Unite Behind The SC1.5NCE, an Intergenerational Dialogue on the Future of Islands

Omar is the C.E.O. of The Cropper Foundation, a Caribbean non-profit working to advance Caribbean sustainability. In this role he has led several large development projects and built diverse, multi-stakeholder relationships across fields of data and technology, civil society empowerment, sustainable agriculture and natural capital. He has also worked in the field of education with UNESCO, leading national and regional efforts at sustainability and diversity in education including UNESCO’s global programme on bullying and school violence and UNESCO’s climate change education agenda. He has worked with the University of the West Indies, various United Nations Agencies and is currently a Director of CAISO: Sex and Gender Justice, one of the leading LGBTI NGOs in the Caribbean. He is a member of the 10th cohort of the Master of Studies in Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge, UK. And has a BSc and MBA from the UWI.

Dr. Angus Friday leads the Waitt Institute’s work in helping nations design sustainable blue economies to support long-term ocean and community health and wellbeing. He is an accomplished blue economy leader and practitioner, having served as the World Bank’s Ocean Representative and having worked with the Dutch Government and FAO in establishing the Global Blue Growth Network. Dr. Friday also played a leading role in developing the Blue Grenada Program which included the development of a Blue Growth Master Plan and the establishment of the Blue Innovation Institute; all of which contributed to the World Bank’s “First Fiscal Resilience and Blue Growth Development Policy Credit” with $30 million in concessional financing for Grenada under IDA-18.

As a diplomat, he served as Grenada’s Ambassador to the United States, Mexico and Canada and also as Grenada’s Ambassador to the United Nations. A qualified medical doctor with an MBA, Dr. Friday brings a wide perspective on the interconnected nature of business, health, and international economic policy.

Unleashing the growth potential of organizations is the purpose of strategy innovation. All can benefit from it. Too few do it. The Strategy Innovation Group (SIG) was founded to lead a transformative shift in the way global organizations, communities and islands envision and realize their desired future through their Discovery Process and strategy innovation.

We have partnered with executive leadership at 3M, P&G, IBM, BMW, Hewlett-Packard, Marriott International, United Way Worldwide and Carl Zeiss, among others, to inspire and execute sustainable new value in their industry, (i.e. 3M’s CEO valued this new “non-incremental to breakthrough” growth pipeline at $6 billion after 4 years.)

Last January we provided a Discovery Process Workshop to the 390 Island Innovation Ambassadors 2021. 111 Ambassadors, representing 61 islands, signed on to learn the Discovery Process in a pilot program and apply it to their island’s preparation for this year’s Island Innovation Summit. We have worked closely with the Martha’s Vineyard Ambassadors to model the Discovery Process for other islands.

Joe is Managing Partner of Synecticsworld (a global innovation coaching and facilitation consultancy) and Founder of Imagine Corps (an innovation learning and community impact program for teenagers).

His work and passion are at the center of human potential — working with leaders to build more collaboratively innovative organizations and communities that create growth and meaningful change.
Joe is a sought-after innovation coach, facilitator, and trainer helping leaders and their teams to invent and incubate breakthrough solutions to key business challenges, and embed capabilities and organizational support for a more creative and innovative culture to take root.

Prior to his work the last 20 years in creativity and collaborative innovation with Synecticsworld, Joe held executive and product marketing positions helping to start and grow new businesses, teams, products, and brands (Apple, Hasbro, LiveToy Networks, Arthur D. Little, IBM).

As an Island Innovation Ambassador for Martha’s Vineyard, he is helping to lead a discovery process for Youth Empowerment & Engagement as well as spurring an Imagine Corps pilot program for Vineyard youth to learn collaborative innovation and creative problem-solving and pair with non-profits to make a difference on challenges in their community.

Executive Director of Vineyard Open Land Foundation (2021 to present)
Transforming 50 year conservation organization into an integrated conservation and community development corporation. Refreshed mission into “creating places and spaces that matter on Martha’s Vineyard”. Current focus is on public access to waterfront and re-creation of a working waterfront in Vineyard Haven, and on working with organizations island-wide to create projects with open space, experiential education, arts and culture and economic vitality serving the diverse population of the island.

Executive Director of Martha’s Vineyard Museum (2016 to 2020)
Championed organization in transformation from an historical society and museum to an island-wide cultural center and museum serving a diverse and dynamic seasonal, socio-economic, and ethnic population on an island of equally diverse and rapidly changing ecology. Rewrote mission, vision and branding to reflect new focus on all the people and places of the island embracing its complex and diverse cultural and natural heritage. Raised $29 million in capital campaign to transform museum campus, moving operations from original town in Edgartown to island’s major port of entry, Vineyard Haven. Completed restoration of historic 1895 Marine Hospital building and construction of companion award-winning buildings. Opened new campus in the spring of 2019 to a six fold increase in visitors, nearly 30,000. Grew organization from 7 to 20 employees, annual budget to $2.2 million, and created $2.2 million endowment.
Executive Director of Audubon Pennsylvania (2008 to 2016) – Led and managed the state office of the National Audubon Society, growing its membership to 30,000 members with three offices and 20 employees across the state. Managed the protection of 85 Important Bird Areas across the Commonwealth. Raised more than $30 million to complete two national education and conservation leadership centers serving more than 100,000 visitors and school aged youth. Protected more than 5,000 acres of bird and wildlife habitat.

Education –Received MBA from the Wharton Business School (Buhler Scholar in 1986); undergraduate degree from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy (1981).

Zaidy is UN Nippon fellow and a PhD Candidate. Her research focuses on Sustainable development goal life below water (SDG14) and Blue economy involving SIDS. With a particular interest in policies that foster the professional SCUBA divers employment, education, training, safety and protection along with the economic and environmental sustainability policy objectives.

Stan Wolfgramm New Zealand born Tongan, Cook Islander formed a live theater company Drum Productions Ltd in 1992. It has now established its self as a reputable film, television, theatrical events, strategic communications and social & economic development production company winning contracts and commissions from the likes of national and international television broadcasters, government agencies, NZ On Air, the Lotteries Commission, Creative NZ, the Ministry Of Foreign Affairs & Trade, the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, Auckland City Council, Auckland Tourism Events & Economic Development, Pacific Island Trade & Invest, the corporate sector – Westfield, master card, Virgin Airways, and many more.

Technological entrepreneur and sustainability enthusiast, Emilio De Jesús divides his time and energy between his academic work as a professor at the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (PUCMM), his role as COO at STOR Water, a startup that seeks to use the latest advances in Industry 4.0 (IoT, Machine Learning) to create Digital Twins in the infrastructure of the Water and Energy industry, and Energía Journal, a communication portal to the most relevant information regarding the energy and sustainability conversation in the Dominican Republic. Emilio completed his undergraduate studies in Electromechanical Engineering (PUCMM) and obtained his specialization in Renewable Energies and Energy Markets at the School of Industrial Organization (EOI).

YOUNGO is the Youth Constituency of the UNFCCC. It consists of many youth-led organizations, groups, delegations, and individuals working in climate change-related fields.

YOUNGO runs various Working Groups focusing each on specific aspects of the climate change within the UNFCCC negotiations and events to ensure that perspectives of young and future generations are taken into account in the multilateral decision-making processes. Besides that, YOUNGO members observe and report on climate negotiations, and the implications of their outcomes.

March For Science is a global community of science supporters committed to building a more sustainable, just world. Our mission is to mobilize advocates across the globe in support of evidence-based, science-informed public policies.

The Island Resilience Partnership (IRP) is a social enterprise that amplifies climate action and scales climate solutions. Through the development of public-private partnerships and cross-sector collaborations, IRP helps the world’s most vulnerable countries achieve climate mitigation and climate adaptation goals.