Emily has 25 years’ experience as a researcher, analyst, journalist, lecturer and adviser to government.

She has written over 50 books, chapters, journal articles and reports on climate, disasters and development, and co-produced the award-winning documentary Climate Blueprint: Dominica.

Emily is an adviser to AOSIS and served as Chief Scientific Adviser to the Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica from 2019-2023.

Deborah Williams is a Government Adviser and Chartered Public Finance Accountant. She chaired IFAC’s Professional Accountancy Organization (PAO) Development Committee from 2011 to 2013, and has been involved with IFAC’s capacity building initiative since 2004. As Chair, she led the development of partnership arrangements with donor and other organisations working to support the development of the accountancy profession. She continues to advise IFAC’s CEO on strategic capacity building opportunities. Deborah has served on the Boards of several organisations, and works with organisations and individuals to enhance capability and effectiveness both in the UK and internationally.

Allan Williams has been involved in the cotton industry for pretty much his entire life, having grown up on a cotton farm and worked in various industry roles since 1995. Two intersecting themes have dominated Allan’s work in cotton: research and sustainability.

His initial role involved working with cotton growers to review and prioritise research investments in cotton growing. Allan also led the development of the Australian cotton industry’s BMP program (now myBMP). Following 11 years working on BMP Allan then started working for the global Better Cotton Initiative, again leading the development of the definition of Better Cotton. This saw him expand his cotton farming perspective to locations including Brazil, West Africa, India and Pakistan.

Since leaving BCI in 2012 Allan has worked for the Australian Cotton Research & Development Corporation, where he is now the General Manager for R&D Investment.

Hillary-Ann Williams is Miss Universe Barbados 2020. She is by definition a survivor and a fighter. At just 25 years of age, she is a survivor of gender-based violence who has turned her story of hurt, shame and pain into becoming a very vocal advocate in the fight to end the cycle of abuse for all women.

This courageous young woman has worked with the United Nations Women's Secretariat in Barbados and speaks about gender-based violence issues, through her platform as Miss Universe Barbados 2020, at every chance she is given.

A true global citizen with a unique history and background, this bi-racial 25-year-old’s diverse heritage and upbringing in both Barbados and Canada, allowed her to experience two very different cultures growing up and a deeper appreciation of what it means to be a global citizen.

She is a confident young woman who has a message to share with the world and an understanding that the best life attributes to have are empathy, and the ability to actively listen to others in order to truly be able to be there for them in the way that they need.

Dr. Mariama Williams is Director of the Institute of Law and Economics (ILE),Jamaica. She is a feminist economist with over 20 years’ experience working on economic development, macroeconomic, trade external debt and finance issues, with a focus on gender equality and women’s empowerment, social equity, sustainable finance and development and climate change issues.

Her most recent publications include “Africa’s Trade and Environment Policy”, “Three decades of climate mitigation: why haven't we bent the global emissions curve?” and “Gender and energy poverty: the view from the North: A discussant vantage point.”

Her books include, Gender and Climate Finance: Coming out of the margins (Routledge 2015), Gender Issues in the Multilateral Trading System (Commonwealth Secretariat, 2003). Trading Stories: Experiences with Gender and Trade (co-edited with Marilyn Carr), Commonwealth Secretariat, 2010) and co-authorGender and Trade Action Guide: A Training Resource (Commonwealth Secretariat, London, 2007.)

Williams is also a member of the Caribbean Feminist Action Network, the Gender and Trade Coalition and a principal consultant, the Integrated Policy Research Institute (IPRI) and Senior Associate, the Political Ecology and Sustainability Programme, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN). Williams other achievements/and associations include:

former Coordinator, Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Gender (SDCCG) Programme, the South Centre, an inter-governmental think-tank of developing countries; a member of the Advisory Group of the SG’s High Level Task Force on Financing for Gender Equality (2019-2020); UN Women's Expert Advisory Group, The SDG Monitoring Report; the board of Trustee for the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation (Sweden); a member of the steering committee of Development for Women in New Era (DAWN), a member of the International Working Group on Gender and Macroeconomics & International Trade (IWGEM) and a past Member of the Board and planning committee for the bi-annual forum for the Association for Women for Development (AWID); Coordinator/Research Adviser, the International Gender and Trade Network (IGTN).

Ken is an audit partner with 25 years’ experience. He leads EY’s Corporate Governance team and has worked with many listed companies; from those coming to the listed market for the first time to those looking to improve their Corporate Governance practices or disclosures or respond to regulatory change. In his audit role, he specialises in Mining and Oil & Gas and has worked with Listed and Private Equity backed companies in those sectors. Ken is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and was, until recently, on the steering group of the FRC Financial Reporting Lab.

Mr. Santiago Wills is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Colombia to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Alternate Permanent Representative to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) since August 2019. On November 2019, he was appointed as Chair of the WTO Negotiating Group on Rules, which includes the ongoing Fisheries Subsidies negotiations. He also currently serves as Member of the Management Board of the Advisory Centre on WTO Law (ACWL). 

Amb. Wills has extensive knowledge on international trade, particularly on the multilateral trade regulation, the mechanisms and procedures on dispute settlement – multilateral and bilateral – and on international trade policy making.

Before joining the Permanent Mission of Colombia to the WTO, he served as Director of International Trade and Investment Protection at a highly recognized law firm in Colombia. In addition to his previous experience in the private sector and in International Organizations, such as the WTO, he has held different public sector positions. Amb. Wills has served for the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Relations as Counselor of Foreign Relations posted in the Colombian Embassy before Canada, and for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, as Adviser to the Deputy Minister of Trade.

Over the past 11 years, Amb. Wills has been lecturer on WTO Law, International Trade, and International Dispute Settlement Mechanisms at Los Andes University (Colombia), and has published several academic articles on such topics, as well as numerous media articles.

Amb. Wills holds a Law degree from Los Andes University (Bogota, Colombia) and two Masters Degrees on International Economic Law from the University of Barcelona (LL.M on International Economic Law and Policy – IELPO – and Masters on Advanced Legal Studies with emphasis on International Economic Law).

Kerrlene Wills is the Director for Ocean and Climate, where she brings her expertise in multilateralism and diplomacy to the Climate and Environment Team at the United Nations Foundation.

Prior to joining the UN Foundation, Kerrlene served as the Chargée d’ Affaires at the Permanent Mission of Guyana at Geneva, where she led negotiations on fisheries subsides at the World Trade Organization for Guyana and for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Group.

During her tenure in Geneva, Kerrlene also served as regional coordinator for the Group of Americas (GRUA) countries at the World Health Organization, where she facilitated the regional response to global health challenges, including the COVID-19 Pandemic, in advanced of the 75th World Health Assembly.

Kerrlene is a Posse Foundation Scholar, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management with Honors from Babson College and a Master’s Degree in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Maikel Wilms has been with The Boston Consulting Group since 1998. He is a core member of the Technology, Media & Telecommunications practice.

Maikel has worked extensively with leading telcos for more than 15 years on multiple projects, with a focus on network strategy and roll-out and on B2B commercial strategies. These projects include technology selection for a fixed broadband roll-out, growing ICT businesses, 4G roll-out strategies, and B2B channel optimization.

Maikel has coauthored many BCG publications on telcos and their role in the digital economy.

Gordon Wilmsmeier is the Director of the Hapag-Lloyd Centre for Shipping and Global Logistics (CSGL) at the Kühne Logistics University (KLU), Germany and holds the Kühne Professorial Chair in Logistics at the School of Management, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia.

Gordon is honorary professor for Maritime Geography at the University of Applied Sciences  Bremen, Germany.

Since 2001 he collaborated in research and consultancy with international organizations, Development Banks, NGOs, national governments and the private sector in Europe and Latin America on port development, maritime economics, energy efficiency and transport sector decarbonization. He has published over 100 book chapters, journal papers, institutional publications. In 2022 his work on climate change adaptation was cited in the IPCC report.

He is BoD member of the Fundación Conecta Logísta in Chile, leader of the global port performance research network (PPRN), Council member (International Association of Maritime Economists - IAME), and associate member of PortEconomics.