Key speakers
Speakers (A-Z)
Dona Regis-Prosper is Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), which serves as the Caribbean’s tourism development agency. She is the first woman to assume leadership of the intergovernmental body and serves as the organization’s chief spokesperson guided by the strategic direction set forth by the Council of Ministers and Commissioners of Tourism and the Board of Directors.
Her professional career includes pivotal roles as Director of Marketing and Product Development at the St. Lucia Air and Seaports Authority; Director of Business Development for Margaritaville Caribbean Group in Jamaica; CEO of the Tortola Pier Park in the British Virgin Islands; and General Manager of the Antigua Cruise Port.
She holds a Master of Business Administration from Durham University Business School and is a Certified Professional Marketer. She was recently honored by the Caribbean Media Exchange (CMEx) with its 2023 Leadership award in recognition for her contribution to Tourism development in the Caribbean.
Safiya Reid, a national of Trinidad and Tobago, is currently the Officer-in-Charge of the Directorate for Transport, Trade and Sustainable Development at the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) for the last two (2) years and has simultaneously been its Adviser for the last 3 years.
Possessing a wealth of knowledge and experience in international trade and regional development projects, Safiya is committed to realizing the potential of regional cooperation to advance the sustainable development of the Greater Caribbean.
Over the years, Safiya has done transformative work in several countries including Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
She holds an MBA in International Trade, Logistics and Procurement from the Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business of the University of the West Indies. Being fluent in English, French and Spanish, she has dedicated most of her career to building cross-cultural, collaborative partnerships that sustain regional development.
Jan Yves Remy is the Director of the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services (the SRC), the premier trade institution of the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, dedicated to training, research and outreach on issues of regional and international trade.
Her areas of research include international and regional trade dispute settlement regimes, climate change and trade, trade and sustainability, WTO reform, trade and gender issues, e-commerce, regional integration and investment policy, in particular, how they affect small island developing states including those in the Caribbean.
She holds the position of WTO Chair at the University of the West Indies (Barbados), under the WTO's Chair Programme; has served as a panelist in WTO trade disputes; and has been included on the panel roster to serve as arbitrator and/or Chair on a number of mechanisms under European and UK FTAs.
Ms. Stacy Richards-Kennedy is Regional Manager for the Caribbean for the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF). She has over 25 years' experience in multilateral negotiations, development management and international finance. Her diverse experience includes forging strategic partnerships, leading multi-disciplinary teams and marshalling resources for the successful execution of projects in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Stacy formerly served as Pro Vice-Chancellor for Global Affairs at The University of the West Indies, which is ranked among the top 1.5% of universities globally. She also has extensive experience working in multilateral development agencies. She was Assistant Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Curaçao and St Maarten; Chief Technical Advisor, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Consultant, The World Bank, Washington DC and Programme Specialist, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris.
She holds a Doctorate in Education from The University of Sheffield.
Ms. Elizabeth Riley is the first female Executive Director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and was appointed to that position on1 July 2021.
She is a committed regionalist with over 22 years experience in the areas of disaster risk management at the regional and international levels and in environmental management.
At the operational level, Ms Riley has played a leadership role in the coordination of regional responses to all major hazards impacting the region from Hurricane Ivan in 2004 to the La Soufriere Volcanic Emergency in 2021.
She has written, presented, and published technical papers in disaster management and environmental management and has lectured in Disaster Management at the University of the West Indies (UWI). She holds a M.A (Econ) in Environment and Development (University of Manchester, UK), a BSc. (Hons) in Geography (UWI, Mona, Jamaica) and a Masters Certificate in Results Based Monitoring and Evaluation and Information Systems (University of Laval, Quebec).
Tiziana Rizzo is Membership and Regional Coordinator at FIATA, the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations. She works closely with FIATA Association Members to develop and reinforce relations with FIATA Headquarters and aims to facilitate a better understanding and coordination of FIATA activities through the regional bodies (Asia-Pacific, Europe, Americas, Africa and Middle East).
She also managed the FIATA Foundation for Vocational Training for two years, promoting capacity building in freight forwarding and logistics for FIATA Members who do not have access to such training.
After completing her Master’s degree in European Politics at the University of Geneva, and prior to joining FIATA, she held the position of Events and Operations Coordinator at the Swiss Trading and Shipping Association, the umbrella association the commodity trading and shipping sector, where she oversaw members relations, training activities, and the organisation of flagship events.
Luisa Rodriguez has been working in UNCTAD for 15 years, 7 of which on trade logistics.
She is a member of the team drafting UNCTAD’s annual review of maritime transport. Her work also covers monitoring trends and analysis regarding transport networks and corridors, ports, transport facilitation, sustainable transport and maritime transport statistics. She is also responsible for a project related to promoting Sustainable and Smart ports in Africa.
Prior to her experience in the field of trade logistics, she worked for 12 years conducting policy-oriented research, combined with capacity building in the fields of policy reform in services sectors, trade policy and trade negotiations. She also worked for 9 years for the Government of Venezuela, 4 of which as a trade negotiator to the WTO.
She is Venezuelan. She studied international relations, has an MBA in international trade and a Master’s degree in Environmental Governance and Policymaking.
Daniel Rodríguez is the Director of the Procurement and Supply Management at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
With a passion for driving excellence in supply chain strategies, team leadership, operations, and leveraging the use of digital technologies. In his current role, Daniel spearheads a dynamic team dedicated to the strategies and execution of procurement and logistics operations for the PAHO Regional Revolving Funds.
These efforts contribute to the efficient access to health supplies for public health programs of 42 countries and territories in the Americas and The Caribbean.
Daniel holds a degree in Industrial Engineer, complemented by a master's degree in business administration and in international logistics and supply chain strategy from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).
Githa Roelans leads the ILO's policy and technical assistance to governments, employers and workers in ILO member States across the world. She specializes on the application of the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy (MNE Declaration) - the ILO's leading instrument on responsible business conduct. The unit plays a central role in ILO's engagement with enterprises and workers on responsible labour practices including in supply chains.
Githa Roelans joined the ILO in 2007 where she held positions in the Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour and the Bureau for Gender Equality before taking up her current post in the Sustainable Enterprises department.
Previously she worked in the UNIDO Beijing Office (China) and held senior advisory positions in global consultancies in Brussels (Belgium). She is a Belgian national and graduate of the University of Leuven (KULeuven and UCL), where she subsequently held research and management posts.
Enrique Romero is a Logistics Optimization Specialist at Decisiones Logisticas Consulting Group.
He is an industrial engineer, with experience in logistics operations and supply chain strategy, and holds a Master of Science on innovation management, and a second Master of Science on logistics management, certified in Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Lego Serious Play
He counts with more than 20 years of experience on Operations Management Strategy development, Simulation, Supply Chain Analytics focusing on supply chain risk and resilience analysis, and training on Operations Management and Innovation through gamification and simulation.