Grand Opening – Eastern Hemisphere

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.

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.

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.