Key speakers
Speakers (A-Z)
Ade O'Neal works as the Assistant Manager, Business Development at Barbados Port Inc. He is a trade professional with a solid background in implementing diverse projects in the private and public sectors. He holds post-graduate qualifications in International Trade Policy, graduating with distinction and an Executive MBA.
In addition to his professional career, he has a keen interest in social development and youth advocacy, having spent more than a decade contributing to these fields. He is a former youth parliamentarian, having represented Barbados in the Americas & Europe, Former secretary of the Barbados Youth Development Council and up to 2023 served as Barbados' National Delegate to the Commonwealth Youth Council.
Ade currently serves as the Assistant District Administrator for the Caribbean Key Clubs, responsible for coordinating the activities and district service projects and events for 11 Caribbean nations.
Felix Ohnmacht is the Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Axmed.
Felix held several senior management positions at Novartis, serving as the Head of Strategy Africa (+47 countries). Felix also served as Executive Director, The Novartis Biome SSA, a regional hub developing innovative business models and technology solutions to improve healthcare.
Felix co-led an initiative for Kofi Annan at the Kofi Annan Foundation and the United Nations (UN) during the Syrian Civil War. He gained management consulting experience at Accenture Strategy as a core member of its Precision Medicines Center of Excellence.
Felix is the co-author of the UN Broadband Commission Report on "Reimagining Global Health through Artificial Intelligence." He is a visiting lecturer at the Graduate Institute, Geneva, in Global Health and Advocacy, where he also obtained his PhD. He was an advanced doctoral researcher at Princeton University and the Max Planck Institute.
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Sanda Ojiambo of Kenya was appointed Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Global Compact by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to lead the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative.
As the world grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Ojiambo launched an ambitious new UN Global Compact strategy to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business and delivering the SDGS through accountable companies and ecosystems.
Ms. Ojiambo brings to the UN Global Compact more than 20 years' experience in the public, multilateral and private sectors including as Head of Sustainable Business and Social Impact, Safaricom Plc in Kenya; and capacity development work in CARE International and United Nations Development Programme Somalia.
Ms. Ojiambo holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota, USA, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and International Development from McGill University, Canada.
Chantal Ononaiwu is the Director, External Trade in the CARICOM Secretariat’s Directorate of the CARICOM Single Market and Trade, based in Barbados, where she leads the Directorate’s work pertaining to external trade negotiations and external trade policy.
She has served as a senior adviser to the Community on matters pertaining to international trade and investment, a negotiator for CARICOM in its external trade negotiations and has represented the Community in cases before the Caribbean Court of Justice. Ms. Ononaiwu has also served as a panelist in a WTO dispute. She lectures International Trade and Investment Law at the University of the West Indies.
Ms. Ononaiwu is admitted to practise law in Jamaica and Barbados. She holds a DPhil in Law from the University of Oxford, an L.L.M. from the University of Cambridge, and an L.L.B. from the University of the West Indies.
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Roselyn Opel is a Kenyan National and the Head of Pooled Procurement Services at the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission based in St. Lucia, providing leadership in the Pooled Procurement of Health commodities on behalf of the Ministries of Health of the OECS. She oversees the General Procurement for donor and Government Projects on behalf of the Member States.
She is a seasoned Procurement and Supply Chain professional with over 25 years of experience in complex cross border humanitarian supply chain & Logistics Management, private (FCMG) and public sectors in Africa and the Carribean. She has worked with several NGOs including World Vision, American Refugee Committee (Currently Alight), Save The Children, CESVI, Marie Stopes Kenya, among others.
She spent 19 years working with Multilateral donor funded projects and Public Procurement in the 9 Member States of the Eastern Caribbean including Global Fund TB, World Bank, EU, CDB.
Katharine Palmer is the global head of sustainability for Lloyd’s Register Maritime and currently seconded to the UN High Level Climate Champion team as the Shipping Lead.
With over 20 years' experience in the shipping industry Katharine is an established thought leader on maritime sustainability and environmental issues, providing advice and insight to maritime stakeholders across the value chain.
Katharine is a Chartered Marine Scientist and a fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineers, Scientists and Technologists (IMarEST) and an Elected Trustee on the Board of the Sustainable Shipping Initiative.
Gina Panayiotou leads the World ESG Forum, fostering collaboration across maritime, trade, and transport sectors to develop an ESG framework for ocean health, seafarer wellbeing, and diversity. She is also CEO of ESG Consultancy, Oceans Arena.
With expertise in maritime law and an MBA in change management, Gina has advised organizations like Hartmann Shipowning Group, MSC Cruises, and West P and I, and consulted for the UN's International Maritime Organization and the Greek Prime Minister's Special Envoy for the Ocean.
She holds roles including Seatrade Maritime Club Ambassador for the UK, Secretary at WISTA UK, Co-Chair of WISTA International Environmental Committee, and G100 UK Chair for Sustainable Brand Creation.
Gina supports the World Ocean Council, teaches at MLA College, and has spoken at 35+ conferences. She garnered recognition from Marine Traffic, Seatrade, Legal 500, and GC Powerlist, featuring in the Top 100 Women in Shipping for 5 years and hosts her podcast.
Mr. Ju Dong Park has been a professor of Marine Science College at Gyeongsang National University in the Republic of Korea since 2020. Prior to his academic career, he worked as a senior researcher of Port Division at Korea Maritime Institute in ROK from 2015 to 2020.
Prof. Park went to the North Dakota State University in the United States of America for his PhD in Transportation and Logistics with specialty of Transportation Economics from 2011 to 2015 after obtaining his MS in International Transportation Management at Maritime College, State University of New York in 2010. In paricular, he was awarded the Best Paper Award from the Transportation Research Forum in 2014. Prof. Park has more than 10 years experience of research and work in the transportation sector including the collaboration with various international organizations such as UNCTAD, UN-ESCAP and APEC and furthermore he has been working with UNCTAD since 2018.
José Raúl Perales is Deputy Director of the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation where he oversees a team involved in the design and implementation of all in-country projects.
Raúl previously served as the Assistant Secretary for the Private Sector at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In this role, Perales advised the Secretary on the impact of the Department's policies, regulations, and processes on private sector companies.
Raúl has also served as the Director for the Americas at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, held roles at the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America and the Wilson Center, and served as trade policy adviser to the government of Puerto Rico.
Avinash Persaud, Special Advisor on Climate Change to the President of the Inter-American Development Bank, has over 30 years of experience in finance, public policy, and academia.
Previously, he was Special Climate Envoy to the Prime Minister of Barbados and an architect of the 'Bridgetown Initiative.
Avinash is a member of the High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance of the COP26, 27 and 28 Presidencies and a member of the first Board of the new Climate Loss and Damage Fund. He previously served as Chairman of the Caribbean Community's Commission on the Economy and Commissioner of the UN Commission on Financial Reform. Avinash also used to be a senior executive at several major banks including J. P. Morgan, State Street and UBS.
An Emeritus Professor of Gresham College in the UK, he is 2024 Perry World Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and has won numerous awards in finance.