions. He currently co-leads Work Package 5 of the Intelligent Community Energy project (funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the INTERREG VA France (Channel) England Programme), exploring aspects of societal engagement around sustainable energy futures and smart energy feedback in the context of insular energy systems and islands.

Session: Intelligent Energy Solutions for Isolated Territories: The Ushant Case Study

Dr. John Telesford is a Lecturer in the School of Continuing Education at the T. A. Marryshow Community College, St. George, Grenada. His research interest lies at the interface of policy and resource use (focus on energy) in small island states and jurisdictions, leading towards sustainable island futures and achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). As an 'Island Researcher', he focuses on topics and have published and consulted in the fields of sustainable energy, climate change, blue/green economy, waste management and the circular economy, resource flows/stocks/services nexus, sustainable tourism, sustainable entrepreneurship and education for sustainable development. His work is concentrated in the Caribbean region.

Session: Towards Sustainable Island Futures: Comparing Small Island States and Subnational Island Jurisdictions - A Report.

Francesco Sindico is the Founder and Co-Director of the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG) at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. There he heads EILEAN, an initiative that explores how island communities engage with legal and political processes to promote resilience and sustainability. Francesco has collaborated with Scottish Government in the implementation of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 and has contributed to the first ever National Islands Plan in 2019. In 2020 he has coordinated with Island Innovation a global survey on Islands and COVID-19 with responses from islands in 52 countries worldwide. Francesco leads Island Explorers, an education programme for primary schools that introduces sustainability using islands as a geographical context. Building on Island Explorers, Francesco leads the youth and school component of the One Ocean Hub, a five-year multi partner research for development project focused on global ocean governance.

Session: Local Government Roundtable (Sesión en Español).

Jonathan Williams founded MSE in 2005 and has been CEO ever since. He has led the company’s development to become a catalyst for marine business investment in innovation and diversification. MSE is now internationally recognised as a leading European marine cluster, centred on the world-class business and research capabilities of the UK's Solent region.

His understanding of innovation as a business process was developed during four years at the think tank “Centre for Exploitation of Science & Technology (CEST)” in London. His previous industrial experience includes engineering design and project management within the offshore energy industry, based in UK, Norway and Italy.

He holds engineering degrees from Cambridge University, Imperial College (London) and Cranfield University. He is a Chartered Engineer, and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology. He has served in several non-executive roles including Board member at the Environment Council.

Atul’s work at the University of the South Pacific, a regional university, involves teaching and researching in materials/devices/policies and community engagement for renewable energy development in the island countries. He is also an adjunct associate professor at SPREE, UNSW Australia. He has been a consultant to SEFP (WB), IUCN, ADB and UNEP among others. He is a member of the Pacific Energy Advisory Group and an IEEE Senior Member. He has contributed to Fiji’s Low Emissions Development Strategy report, National Communications to UNFCCC and REN21 Renewables Status Reports. He is a strong supporter of energy for productive use and recommends a synergistic approach to SDGs.

Session: Technology and Innovation Policy for Island Sustainability.

Angus Brendan MacNeil was born and brought up in Tangasdale, on the Isle of Barra, on the Western Isles of Scotland. He was educated at Castlebay School, Isle of Barra; The Nicolson Institute, Isle of Lewis, Strathclyde University and Jordanhill, Glasgow.

After working as a journalist with the BBC, he taught for two years in Salen, Isle of Mull, where he started the Gaelic Medium Unit before moving to Fort William. Angus Brendan lives on his croft in Barra and has three daughters. He is an active crofter on Barra.

Angus Brendan MacNeil was elected MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar in 2005 and he has a high profile throughout his constituency. The main islands in the constituency, which is the length of Wales, include Lewis and Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and Barra.

Over the last Parliament Angus Brendan has successfully fought for his constituents on issues as varied as coastguards, fishing, fuel and mobile phone connectivity.

In 2015 he was elected Chair of the influential Energy & Climate Committee until its dissolution in July 2016. In 2016 he was elected as the first ever Chair of the International Trade Committee, re-elected again in 2020 following the 2019 General Election.

During his 15 years in Parliament he has served as SNP Spokesperson on Transport, Foreign Affairs & Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Economist, lawyer & politician. MP in the Faroese Parliament.

Former Minister of Finance (2015-2019) and former Minister of Education, Research & Culture. First time MP in 2002.

Career in IT, marketing & development within banking & insurance. Former board member of various companies.

Two master degrees from Copenhagen University (cand.polit & cand.jur) & a CBA from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. 45 years and 4 children.

Dean Jennings is an accomplished marine industry executive with more than 20 years’ engineering, business development and management experience.

He joined Leclanché in October 2018 as vice president of the company’s e-Marine business and part of its eTransport group. He is responsible for the complete direction of the business including product development, sales, engineering and customer support.

Previously, he was regional sales manager of communication systems at Eaton marketing its hazardous area communications portfolio. Prior to joining Eaton, he served as sales manager, offshore production systems for Kongsberg Maritime, delivering marine automation systems to the oil and gas sector.

Jennings spent more than 11 years at ABB Marine, rising in the ranks from senior installation and commissioning service engineer to serving as technical account manager. He began his career serving in the British Royal Navy for 10 years on minesweeping frigates.

Jennings graduated from the Royal Navy School of Engineering with a Bachelor of Science in marine electrical engineering and is currently pursuing an MBA. Married and the father of three children, Jennings lives in Angus, Scotland.

Mark C.J. Stoddart is Professor in the Department of Sociology at Memorial University, with research interests in environmental sociology, social movements, and communications and culture. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Industrial Development and Eco-Tourism: Can Oil Extraction and Nature Conservation Co-Exist? (Palgrave). His work appears in a range of international journals, including Global Environmental Change, Energy Research & Social Science, Organization & Environment, Environmental Politics, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Environmental Communication, Mobilities, and Social Movement Studies.

Session: Towards Sustainable Island Futures: Comparing Small Island States and Subnational Island Jurisdictions - A Report

Sverre Eriksen is senior principal approval engineer, electrical systems, for DNV GL Maritime based in Norway. DNV GL Maritime is the world’s leading classification society and a recognized advisor for the maritime industry. DNV GL Maritime enhance safety, quality, energy efficiency and environmental performance of the global shipping industry – across all vessel types and offshore structures.
He joined DNV GL Maritime in 2008. Eriksen has worked with electrification of ships since 2011 and has followed up the safety of battery installations onboard many ships. He has also been responsible for developing the DNV GL class rules for battery powered ships.
Eriksen has a Master of Science degree in Electric Power Engineering from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Halfdan Abrahamsen is the information manager at Ærø EnergyLab.
Ærø EnergyLab develops and manages renewable energy projects on the island of Ærø, Denmark. Abrahamsen holds a Master's degree in English and Media and has previously been employed in the Danish state, in the educational sector. However, his deep interest in environmental matters and environmental policy and philosophy led him to Ærø, where he enjoys the opportunity to mediate new environmental technologies and policies.

Citizen and political journey:
I was born in 1983 and I grew up in La Possession (Camp Magloire). After graduation, I went to mainland France to pursue my studies in Toulouse and Paris, which gave me an “enlarged” vision of the world and strengthened my will to promote my home Island on a global scale. From a very young age, I have particularly taken an interest in acting for citizens, in doing together to move forward and always do better, especially in terms of sustainable development.
Committed from the age of 18 in associative circles and that of political organizations, I have actually carried from my youngest age after having planted a tree in the courtyard of my school, a certain interest in respecting the environment and with a few more years, the values of citizenship, transparency and sustainable development in all its considerations.
A "JeuneVert" member when I was 18, member of Greenpeace and WWF, and also member of the Food Bank, Unicef and Restos du Cœur, I joined the Greens of Reunion Island, before creating the Possession movement in 2011 "Solidarity Ecology" which has become the Citizens of Reunion In Action. After a candidacy in 2010 for the regional, in 2011 for the cantonal, I became Mayor of the City of La Possession in 2014. Last June, I was re-elected in the last municipal election.
I became the fourth woman Mayor in the History of Reunion Island and the third youngest mayor of the island.
I am also Vice-President of TCO intercommunality in charge of sustainable development and innovation, President of the Inhabited Heart Commission of Mafate and Vice-President of CYCLEA.
I also have the objective of making the Possession, and more particularly the other municipalities that are part of the TCO, models of sustainable territories and innovation.

Political vision:
We have a thoughtful, long-term and sustainable political vision. The development, the dynamism and the influence of a City is conceived as a whole with foresight: how to ensure that the Citizens can flourish on a daily basis in their city when leaving their home? How can they benefit from public services of quality while being able to contribute and participate in the management of their municipality? How to ensure that every detail is thought of to improve the daily life of citizens? This is our motto.
We believe in the people's empowerment and believe that city management can really be achieved in concert with the inhabitants since they are at the very heart of all projects, actions and the future. And we still want to discuss and act on major issues relating to the job market, economic development, education, health, citizenship, ecology, social problems, citizen actions, events, budgetary guidelines, agriculture, economy, inclusion, youth, digital ... .
Transparency and benevolence are particularly important axes. We always want to do better, with consistency and fairness, according to criteria of merit or need; whether in the allocation of grants and the selection of projects. We will continue to carry out projects that have the most impact on the inhabitants of "La Possession" such as: major development projects, solidarity and outreach activities, and actions on education and, we will keep resisting to pressure by refusing to '' grant unjustified privileges (contracts, land decommissioning, etc.) so that to maintain fairness to all.

Dr James Fletcher is a former Minister for Public Service, Information, Broadcasting, Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology in the Government of Saint Lucia.

Dr. Fletcher served as one of the chief high level negotiators for the Caribbean and the Association of Small Island States in the international climate change negotiations. He played a pivotal role in the adoption of the historic Paris Agreement on Climate Change in December 2015.

Dr. Fletcher is also credited with leading one of the most ambitious sustainable energy programmes in the Caribbean, through an innovative model that leaned heavily on the creation of effective strategic partnerships. His work in bridging the digital divide in Saint Lucia, stimulating digital entrepreneurship, and enhancing the management of water resources is also highly lauded.

In 2019, Dr. Fletcher was chosen by the Chevening Scholarship program as one of the Chevening 35 Global Changemakers.

As Executive Director, Dr. Bertin leads a team of twelve, ensuring that the Secretariat’s role of advocacy on electric utilities and energy issues is effectively executed, advising the board on aspects of CARILEC’s operations and developing and maintaining good working relationships with utility executives, regional decision-makers, business community leaders, and interest groups.His accomplishments in the Public Sector, ICT and Telecommunications, Management of Change and Innovation, Institutional Strengthening, Capacity Building and Research, over the last twenty years, are most relevant to the CARILEC mission and vision, particularly in light of the significant transformation of the energy sector at this time.He has delivered presentations at various regional and international seminars and conferences, worked in academia,- lecturing and authoring several articles, papers and book chapters-, and completed high level consultancy assignments for various organizations, including electricity utilities in the Caribbean region, governments, universities, corporations and multi-lateral institutions such as the OECS Secretariat, the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL), United Nations Department of Economic & Social Affairs (UNDESA), the European Union Delegation to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the World Bank. Dr Bertin is a Saint Lucian and possesses a B.Sc. Management Studies (Hons.) from the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus; a M.Sc. Management Studies (Information Systems specialization), from UWI St. Augustine Campus; and a Ph.D. Information Systems and Change Management, City University Business School, London, UK.

Mr. Leroy A.E. Abraham is the General Manager/CEO of the British Virgin Islands Electricity Corporation (BVIEC), a position he has held since 2000. The BVI Electricity Corporation is the primary distributor of electricity in the British Virgin Islands providing service to 12 different islands. During his over thirty years tenure at the company, Mr. Abraham held a number of key positions, including Operations Engineer and Transmission & Distribution Engineer. Under his leadership, BVIEC has undergone numerous transitions towards its goals of being a regional leader in the electric utility business. Mr. Abraham holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts. He is a Chartered Engineer, and Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology in the United Kingdom. He is also the vice chairman and current Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC).

Andrew joined the Pacific Power Association Secretariat in Suva, Fiji, in April 2009, as the Senior Adviser - Power Sector, a position which was funded by the U.S. Department of Interior. Andrew Daka joined the Pacific Power Association after 22 years with the Solomon Islands Electricity Authority (now Solomon Power) where he served in various technical positions and was appointed General Manager in 2006.

He was appointed Executive Director of the Pacific Power Association in March 2011.

Andrew Daka is a graduate of the Papua New Guinea University of Technology, Lae, Papua New Guinea and the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.

As Chief Community Development Officer, Suzanne oversees strategy development for the 37-year-old Island Institute’s programs, with a focus on network development and sharing solutions along and beyond the coast of Maine. She has been a catalyst and leader of several national and global networks focused on island sustainability and is responsible for key Island Institute programs including the Waypoints: Community Indicators publication, the Island Fellows program, and the What Works Solutions Library.
For nine years, Suzanne directed the Institute's Community Energy Program, partnering with island communities in Maine, New England, and beyond to develop and implement practical strategies to lower their high energy costs. She remains active on climate and clean energy issues, currently serving as the Vice-Chair of the Efficiency Maine Trust Board of Trustees and on the Maine Climate Council. In 2015, Suzanne gave a TEDx Talk entitled “What Islands Can Teach Maine About Energy.”
Suzanne holds an M.A. in urban and environmental policy and planning from Tufts University and a B.A. in international development and political science from McGill University. She and her family live in Rockland, Maine and enjoy a close connection to the Monhegan Island community.

In the role of Community Development Officer, Meghan is responsible for data analysis and translation across the organization, collaborating with internal teams and community members on a variety of projects. As a Project Lead, she is responsible for the project management of the Community Data Team's portfolio of work, including the Waypoints: Community Indicators series. Her other roles include engaging communities in discussion, preparation, and adaptation around sea level rise and supporting the island and coastal schools with data resources and management.

Before joining the Island Institute, Meghan was a Research Fellow at the Cincinnati Area Geographic Information System working with constituents and governmental departments to collaboratively share data. During this time, she focused on using spatial econometric analysis to predict housing abandonment in the numerous neighborhoods of the city.

Meghan earned a Ph.D. in Regional Development Planning from the University of Cincinnati, an M.S. in Geography from Northern Illinois University, and a B.A. in Geography and History from Aquinas College. Originally from Michigan, her family currently lives on a farm in Nobleboro, Maine.

Mark has been supporting community-focussed island-based energy programmes over two decades. Since joining Community Energy Scotland, he has overseen hundreds of energy developments in domestic, community and commercial settings – including generation, demand reduction, and smart storage/management; a significant proportion of them on his home islands of Rousay and Mainland in Orkney. Currently, as part of his role as Head of Innovation, he oversees CES and community partner involvement in a portfolio of ground-breaking community smart-energy projects pushing the boundary of how communities own and interact with their local energy systems. These include: Scottish Government funded LECF Surf 'n' Turf, ACCESS, OHLEH and Heat Smart Orkney projects, two EU Horizon 2020 projects –SMILE and BIG HIT, an Innovate UK project looking to transfer our learning and experience from our Scottish Community activities to other areas, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, and, most recently, ReFLEX; a new £28M UKRI funded local storage and flexibility project encompassing all of Orkney, and TraDER; a way our (island) communities can benefit from trading flexible generation and demand live across local grids.

Roger Blackman is the Managing Director of Barbados Light & Power Company Limited (BL&P), a position he has held since July 2016. He has served BL&P and its parent company Emera Inc. in increasingly senior roles over the past 29 years. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Dominica Electricity Services (DOMLEC), St Lucia Electricity Services (LUCELEC) and the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC). Roger holds a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus and an MBA from Durham University. He is a member and Past President of the Barbados Association of Professional Engineers.

Dr Brickle is currently the Executive Director at SAERI as well as Reader in Biological Sciences at the University of Aberdeen. Paul formed part of the initial task-and-finish group which reognised the need for a world-class research institute in the Falkland Islands and the wider South Atlantic Overseas Territories, and has led the organisation since its inception in 2012. He has taken the organisation from a starting point of one-and-a-half employees and a small grant from FIG to the organisation it is today.

Paul’s interests include the ecology and oceanography of the southern Patagonian Shelf, particularly the reproductive biology, age and growth, population dynamics and the population structure of marine species inhabiting the waters of this region. He also has a keen interest marine parasites and their use as biological tags for investigating the population structure and migration of fish hosts. Paul forms part of a number of trophic studies of marine fish around the Falkland Islands and is interested in the environmental and fisheries impact on trophic structures in communities. His interests include shallow marine ecology, community ecology and biogeography of small isolated islands particularly those in the South Atlantic. Paul is an active scientific diving member of the Falkland Islands-based Shallow Marine Surveys Group.

Thomas is a Chartered Engineer and an Expert in Renewable Energy and Regulatory Frameworks for Small Island States. He has 10 years of experience in the analysis of generation, transmission and distribution projects, tariff and system planning studies, economic and financial analysis, power market design, regulation studies and technical innovation projects for utilities, private companies and regulators. Thomas has played a key role in projects supporting Regulators in Saint Lucia and Grenada establishing regulatory frameworks for the power sector. Thomas was also Lead Author of the Least Cost Development Plan for the islands of Sao Tome and Principe. More recently, Thomas was Technical Lead on projects to support the Regulatory Authority in Bermuda across a wide range of strategic topics, including but not limited to: the development of the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan, the 2020 Retail Tariff Review, the preparation of bulk generation procurement guidelines, and pre-feasibility studies for Solar PV projects across the island.

Dr. Philipp Blechinger is an international expert in renewable energy and rural electrification. He holds a PhD in engineering. In 2011, he joined the RLI and focused on the analysis of island energy systems by conducting his PhD project "Barriers for implementing renewable energies on Caribbean islands". Additionally, he started to develop the off-grid systems research group, which he is currently representing as team leader. Here he managed and conducted a wide range of international projects on energy access and island energy supply. Examples include the rural electrification planning for Nigeria and the support to the Department of Energy of the Philippines to improve electrification efforts. In other projects he evaluated the economic potential of renewable energy within island systems for companies like Siemens and ABB. Apart from that he continuously publishes and shares research results on conferences and in scientific journals (>50) acting as reviewer and co-editor as well. In 2019 Philipp was appointed Visiting Scholar in the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) of the University of California, Berkeley as part of the C-BEAR+ project and a selected member of the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) at the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Pedro is known for organizing the first TEDx of Cabo Verde and for being the founder of Generation B-Bright, a youth empowerment organization. In 2017 he won the prize of “We are Cabo Verde - Best of the Year” in the category of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and was selected by the US Government to participate in the YALI Program. In 2018 he was selected by MIPAD as one of the Most Influential People in the World of Afro Descent in the world under 40 years old and was chosen by former President Obama to be part of his first leadership initiative in Africa – Obama Leaders. At the age of 31, he became the youngest member of the current Government of Cabo Verde by being appointed as Secretary of State for Innovation & TVET. Pedro was also nominated in 2018 for the "Young World Politician of the Year" Award by One Young World and he was on the 2018 list of Apolitical of 100 Future Leaders: The World’s Most Influential Young People in Government. He designed the model for the creation of the Prime Minister's Youth Council and the innovation program "Cabo Verde Digital".

Tara is an experienced organisational and programme leader with more than 15 years’ experience in the environmental sector. She has worked in Europe, the Middle East, Southern Africa, the Caribbean and the South Atlantic. Her interest lies in finding innovative solutions to environmental problems through research, local knowledge, practical implementation and a good dose of common sense. This has led to her moving away from specialising and she is a self-confessed environmental ‘generalist’, something that is arguably a requirement for anyone working on small islands where much of her work is focused. Tara is currently the Deputy Director of innovation at the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute.

Born in Belfast, Paul was raised in Edinburgh, attending Stewart's Melville College. He has an honours degree in Economics from the University of Aberdeen and an MBA from University of Edinburgh. He has lived in Berwickshire since 2000‬.

‪Paul is a professional economist and, since 1992, had specialised in higher and further education markets, policy evaluation and economic appraisal and impact assessment of capital projects.‬

Between May 2011 and September 2012 Paul served on the Scottish Parliament's Finance Committee, and the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee. And was the Parliamentary Liaison Officer to the Cabinet Secretary for Parliamentary Business and Government Strategy of the Scottish Government. Previously, between May 2011 and Feb 2012, Paul served as Parliamentary Liaison Officer for the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment and the Minister for Climate Change.‬

Prior to taking his Ministerial position Paul was a member of cross-party groups on Epilepsy, Rural Policy, Armed forces Veterans, Funerals and Bereavement, Boating and Marine Tourism and deputy convener of Sport. Paul Wheelhouse was appointed Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands in June 2018.

Kate is a Lecturer in Psychology and Criminology at the University of the West of England in Bristol (UK). She has worked on a project looking at the psychological impact of (very small) island living since 2018 including fieldwork periods on several British islands. Alongside colleagues, she has prepared papers for publication in a number of journals, and is looking forward to getting back out to some islands soon! Other research interests include crowds and group behaviour, using social identity approaches to consider the rational and prosocial behaviour of people in groups – theories which translate well to an island context. Based in central Bristol, UK, she has spent lockdown running the virtual width of Tennessee and dreaming of travelling further afield in real life.

Martyn Forde is as energy and knowledge management consultant with over 10 years of experience working in energy and climate change in the Caribbean. Mr. Forde assists clients with project management and the development of energy leadership and capacity strengthening activities. He is the Community Leader of the CARILEC Renewable Energy Community (CAREC) at the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC). CAREC is a utility-led CoP designed for the 1300+ members to share energy resilience, and disaster recovery best-practices for utilities in Caribbean jurisdictions. Learning activities and tools produced include webinars, virtual working groups, online forums, technical reports, a repository of procurement templates, technology workshops, and annual conferences.

Mr. Forde is also the host and organizer of the CAREC Resilient Power 2020 series launched in May. The series is aimed to demonstrate leadership of Caribbean utility professionals during covid19, disaster management and how jurisdictions are driving their transition to low carbon infrastructure.

He leads knowledge management and the design of Communities of Practice (CoP) for the Empowering Clean Economies program at the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). Forde holds a Master’s in Geography and Environmental studies from the University of Toronto, with a research focus on Climate Change, Carbon-Free Technology, Environmental Resource Management and Sustainable Tourism Planning. In particular, his research explored how to create renewable energy transitions for the hotel industry of Barbados and other island nations.

Ms Charlin Bodley is the Sustainable Energy Project Development and Gender Expert with the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE), where she is primarily responsible for the establishment and operation of the CCREEE Project Preparation Facility (PPF).

As the gender expert, she is also engaged in mainstreaming gender into all the Centre’s work, ensuring that gender and youth responsive programmes and initiatives are implemented, as a critical contribution to the centre’s operations. For more than seven years prior, Charlin worked as an Energy Specialist with the Government of Saint Lucia as a consultant in the area of sustainable energy. A certified project manager, she engaged in energy planning, policy development and the management of public sector renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

Further, Charlin is the founder of the Women in Geothermal Energy (WING) Caribbean Chapter, with a goal to influence, diversify and accelerate the development of the resource in the region. She has also served as programme manager for the Women in Renewable Energy Network (WIRE), managed by a collaboration between the Clinton Climate Initiative and Caribbean Electric Utility Services (CARILEC).

Charlin holds a Masters of Engineering (MEng) degree in Energy and Environmental Management from the University of Flensburg, Germany; a post-graduate diploma in Geothermal Project Management and Financing from the United Nations Geothermal Training Programme in Iceland, and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Environmental Engineering from Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Mexico.

Dr Gary C. Jackson – Executive Director of the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE) – is on a mission to increase awareness and development of the renewable energy and energy efficiency agenda within the Caribbean region.
As CCREEE’s Executive Director, Dr Jackson leads the implementation of CCREEE’s three main priorities areas. These include creating an expert knowledge base; optimising technological solutions through tool development; and transforming the region by utilising sustainable energy as a means to advance the well-being of at-risk and vulnerable groups. The Technical Department is managed by Dr Jackson.
Appointed to the post in October 2018, Dr Jackson holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Project Management, both from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. He also holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus.
He is a Registered Engineer (PE) in Jamaica, a member of the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), a Certified Energy Manager (CEM) and a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).

Jessica Leigh is a Principal Consultant and Business Development Manager in International Energy at Ricardo Energy & Environment.

Ricardo delivers innovation and advisory support for future energy systems and sustainable solutions to islands around the world. We offer cross-sector services for islands, which encompass local energy, electricity infrastructure, sustainable transport, waste and resource management. Clean energy and resource efficiency can provide island states with improved energy security and independence; cost reductions for businesses and consumers; greater resiliency; support for local economic development; and combat climate change and negative environmental impacts. Ricardo has supported islands in the United Kingdom, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Pacific and Caribbean Region.

Jessica has over 12 years of experience in the international energy sector covering electricity policy, regulation and markets, renewable energy, energy efficiency and demand side management. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs from University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Science in Environmental Change & Management from University of Oxford.

Jessica’s mission is to help islands be examples to the world of place-based sustainability. With over ten years with the Global Island Partnership largely in New York City, Jessica has returned to her island home of Tasmania to build partnerships to increase ambition and action to maintain what is wonderful, protect what is invaluable and urgently fix problems facing the Tasmanian community, and help facilitate a Tasmanian response to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Jessica is connected locally and globally working with Tasmanian Leaders Inc and the Micronesia Challenge. She stays energised trail running in wild places and eating lots of delicious local produce whenever possible.

Ruth was born and educated in North Western Tasmania. Ruth worked as a Registered Nurse and Midwife, childbirth and sex educator from 1982 - 2005. She is a member and past president of Australian College of Midwives (ACM) (Tas Branch) and awarded ACM Fellowship in 2001.
May 2005, Ruth was elected to Tasmanian Legislative Council (Independent Member for Murchison) and re-elected in 2011 and 2017, elected Deputy President and Chair of Committees (2018) and member and Chair of a number of Parliamentary committees including Subordinate (Delegated) Legislation and Public Accounts.
Ruth completed a Master of Midwifery Degree (2010), Tasmanian Leaders Program (2011), Australian Institute of Company Directors Course (2012), Graduate Certificate in Business (2013) and Australian Futures Project Parliamentary Leaders Program (2017). In 2019, named as one of AFR’s 100 Women of Influence.
Ruth serves on the Boards of Engender Equality, supporting those impacted by family violence and Unconformity an arts organization supporting Tasmania’s West Coast.

Dr. Douglas Wilbert Slater assumed the position of Assistant Secretary-General, Directorate of Human and Social Development of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat on 1 October 2013.

A national of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and a Medical Doctor by profession, Dr. Slater was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Consumer Affairs of St. Vincent and the Grenadines from 2010-2013. In that capacity, he also served as representative of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the ACP-EU Parliamentarians Group, and as alternate for the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) Authorities.

Dr. Slater served as Minister of Health and the Environment, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and was the CARICOM Minister of Health designated to negotiate the regional approach with the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) during the establishment of the GF. He also served as Chairman of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)/Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM). Dr. Slater was also honoured by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat as one of the CARICOM’s first Champion for Change.

As Minister of Environment, Dr. Slater was actively involved in the UN Climate Change and Sustainable Development negotiations at the political and technical levels; leading discussions on renewable energy as one of the critical factors for sustainable economic development in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Region as a whole during 2001-2010.

Additionally, Dr. Slater was Chair of the Executive Committee of PAHO and was involved in discussions regarding the now established Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA). He has participated in numerous regional conferences on public health issues and initiated and led the successful implementation of the managed migration of registered nurses.

The Hon Teslyn Barkman was a journalist and PR professional for Falkland Islands Government before her election in 2017. MLA Barkman holds the portfolio responsibilities of Natural Resources, Mineral Resources and EU Exit. This includes the sectors of fisheries, agriculture, biosecurity, hydrocarbons, and Falkland Land Holdings.

Ebrahim Jadwet belongs to the exotic Andaman & Nicobar islands in the Indian Ocean. He hails from the Jadwet family which is one of the oldest and most respected business families of the islands that have played an important role in the development ofbthe islands. He is a social entrepreneur that focuses on bringing a change in the lives of the islanders. Mr. Jadwet is the Secretary of Nicobar Chamber of Commerce and Industries that works to develop a sustainable source of income for the Nicobarese tribe. He is a well-known influencer in the Andaman and Nicobar islands with great connections.

I am Australian born and educated, a Norfolk Islander and a direct descendent of Fletcher Christian of HMAV Bounty.

Prior to coming to Norfolk Island where I have lived continuously since December 1966 I was a science teacher with the NSW Department of Education 1964 to 1966.
1967 – 1984: Held various senior positions in the Norfolk Island Public Service
1984 - 2010: Clerk to the Norfolk Island Parliament & Secretary/Treasurer to the Norfolk Island Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (the CPA)
2010 - 2013: Speaker of the Norfolk Island Parliament, Branch President Norfolk Island CPA Branch
2013 - 2015: Minister for Cultural Heritage and Community Services in the Norfolk Island Government, Vice President Norfolk Island CPA Branch
July 2016 to present: Mayor Norfolk Island Regional Council

Author of the following articles in The Parliamentarian:
1995 Issue 3 “To conform or not to conform with other Parliaments”
2008 Issue 4 “Norfolk Island’s Self-Government under threat again”
2010 Issue 2 “Governance and Democracy: Norfolk Island Style: At Risk Again?
2012 Issue 3 “Norfolk Island and the Isle of Man strengthen historical ties: from Mutiny to Unity”
2014 Issue 2 “Commonwealth of Australia and Norfolk Island: Bridging the Divide”

Dr. Arlene Smith-Thompson is the Owner and Director of Cadwell Consulting, Virgin Islands. She currently serves as a Higher Education Consultant to the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College in the Virgin Islands. Having served in various roles in the public sector up to the Permanent Secretary level, Dr. Smith-Thompson is highly experienced in several disciplines including business and technical vocational education and training; teacher education; inclusive studies; educational leadership; public policy and public sector management, among other related areas. She is guided by philosophical thinkers, such as Paulo Freire, who espoused that “education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system to bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.

Dr. Smith-Thompson is married to Professional Chef Macgarvey Thompson. Together they own a popular restaurant in the business district of Road Town, Tortola. She is also the parent of one adult son, Khalil.

He is an Associate Professor at University of Magallanes (UMAG). After his undergraduate studies of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Magallanes (1994), he made his doctoral degree (Doctor of Engineering Sciences) at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil (2005). He has directed and participated in more than twenty research projects, has been member of research consultant committee at University of Magallanes and is currently in charge of the Center of Energy Resources. Likewise, he has directed a large number of graduate and postgraduate theses, has published papers in renowned scientific journals and has participated as consultant for the planning and updating of the Chilean energy policy. His main areas of interest are energy efficiency and renewable energy, with special interest in photovoltaic solar energy, sustainable fuels and green hydrogen.

Dr. Curtis Boodoo currently holds the position of Assistant Professor in the Utilities Engineering Unit at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). He has been a faculty member at UTT since 2004 and Program Coordinator for the Electrical / Electronics Engineering Diploma program at the John Donaldson campus since 2008.
He has contributed towards the development of the Sustainable Energy Implementation Plan 2021/2030 for Trinidad and Tobago, The National Energy Policy and the National Integrated Solid Waste Management Strategy. He has also represented UTT at the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency subcommittee of the Economic Development Board of Trinidad and Tobago.
He currently holds the position of Expert in the Systems Evaluations Group (SEG4) - Low Voltage Direct Current Applications, International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and was a member of the Specifications Committee for Electrical Appliances at the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS).
He was the Project Manager for the Electric Bus project in Trinidad and Tobago. The Electric Bus was the first Electric Bus in CARICOM and the first electric vehicle in Trinidad and Tobago. The Electric Bus project was awarded the Best Green House Gas Reduction project in 2016 by the Trinidad and Tobago Energy Chamber. He was also instrumental in the development of two key demonstration projects in Trinidad and Tobago. The country’s first fully power solar house and the installation of two (2) 5kW Wind Turbines. In 2017 he was awarded a grant for the Training in the Installation of Electric Vehicle Charging stations. This City and Guilds training course on the installation of EV charging stations was the first of its kind in CARICOM.
In November 2017 he was appointed to the position of Chairman of the Electric Vehicle Workgroup which was convened by the CARICOM Energy Program. The workgroup together with its partners planned and delivered the Electromobility Laboratory and EV Technology Expo held on June 2018 in Barbados. In March 2018 he was appointed Co-Chair for the Specification Committee for Electric and Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles Standards by the TTBS. He has also served as an Electric Mobility consultant for the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) and CARICOM countries. In Sept 2018 he was selected to represent Trinidad and Tobago and the region at the first Zero Emission Vehicle Summit in Birmingham UK.

A national of Dominica, over the past 20 years, I have worked across 20+ countries:

+ with McKinsey & Company, advised corporations and governments on strategy, organizational design, and operational performance enhancement. Served blue chip firms in power, oil & gas and mining sectors globally on corporate & growth strategy, including expansion into Africa and Asia

+ with the World Bank, developed and delivered energy sector and private sector development initiatives, interfacing closely with ministerial-, senior multi-lateral and business counterparts

+ lead the Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica, tasked with helping the country—ravaged by Hurricane Maria in 2017 (90% of homes damaged or destroyed, 90% of agriculture decimated, total impact was 226% of GDP) achieve its bold vision of becoming the world’s first climate resilient nation

+ with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), pushed the envelope on scaling up commercially-viable, off-grid energy access business models in Africa and Asia. Currently focusing on developing replicable approaches and an investment pipeline to enhance resilience across all infrastructure categories in small islands and small states.

The 54km of Marseille coastline and its islands constitute a common heritage in many ways: environmental, architectural, historical, landscape and common identity. The city of Marseille wished to consider both the costline and the islands to their highest value and founding parts of the Marseille territory by setting up a Directorate of the Sea in 2014. At the head of the Sea and Coastline service since 2016, I coordinate the action of 4 teams covering a wide spectrum of missions, the main ones of which are:
• Develop and enhance the urbanized coastline through investment operations;
• Restore and preserve the marine, coastal and island environment, manage its uses;
• Raise the offer of coastal services to the best level for a healthy and preserved land and maritime environment,
• Develop and disseminate a maritime culture among the people of Marseille both in terms of social practices and in environmental terms

Michael Lees is a Dominican filmmaker and photographer whose work explores themes of environmentalism, spirituality, development and island life. Michael attended UNC Chapel Hill, where he spent the first half of his college career studying business at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, later switching his major from business to Communications with a focus in Media Production.

Never one to shy away from bold decisions, in 2017, Michael embarked on his debut feature documentary project, Uncivilized, which led him into the forests of Dominica, where he would face Hurricane Maria alone in in a palm leaf and bamboo hut.

Lees has written, shot, and edited for clients ranging from Billboard to UNICEF. Much of his inspiration is drawn from his home island, Dominica.

Dr. Kathryn Mengerink leads a team of ocean experts in developing and implementing blue prosperity programs, including marine spatial planning and blue economy projects. She works in partnership with governments, NGOs, and ocean experts across the globe. Kathryn brings more than 20 years of ocean expertise to her work combining marine science, law and policy to inform decision making.

Kathryn holds a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from Texas A&M University, Ph.D. in Marine Biology from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a J.D. with a certificate in Environmental Law from University of California, Berkeley.

Mark is a democratically elected Member of the Legislative Assembly and the Executive Council. Mark moved to the Falkland Islands in 1985, having been born in the UK. Previously Mark worked in telecommunications engineering for 17 years before beginning his political career in 2017. His portfolio spans trade, industry, and workforce development although in the Falklands it pays to be well versed in all areas of island life. Mark has a passion for learning from others as well as for traveling, and to date, he has had the opportunity to visit islands such as St Helena, South Georgia, Ascension Island, Malta and Ischia. Mark is married to Cathy and together they have one child with another on the way.

Ruth Forbes was appointed as President and CEO of FortisTCI in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) effective August 2020. She stands as one of the few female CEOs in the utility sector serving the Caribbean region.

Prior to this appointment, Mrs. Forbes was Senior Vice President of Corporate Services, Chief Financial Officer, and Company Secretary. With over 14 years of experience in utilities, she has had oversight of several business functions including finance, internal audit, legal, customer service, corporate communications, human resources, and supply chain management.

Mrs. Forbes spearheaded the “Investors in People Certification” initiative at FortisTCI and led the company to become the first to receive such designation in the TCI. She also led the FortisTCI’s first US Private Placement Financing Transaction and its inaugural credit rating initiative with S&P (BBB). FortisTCI is the first private company in TCI to achieve Investor Grade Credit Rating.

Mrs. Forbes has a Diploma in Business Administration (Honors) from University of Technology, Kingston, Jamaica and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Barry University, Florida, USA. She successfully completed the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) examinations in 2003 and Certified Management Accountant (CMA) in 2014.

She serves as a Director on the board of FortisOntario, a sister utility of FortisTCI, which are both subsidiaries of Fortis Inc. She is a former Director of the Turks and Caicos Airports Authority Board and Turks and Caicos National Insurance Board. She is also a devout philanthropist and founder of “Jewels Ablaze” a not-for-profit organization geared at mentoring, developing and supporting young women in the community.

She is an expert in the processes around climate technologies, their enabling frameworks, and the international policy context around it, and focus on the provision of research and advisory support on developing countries’ technology needs, tailored to different international, national and local partners. She manages the GEF-funded global Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) project, which supports developing countries in identifying and analyzing their climate technology priorities, and in identifying policies, strategies and practices to upscale the use of these technologies. The Project is implemented in close collaboration with UN Environment and the UNFCCC Technology Mechanism. Sara holds a PhD in socio-economic aspects of adaptation to climate change.

Hana Amir is a Marine Biologist with the Maldives Marine Research Institute, having joined in 2019 after completing her Masters. She currently oversees all coral reef related research at the institute and leads the National Coral Reef Restoration and Rehabilitation Research program, which assess questions such as where, how and when to restore Maldivian reef to effectively improve reef resilience and resistance. In her work, she is actively involved in the designing research process, collecting relevant data in the field, and engaging with members of the local community through workshops and engagement programs that aim to foster better cooperation and understanding of issues related to the marine environment. Her research interests relate to settlement and reproductive growth of corals, GIS mapping, and community composition and interaction within the community as well as with environmental variables and human influence.

Jose Alison Kentish is a Dominican-born, Saint Lucia-based journalist, who has reported extensively on climate change, the environment and disaster response.
Her first degree is in Criminal Justice and she recently completed the Master of Arts Degree in Science and Health Journalism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She won a best thesis award for her story of Union Island’s 25-year journey to restoring Ashton Lagoon – one of the Caribbean’s most ecologically diverse bays, which was ripped apart and abandoned by investors.
She has covered climate and the environment for Helen Television in Saint Lucia, Latin-American television network teleSUR, the Inter Press Service’s Caribbean Climate Wire and AlertNet, the humanitarian news arm of the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

CEO of AlgEternal and Global Head of Sustainability of KindEarth.Tech, David is recognized by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service as an individual “… with extraordinary ability in science and business, sustainable development, and renewable resource management and applications [science]”. Trained as a Marine Biologist, specializing in Ichthyology and Taxonomy, David has over 25 years’ experience in sustainable development on both the regulatory and regulated industry sides of the divide. Following his Marine Biology degree, David then went on to pursue Environmental Studies with an emphasis in Policy and Law intending to bridge the gap between Science and Policy.
David received the 2004 Bishop Robert Smith Award from the College of Charleston in South Carolina, USA—the highest award to any graduate, and the 2002 Betty Spence Conservation Award from the South Carolina Wildlife Federation. He belongs to the Phi Kappa Phi Honour Society, the Golden Key Honour Society, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
In service to the Algae Industry, he sits on the Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) Board of Directors; the Technical Advisory Board for the proposed ABO Algae Center of Excellence; and on the Industry Advisory Board of the University of Houston College of Technology. He holds membership in the Phycological Society of America; the Smithsonian Institution; and the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. David pays it forward, being a Director of both the Lions and Rotary Clubs in La Grange, Texas, and a Science Advisor for the Fayette County (Texas) Science Fair. He received the 2019 Most Valued Citizen Award from the La Grange Area Chamber of Commerce “for outstanding involvement in the betterment of the community and its people”.
As CEO of AlgEternal he restructured the company into a vertically integrated producer of algae-based products, leveraging their patented algae-growth technology. Focused on harnessing microalgae to generate revenue while solving significant environmental challenges, David launched two microalgae-based products made from microalgae grown by AlgEternal. David believes that entrepreneurship, ecocentrism, and education are keys to widespread adoption of the sustainable algae economic platform for regenerative environmental, social, and economic benefits.
David views algae and their applications as a natural successor to fossil hydrocarbons, sustainably providing products and critical ecosystem services and supporting the transition to a regenerative, circular economy. David posits that harnessing the power of algae represents a viable opportunity for humans to ensure that Earth remains hospitable to us thereby saving our place on the planet.

Rueanna Haynes is a climate law and governance expert with over a decade of experience in climate change negotiations under the UNFCCC where she has played a lead role in negotiations on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Kitts and Nevis, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). Ms Haynes also has extensive experience in the sustainable development process under the broader United Nations System where she was a lead negotiator in the SIDS Sustainable Development Process, and negotiated on behalf of CARICOM and the G77 and China for the elaboration of the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030. For the past four years Rueanna has been a legal advisor with Climate Analytics gGmbH and now also leads Climate Analytics support for the chair of AOSIS. She is also a Senior Consultant with Independent Diplomat providing advice on the work of the High Ambition Coalition.

As a qualified attorney; a civil servant with experience in public policy development and a degree in Sociology; a past Gender Equality Tribunal member; and a former Human Rights Committee member, Mr. Ebanks’ experience and qualifications make him the ideal candidate for the role of Representative to the UK and Europe.

Mr Carlos Fuller is the Regional and International Liaison Officer at the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre. His primary responsibility is to coordinate CARICOM Member States in the international climate change negotiations. He is a Meteorologist and was the Chief Meteorologist in the National Meteorological Service of Belize. He has represented Belize in the climate change negotiation process since 1990. In that capacity he served as the Chair of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC) in 2017 and 2018. He is presently the Chief Negotiator on Climate Change for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) under the Chairmanship of Belize. He is also the Special Advisor to the President of the Commission on Climatology of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on High-level Science-Policy Climate Related Issues. He holds the George Price Lifetime Achievement Award for Emergency Management and the Officer of the Order the British Empire (OBE) for public service.

Jordan Schwartz, CEO, earned his B.S. from Brown University and his M.S. in Social Psychology from the University of Washington. He spent over 10 years at Microsoft building consumer-focused products, including several versions of Windows and MSN. He founded Pathable in 2008 with the dream of creating a more relationship-focused event experience. In his free time, he leads a team of 60,000 bees in the manufacture and production of a delicious, organic honey.

Keith A. Johnson was appointed Managing Director of Republic Bank (Grenada) Limited in 2009. He started his banking career in Guyana in 1976, and has served in various leadership roles in the Bank’s Guyana operations. Mr. Johnson holds an Executive Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of the West Indies (UWI) (Cave Hill), a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Guyana, and is an Associate of the Institute of Canadian Bankers.

I have been involved with SHAPE for the past 12 years as a Board Director and for 8 of these years, as Chairperson. My professional background is in Education, of which I have 30 years experience as a teacher including 20 years as a senior manager in education. I was until last year, the island’s Inclusion Manager; managing special educational needs and disability across the island’s four schools and into adulthood. I am passionate about an inclusive society for all and my work at SHAPE allows this. SHAPE’s mission is to guide and support disabled and vulnerable people towards independence and self reliance. At SHAPE we take the view that a sustainable environment, both intrinsically and extrinsically is vital to future prosperity and I have been driving our training programmes towards this vision.

Chet Monday is a 20 year old organizer from Dallas, TX. Chet currently serves as the Director of Youth Engagement for March For Science. He has a background in performing arts and circus, but began his journey in advocacy by organizing walk outs at his high school.

Heeta is a firm believer in the power of the young people in grassroots as well as international processes and policies. She has attended multiple United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) climate change negotiations since COP21, Paris in 2015. She is currently the Executive Director (India) for the 11th World Wilderness Congress (WILD11) which was scheduled to be convened in Jaipur, India in March 2020 and aimed to straddle the overarching issues related to biodiversity conservation, economics and climate change. She is a Global Mentor with the POP (Protect Our Planet) Movement, Inc. a youth movement aimed to address the issues of climate change faced by our planet using knowledge-based solutions. In 2017, Heeta started her own program in Mumbai, India called Green Warriors. She educates school students on climate change and aims to bridge the knowledge gap on climate science as well as international processes among the children in Mumbai, who are at the forefront of facing the impacts of climate change in the coming years.

Marie-Claire Graf is a Swiss youth advocate and change maker for just sustainable development and ambitious climate action through her diverse engagement in several initiatives around all dimensions of sustainability on a local, national and international level. It’s her aspiration to inspire and empower youth to take meaningful, impactful and positive actions to create a momentum for change. She was initiating and is leading several associations in the fields of climate action, sustainable development, youth and women empowerment and education. Since COP23 she is a member of YOUNGO and the Bottom-Lining Team and joined COP25 as member of the Swiss Delegation as expert on ACE and negotiator for PCCP, technology transfer and gender issues. Recently she was awarded as United Nations Youth Climate Champion for Switzerland.

Selina Neirok Leem is an activist from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and took on the role of a climate change advocate for her country. She credits her grandfather for her deep awareness of the increasing fate of her island home through his stories about how the ice in the North Pole and South Pole were melting and would soon flood the Marshall Islands. Representing her home, Selina was the youngest delegate at the COP21 in Paris. During the closing remarks, then Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Tony deBrum gave her the opportunity to give the final statement on behalf of her country. She told the world that Paris agreement, “should be the turning point in our story; a turning point for all of us.”

Tarran Simms is a young sustainable tourism professional with over 9 years of experience in the eco-tourism and hospitality sector. Mr. Simms has a BSc in Small Island Sustainability with a focus in Development and Eco-tourism from the College of The Bahamas, and a MSc in International Hospitality and Tourism focus in tourism development from ESCP Europe Madrid campus. Mr. Simms career in sustainable tourism career started in The Bahamas at Small Hope Bay Lodge as the environmental coordinator of the property. During his tenure as environmental officer, he oversaw the re-establishment of the properties creative recycling program, and the implementation of hot water solar for the properties cabins, and hot tub, and solar cooling for the properties walking in freezers.

Solomon Yeo, from the Solomon Islands, graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts (Politics) in 2019 from the University of South Pacific, majoring in politics and law. Solomon is dedicating his life to addressing climate change and inequality. Solomon wants to amplify the voice of Pacific youth in all platforms and help them achieve justice, and is the Campaign Director of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC). PISFCC began in March 2019 when 27 USP Law students from 8 Pacific Island countries decided to join together to begin a campaign to persuade the leaders of the Pacific Island Forum to take the issue of climate change and human rights to the International Court of Justice.

Jamilla is a Caribbean Youth Environment Network's Regional Chairperson, Project Coordinator of CYEN Barbados and 2016 Queen Young Leaders Awards awardee. Jamilla was given a Queen’s Young Leaders Award in 2017 for her work to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the environment through the Caribbean Youth Environment Network, which has included community clean ups and teaching environmental science to young people.

Komal is 25 years old from the Fiji Islands, passionate about curbing the issues of climate change in the Pacific and is currently a Global Youth Ambassador for Education by the A World at School Global Youth Ambassador Network. Komal’s home is at the forefront of climate change, and that proximity drives Komal’s work.

Angelique Pouponneau is CEO of Seychelles’ Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust, barrister and attorney at law. She is a legal expert in climate change, oceans and global commons. She is a speaker on youth, Blue Economy, Islanders' rights in the face of rising sea levels, climate change, and legal barriers to gender equality.

Onika Stellingburg is a Climate Change Fellow with the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) which is an ad hoc lobby and negotiating voice for Small Island States (SIDS) within the United Nations System. She is the first Guyanese selected and is stationed at Guyana’s Permanent Mission to the UN as an advisor with a focus on issues on the 2030 Sustainable Agenda and Climate Change while being trained as a Climate Negotiator. She has worked on the development of a 15 year developmental strategy to transition Guyana into a Green State.

Elissa Lalande is a Senior Policy Analyst for Climate Change. She has enjoyed working one year in the post with the Department of Energy and Climate Change. One of her roles and duties is to propose and draft new policies and legislation on energy and Climate Change based on relevant principles, programs, practices, and processes. Elissa’s biggest job right now relates to her leadership and assistance in drafting the first National Climate Change Policy for Seychelles. In her job, Elissa reviews and updates existing policies and legislations in relation to Energy and Climate Change. In Elissa’s work, she travels around the world to represent her country and deliver presentations about Seychelles’ vulnerability to Climate Change at various workshops, symposiums and conferences, both nationally and internationally, including at COP.

La Tisha has a great passion for the oceans, life on land and educating others. She has been an active citizen scientist with Zooniverse for over 3 years, a secondary school Biology teacher at Polytechnic institute for the past year, member of the Caribbean Youth Environment Network in Trinidad and Tobago (CYENTT) and attended the United Nations High Level Panel Forum on Sustainable Development in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Currently she is Trinidad and Tobago’s Country Ambassador for Youth Opportunities and a UN Volunteer with UNICEF Youth Advocate Program managing the U-Report Trinidad and Tobago platform.

A Samoan climate activist, Auimatagi Joseph Moeono-Kolio is Greenpeace's Head of the Pacific, working to get world leaders to take the plight of Pacific Islands seriously. He is also a climate negotiator for Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS).

Shafira Charlette is an environmental activist and has a passion for animal welfare. Shafira enjoys volunteerism as a member of Eko Youth Wildlife Club, Island School Seychelles, SYAH Seychelles, Ambassador - Tunza Eco-Generation and Seychelles Pet Haven Society. She tries her best to encourage young people to engage in environmental activities and learn to appreciate it. Shafira is also an entrepreneur; she owns her own Graphics Design and Photography start-up business, Simple Creativity.

Nigel Burgess is the Senior Manager, Electricity Analysis and Planning at the Regulatory Authority of Bermuda (“the RA”), with responsibility for providing lateral and strategic analysis to support the regulation of Bermuda’s electricity sector.
As a Chartered Electrical Engineer with a specialisation in power systems and control, he has expertise in Renewable Energy, having obtained his North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) PV Installation Professional (PVIP) Board Certification in 2014.
Nigel has been instrumental in shaping the regulatory framework for Bermuda’s electricity sector and has helped to pioneer the roadmap to a cleaner energy future as the RA’s technical lead for the Bermuda’s first Integrated Resource Plan (“IRP”).
He has also led a wide range of strategic initiatives, including: the development of the 2019 IRP, the 2020 Retail Tariff Review, the preparation of Bulk Generation Procurement Rules, the 2020 Electricity Sectoral Review and pre-feasibility studies for solar PV projects across the island.
Nigel was the chief designer and installer of the Nonsuch Island’s off-grid solar PV system, Bermuda’s first fully functional off-grid energy solution, designed to be used on a remote nature reserve island, housing numerous endemic and protected species and two homes. He has served on the Ministry of Works and Engineering Advisory Board and has co-authored several publications, such as Distributed Generation (DG) Impacts on Locational Marginal Pricing (LMP) For Power System Networks - Case Study for NEPA System, Location Marginal Pricing for Unit Commitment with Network Congestion, and Planning the Transition towards Clean Energy in Small Island States.

Wendy’s experience in the education field on St Helena spans over 31 years. She joined the profession upon leaving school as a teacher trainee, qualified as a Locally Qualified Teacher and taught in the primary sector for 19 years. Wendy studied and achieved a Master’s Degree in Education with Distinction whilst carrying out a fulltime teaching role. This was primarily achieved via distance learning with a six-month placement in Cheltenham, UK, to complete the taught elements of the course during which Wendy was gained valuable insight into the UK Education System.
In 2006, Wendy was promoted to Teacher Training Officer and became a member of the Education Senior Management Team. She worked in this capacity and then as Education Officer for Training and Special Educational Needs until April 2014 when she was promoted to Assistant Director Schools. In March 2019 Wendy was promoted to Director of Education and Employment.

Russell was schooled on St Helena l. In 1988 he took up employment on Ascension Island with Pan American and later Computer Science Raytheon, working 20 years as the Meteorological Site Supervisor on the American Auxiliary Air Force Base. Returning to St Helena in 2013, Russell worked for Basil Read, the Airport Project construction contractor as the Fuel Manager within the Logistics Department.
In 2017,Russell was elected to Legislative Council and Executive Council as Chairman of the Environment & Natural Resources Committee (ENRC). He resigned his position of Chair ENRC and membership of Executive Council in June and is currently a serving member of the ENRC, the Public Health Committee and Chairman of the Employment Rights Committee. Russell has special Interests in infrastructure, construction, health & safety and economic growth and would love to help realise development that will allow St Helena to flourish and remain prosperous for the foreseeable future.

Dr.S.Balamurugan, ACM Distinguished Speaker, SMIEEE, received his B.Tech., Degree from P.S.G.College of Technology, Coimbatore, India, M.Tech., and PhD Degrees from Anna University, India. He was conferred upon with three Post-Doctoral Degrees- Doctor of Technology(D.Tech.,), Doctor of Letters(D.Litt.,), and Doctor of Science (D.Sc.,). He has published 57 books, 300+ international journals/conferences and 100 patents. He is the Director-Research and Development, Intelligent Research Consultancy Services(iRCS), Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India. He is serving as a research consultant to many Companies, Startups, SMEs and MSMEs. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the following Book Series: “Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing for Industrial Transformation”, Scrivener, Wiley, “Advances in Quantum Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Data Sciences”, “Advances in IoT, Robotics and Cyber Physical Systems”, Focus Book Series on “AIoT: Artificial Intelligence of Things”, all with CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group. He is the Managing Editor of “Information Science Letters”, Natural Sciences Publishing, USA. He is Associate Editor of “IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems”-Oxford University Press, “Cluster Computing”- Springer, “Simulation”- Sage Publishing, “Technology and Healthcare”- IOS Press, “World Journal of Engineering”, Emerald, “International Journal of Intelligent Systems, Technologies and Application”, Inderscience, “International Journal of Renewable Energy Technology”, Inderscience, “Journal of Autonomous Intelligence”. He is in editorial board of “International Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems”, Emerald, “International Journal of Automation and Control”, Inderscience, “International Journal of Society, Systems and Science”, Inderscience, “International Journal of System Dynamics Applications”, IGI, “International Journal of Service Science, Management, Engineering, and Technology”, IGI, “International Journal of Knowledge and System Sciences”, IGI. He also serves as Lead Guest Editor of several special issues with Springer, Elsevier, IEEE, IET, MDPI and De Gruyter.

As well as my role as a director of OREF I am a final year PhD student with the University of the Highlands and Islands. My research looks at impact of Marine Renewable Energy in Orkney, focusing on the relationship between language, community, energy and environment.

I have been on the board of the Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre Development Trust since the beginning when the community came together to erect the turbine. The money generated from the turbine is used for a variety of projects in the three islands.
I have been a farm labourer, haulage contractor, fish farmer, builders labourer, shopfitter, double glazing salesperson, coastguard and at the moment I work on a listed building doing building maintenance, groundworks. I am also a retained firefighter.
Having done so much variety in my life it has been very helpful in my various roles on the board of the trust.

Licenciado en Geografía de la Universidad de Chile
Miembro Observatorio de la Costa Chile;
Miembro de ONG Ciudadanos y Clima – Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego;
Miembro de la Fundación para la Integración del Patrimonio Natural y Cultural – FIPaNCu;
Miembro del Área de Investigación y Educación del Humedal de Mantagua;
Miembro de la Red Nacional de Humedales;
Miembro de la RED KIMLU – organización de jóvenes lideres en STEM;
Joven Líder de la región de Valparaíso – Fundación Piensa 2020

Yves Renard works as an independent consultant in sustainable development policy and participatory natural resource management (programme evaluation, policy analysis, facilitation of policy formulation and participatory training exercises, and review and development processes within organisations involved in resource management and sustainable development). He has a particular interest and extensive experience in linking natural resource governance, poverty reduction and social development, and in the design of institutions that foster participation and empowerment. He has served and continues to serve on the governing bodies of a number of international, national and community-based organisations. He is currently a Director and Interim Coordinator of Panos Caribbean, a regional organisation that works to amplify the voices of the poor and the marginalised through the media and ensure their inclusion in public and policy debate.

Manages the Samso part of the SMILE project

Darrin is a St Helenian entrepreneur specialising in photography, digital media & marketing. He is passionate about recognising the fragility of St Helena culture in the face of development, and helping to document and preserve the stories of its people.
In recent years along with Sharon, his wife and business partner, Darrin has held three photography exhibitions on St Helena, started the blog ‘What The Saints Did Next,’ and is currently in the process of producing a portraiture photo-book of people on the island during the 2020 Coronavirus isolation.
In 2019, Darrin and Sharon built and launched ‘Inside St Helena,’ the island’s very first mobile phone app. Together the couple created a live, digital marketing platform designed to significantly improve the visitor experience to St Helena with fast and easy access to information, as well as providing interactive tools allowing people to connect quickly with local services and attractions.

Electrical engineer living on Hoy with over 10 years experience in the renewable energy industry in Orkney - working on a wide range of projects using new technologies ranging from EV charging systems and demand side management projects through to wind and solar based microgeneration with energy storage. Additionally, spent 11 years as a director of Hoy Energy Ltd and been responsible for the development and operation of the community owned 900kW grid connected wind turbine project, as well as more recently, the development of the Legacy Project which majors on domestic level renewable energy generation and storage across 100 homes on the island of Hoy targeting fuel poverty, energy cost reduction and domestic de-carbonisation on a community wide basis.

Jermainia Colaire-Didier has been a French lecturer and Teacher trainer for the past 26 years. She has been passionate about creative writing from her high school days. She has written quite a few stories and poems having submitted several entries to her country’s Independence literary competitions. Currently she is the chairperson for the Waitukubuli Writers group in Dominica. She looks forward to having some of her work published this year in the anthology being produced by the group.
Her dream is to publish her work in both English and French.

Marta Ferretti has been working as Project Manager at SMILO (Small Islands Organisation) since early 2019. She supports small islands in the Mediterranean, Europe, Western Africa, Indian Ocean and South-East Asia in defining a sustainable vision for their territory and implementing sustainable projects on the field. She previously worked in London for a communications & advocacy consultancy specialised in the environment, where she focused on nature-based solutions, sustainable agriculture and forest management. This native Italian later joined the UN in Rome, working on issues related to climate change and food security, and partnerships building at the World Food Programme (UN WFP). She is a firm believer of the leading role that islands can play for the planet global conservation.

The New Caledonia Technopole (ADECAL Technopole) was set up in late 2011 to respond to a demand - widely shared by the public authorities, tertiary education and reserach stakeholders and the corporate world - to use innovation as a leverage for economic development and diversification. Incubation and accelerations services at ADECAL Technopole provides project holders and domestic enterprises with a holistic range of services including :

- Financing through proof-of-concept grants as well as investment facilitation at more advanced stages.
- Business advisory and training through mentorship, networking, seminars, and other services that build professional expertise.
- Access to market information, local technology information, access to facilities and regional centers.
- Access to policy support through hosting dialogues with government, researching trends and documenting best practices for SME.
- Promoting business opportunities and outreach on innovation.

Liz Doherty is a fiddle player, teacher and arts consultant from Co. Donegal, Ireland. She is the founder and director of I Teach Trad, a new company launched in 2020, offering training and professional development for teachers of traditional music. Her academic credentials include a PhD (her dissertation was on the fiddle music of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia) and she has lectured in traditional music at UCC and at Ulster University, Derry as well as in Canada, the US and Australia. She was recently recognised with a National Teaching Fellowship from the UK’s Higher Education Academy for her work in this area. Liz has taught Irish fiddle music at festivals and events around the world. She has performed and recorded with Mícheál Ó Súillebháin and the RTÉ National Symphony and Concert Orchestras, Riverdance -The Show, and with bands Bumblebees, Fiddlesticks and Nomos; she also has two solo recordings. She is currently a member of Culture Ireland’s Expert Advisory Committee.

Mrs. Helen Royer assumed the position of Director, Human Development, in the Directorate of Human and Social Development, of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat on 1 July 2019.

Prior to this appointment, Mrs. Royer, a national of the Commonwealth of Dominica, early in her career served in the field of nursing in varied capacities as Primary Care Nurse, Registered Nurse, Registered Nurse Midwife, Community Health Nurse and Senior Community Health Nurse/Maternal and Child Health Coordinator. During that period she also served as Senior Community Health Nurse and was instrumental in reviewing the Guidelines for Primary Health Care Directives for Dominica and also the Maternal and Child Health Manual.

She later assumed the position of National Coordinator of Health Promotion/Focal point for Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases and was successful in developing and receiving approval for Public Servant Wellness Programme. She was also instrumental in working on the response to disasters and other public health threats.

From 2011 to June 2019, Mrs. Royer worked as the Permanent Secretary within three ministries namely the Ministry of Health and Environment; The Ministry of Social Services, Family and Gender Affairs and the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs, Family and Gender Affairs of the Government of Dominica. As Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Royer participated in several national and regional consultations on public health issues, environment, sustainable development and social development and was instrumental in both the development of guidelines, and implementation of Policies.

She also served on several boards and committees; as Chairperson of the national Solid Waste Board, Chairperson of the National Non-communicable Diseases, Member of the Dominica Nursing Council , the Chair of the oversight Committee for CDB funded Project under the Basic Needs Trust Fund among others.

Mrs. Royer also served a member of the Technical Working Group for CariPHLYN (CARPHA Public Health Laboratory Network) and worked intensively with PAHO on the development of policies and Strategies for Non-Communicable and Communicable Diseases in Dominica.

In her current capacity as Director, she has represented the CARICOM Secretariat at various fora and currently overseers the Environment/Sustainable Programme.

Denise Blake is the Environmental Officer and Policy Adviser for the Falkland Islands Government. Her role is based within the Policy and Economic Development Unit and is multifaceted, broadly aimed to protect and manage the local environment and its wildlife as well as to provide environmental policy advice across Government. This remit includes contemporary issues such as Waste Management and Climate Change as well as promoting biodiversity through conservation and research. She has lived in the Falkland Islands for the last six years together with her husband. Denise has a Masters in Marine Biology from the University of Southampton and has previously worked for UNEP-CMS in capacity building as well as the Falkland Islands Fisheries Department as a sea-going observer and as data manager before taking up her current role. She is currently also working towards her PhD in Geography at the University of Leeds and is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

I am an electrical engineer, specialized in the consultancy, engineering, project development, with integration of technology and management to realize innovative and long term cost effective project solutions, in the past two years I have been focused on OWAC as our main product in Omega Engineering.

Joselyn Navarro is a mechanical engineer specialized in energy efficiency and sustainability in buildings and one of the ambassadors of OWAC technology by Omega Engineering.

Her 9 years of experience in HVAC system installation and her academic background allowed her to advise stakeholders in active building designs.

Morales Esajas is a Senior Professional and Digital Transformation SME at IBIS Management Associates where he advises the Executive Management and Boards of central, private, commercial and offshore banks as well as other financial institutions on how to achieve operational excellence across their back-office operations.

While being a true Caribbean Ambassador, he has a diverse Caribbean heritage and is fluent in English, Dutch, Surinamese, Papiamento, Spanish and German but also masters Creole and various dialects of the entire Caribbean such as (French & English) Patois.

Working in the financial services industry for over 35 years; always on the outlook for disrupting financial concepts that democratize finances in general.

Yolanda Joab Mori is a community organizer and activist from the islands of the Federated States of Micronesia, and has been working on local climate adaptation while advocating for stronger climate action internationally since 2011. She has been a keynote speaker at the United Nations ECOSOC Youth Forum, UN High Level Political Forum and is an Obama Leader of the inaugural Obama Foundation Leaders Program for Asia Pacific. She is the Founder of Island PRIDE Micronesia and serves as the FSM President's Advocate on Climate Change.

Weldon Wade is a Bermudian SCUBA diver, freediver, founder of Guardians of the Reef, and is also Communications Coordinator for the Bermuda Ocean Prosperity Program. He is also a 5 Gyres and PADI Ambassador. Weldon is well known in Bermuda for his passion for the ocean, organizing beach clean ups, boat trips, and community outreach. Weldon holds more than 10 years of diving experience, serves on numerous boards and committees of Bermuda's conservation and ocean organizations, and was a speaker at TEDxBermuda in 2014.

Howie Firth is a writer and broadcaster who has directed Orkney Internmational Science Festival for the past 30 years. As the director of the first Edinburgh Science Festival in 1989 he created the science festival format that is now followed worldwide. He worked for 11 years for the BBC as the head of Radio Orkney, one of the UK's first community radio stations. His background is in mathematical physics and he has a deep interest in the history and philosophy of science. He is also chair of the Resource Use Institute and the innovation company Going Nova, which is working on a project developing a new strategy to tackle island waste.

Mr Neville Aquilina is the Director General, Global Issues, International Development, Economic and Cultural Affairs at the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs of Malta. Since joining the Ministry in 1999, Mr Aquilina served both Malta and abroad and represented the Ministry at International conferences and events in various capacities. In 2012, he served as Director at the European Affairs Division, and in 2015, he was appointed Director General.

As Director General for International Development, together with his European peers, Mr Aquilina contributes to the formulating of European Union development policy and thematic policies in order to reduce poverty in the world, to ensure sustainable economic, social and environmental development and to promote democracy, the rule of law, good governance and the respect of human rights, notably through external aid. Furthermore, in close partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat, Mr Aquilina oversees the projects being taken forward at the Commonwealth Small State Centre of Excellence and supports the Deputy Director at the Centre in this regard.h

Since 2015, Mr Aquilina is the Chair of the Sanctions Monitoring Board of the Republic of Malta.

Pedro Valle Javier, Ph.D. has been creating digital content since 1998. As an undergrad, he founded an online magazine designed to give Puerto Rican writers a voice in the digital era. Since then, he has worked as a technology reporter for a Puerto Rican business weekly, and has taught for over a decade at the college level. His work with politics began in 2013, when he was hired as the digital strategist in Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives. Since then, he’s been involved in over 25 political campaigns in Puerto Rico, México, Panama, the U.S. and other regions. Pedro has become a pioneer in digital micro-segmentation techniques for political ads in the Puerto Rico and LatAM markets.

Professor Dr. Phoebe Koundouri holds a PhD and MPhil in Economics from the University of Cambridge (UK). She is Professor (Chair) of Sustainable Development (Economics and Econometrics) at the School of Economics, Athens University of Economics and Business (Greece). She is also the elected President of the European Association of Environmental and Natural Resource Economists https://www.eaere.org/ with more than 1200 scientific institutions as members from more than 75 different countries. Prof. Koundouri is listed in the 1% of most-cited women economists in the world, with 15 published books and more than 250 published scientific papers.

Prof. Phoebe Koundouri is also the Founder and Scientific Director of the Research Laboratory: ReSEES: Research on Socio-Economic and Environmental Sustainability www.dept.aueb.gr/en/ReSEES at the Athens University of Economics and Business and an affiliated Professor at the ATHENA Research and Innovation Center, where she directs EIT Climate KIC Hub Greece of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology www.climate-kic.org and promotes the acceleration of climate-resilient innovations -technological and social- in the market.

She is also the co-chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Network – Greece www.unsdsn.org and the chair of the UN SDSN Global Senior Working Group for the Energy Transition “Six Transformations to Achieve the SDGs and Support for the European Green Deal”. Professor Koundouri is also chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of ICRE8 International Research Center www.icre8.eu and chair of the scientific advisory board of the European Forest Institute www.efi.int. Professor Koundouri member of the Center for Economic Policy Research RPN on Climate Change https://cepr.org/content/cepr-rpn-climate-change-researchers. In the past, Professor Koundouri has held academic positions at the University of Cambridge, University College London, the University of Reading and the London School of Economics.

She acts as an advisor to the European Commission, World Bank, EIB, EBRD, OECD, UN, NATO, WHO, numerous national and international foundations and organizations, as well as national governments in all five continents. Notably, she is currently member of the Prime-ministerial Committee for drafting the 10-year development plan for Greece, as well as in the Climate Change Committee of the Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy.

Since 1997, she has coordinated more than 75 international interdisciplinary research and demonstration projects and has attracted significant competitive research funding. Professor Koundouri and her large interdisciplinary team, have produced research and policy results that have contributed to accelerating research commercialization for the sustainability transition and shaping environmental policies worldwide. Over the last two decades, Professor Koundouri has given keynote and public lecturers all over the world and received various prizes for academic excellence.

MouseFX is a Reggae Singer born and raised in Hong Kong. He started to sing roots style in cantonese since 1990s . In 2019, with Heavy Hong Kong Sound System, they travelled to Jamaica and met with Skunga Kong, at the “Tabernacle Studio” in St. Elizabeth. As grand nephew of Jamaican "Hall of Fame Producer " Lesile Kong, son of roots singer "I Kong", and owner of Skunga Record, he is carrying the flag of his family musical glories into 2020 and beyond. When Robert Nesta Marley predicted that Reggae music will reach all four corners of the world, MouseFX connected the dots from Hong Kong to Jamaica.

Dizzanne Billy is communications and marketing specialist who enjoys applying her knowledge and practical experience to the environmental and climate change movement. She holds an MSc degree in Global Studies, having completed her thesis on the study of the effectiveness of global environmental governance in the biodiversity agenda. Dizzanne is the Communications and Outreach Officer for the global youth-led climate journalism network - Climate Tracker - and an active climate change communicator, publishing on climate change, participating, and leading discussions on the theme, locally, regionally, and internationally.

Nicole Leotaud is Executive Director of the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) and has more than 25 years’ experience working in environmental governance and management across the Caribbean. A conservation biologist by training, she has also worked in diverse areas related to green and blue economies, rural livelihoods and climate resilience. She has facilitated numerous multi-stakeholder processes, including supporting the United Nations Open Working Group and CARICOM negotiators with development of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, and supporting Caribbean civil society’s role as partners in implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. She is an advocate on Caribbean sustainable development issues at global, regional and national levels.

Pàdruig Morrison is a young islander from Grimsay in the Outer Hebrides, where he is involved in Gaelic language and cultural revitalisation. He is a professional traditional musician and a PhD researcher in music composition.

Ronald Boo Hinkson’s talent transcends cultures and sounds, bringing a fresh, innovative blend of Jazz and Caribbean music. A gifted composer, producer, and guitarist, Boo’s unique
approach and versatility enable him to deliver a distinctive signature sound.

Born in St Lucia and raised on a diet of Ellington, Davis, and Coltrane, Boo’s name is synonymous with St Lucian music. His mother, who was also an accomplished guitarist, was his first teacher. His musical career began with the TRU-TONES, a group he started in St Lucia. The TRU-TONES commanded stages locally and internationally for over two decades. Their eclectic blend of Caribbean and Pop rhythms earned them widespread fame and even a performance at SUPERBOWL XIII.

Today, he is an exceptionally accomplished solo artist who has stayed true not only to his Jazz roots, but also his West Indian culture. Boo’s appreciation for the true Jazz Masters comes
through in all of his recordings, but so too do his influences in Contemporary Jazz, Soca, Latin and Caribbean styles.

Boo’s new single “My Good Day” (from his upcoming 3rd studio release on Zephryn Records) is a testament to his growth as an artist and composer. It features smooth vocals from Irvin Ace
Loctar and Shannon Pinel, coupled with Boo’s signature feathery touch on guitar; as well as some well-placed “Scat” vocals from Boo, adding that extra little “something”. This soon to be
Pop/ Jazz favorite is a break from the sound of Boo’s previous recordings, but shows his versatility as a songwriter and performing artist. The new CD, “Spectrum”, will also include the
Latin flavored “Friday Afternoon”, a recent radio favorite (co-produced by fellow guitarist BLAKE AARON). The future is indeed sunny for St Lucia’s favorite son!

Boo Hinkson’s performance track record includes International stages from the Caribbean to the US and Europe. Most recently he has performed at the Monaco Jazz Festival and New York’s Lincoln Center with International Superstar Hugh Masekela. Boo has also opened for scores of musical greats including George Benson, Al Jarreau, India Arie, and Grover Washington. He has even been featured at a state function for former President Bill Clinton, and has had his music featured on popular day-time TV show “One Life To Live”. His live performances have aired on THE BBC, BET JAZZ, and Bravo TV to name a few.

Boo's current single “African Queen” spent several weeks at #1 on the Smooth Guitar charts.
Go to www.wemgmt.com for bookings, additional info, music and performances

Mr. Jean-Michel Parle is the lead on generation expansion planning within CCREEE. In this role, he coordinates with IRP consultants, the CARICOM Energy Unit, development and regional partners and CARICOM Member States for development and project management of IRRPs in fulfilment of States’ energy planning objectives.

Mr. Parle is a trained mechanical engineer with over 8 years of experience in planning and project development at a regional vertically-integrated electric utility.

Andrew Dorr has served as Town Manager of Vinalhaven since 2015. Prior to that he served in multiple roles supporting island communities and working on Vinalhaven as a Community Planning and Development Fellow. Andrew graduated from SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry with a B.S. in Environmental Studies.
As the Vinalhaven Town Manager, Andrew works closely with the Vinalhaven Selectboard to implement the changes and improvements they seek in the community. The board’s current strategic planning process has identified sea-level rise, economic development, and resiliency as some of the opportunities to focus on over the next few years.

- A thought leader with over 20 years of bringing innovations to all financial sectors of Caribbean Island Communities.
- Entrepreneur and strategic business advisor.
- Past Chairman of the Board of the Curacao Business Association.
- Founding Member of the Curacao Fintech Association.
- Founding Member of the Curacao Tech Export Association (SIMIA).
- Socially Aware and Engaged!