Heidi has worked in the textile manufacturing industry since 1988, many years of which have been in new product development. In recent years, she has trained in all areas of expertise and application in the textile industry, from academia, textile manufacturers, retail and clothing to non-profit organisations and community groups.
Heidi consults on technical aspects of textiles and is involved with several international environmental projects as a textile technical advisor with the UK-based Sustainable Manufacturing Environmental Pollution Prevention Programme (or “SMEP”).
Heidi is on the board of directors of a waste beneficiation NPO called Use-It and the Durban Textile and Leather Incubator. She is chairperson of the South African Dyers’ and Finishers’ Association.
Chris Crichlow is currently the LIVE Operations Manager for Europe at TikTok, responsible for all of their key LIVE broadcast and production moments. To date, this includes programming for EURO2020, International Women’s Day, Black History Month, Ed Sheeran, Sir Elton John, and many more. His career has also included managing event venues and broadcast systems engineering for Google, tour management for O2, technical event directorship for Facebook in EMEA and brand activation for Channel 4.
Outside of technology, he has delivered shows for Carlos Santana, Wretch 32, The Viennese Philharmonic, and various other musical acts.
As well as being involved in various mentorship programs for young black men, he is the Co-Lead for TikTok’s Employee Resource Group for Black employees, BLXCK and he was also one of the founding people behind the Hackathons delivered by the Black Googlers Network and Facebook.
Melanie Cueff is a Research Engineer at the French National Research Center (CNRS) and serves as the Scientific Officer of the Global Seaweed Coalition, hosted by the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). The Coalition is a global partnership established to support the safe and sustainable scale-up of the seaweed sector.
Melanie has recently focused on topics related to seaweed and genebanks, as well as ecosystem services provided by seaweed farming. Previously, she worked on addressing the challenge of invasive sargassum in the Caribbean, focusing on valorization projects.
Her experience spans across multinational businesses, governmental institutions, and startups, bringing a diverse background to her current work in research and sustainability.
Allen Cueli is Head of Products and Innovation, Central America and the Caribbean at Visa. In this role, Allen works closely with clients, fintechs and partners in bringing Visa’s consumer products and API-based capabilities into the markets as well as the development of new payment flows.
Most recently, Allen had been leading a number of transformation initiatives in Latin America, including introducing Agile into the organization, launching the Visa Everywhere Initiative, a platform to spearhead Visa’s fintech engagement efforts, driving Visa’s first equity investments in the region and managing the Visa Developer Platform, where the company exposes its capabilities through API’s. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Allen has both significant international and US experience, including leading engagements with a portfolio of signature US clients on collaborative innovation development to deliver differentiated payment experiences.
Carlton Cummins, owner of Aceleron and Chief Technical Officer. Carlton was born and raised in Barbados, he is an entrepreneur and design engineer focused on solutions to global energy and waste challenges.
Carlton’s career spans from electric motorsport working as battery engineer on an electric motorcycle racing team to renewable energy coordinator for solar PV installation. He has worked in the Caribbean, UK and in Africa providing expertise ranging from energy audits for homeowners to efficiency modelling for commercial fleet vehicles. With a specialization in sustainable design and clean energy systems he's achieved international recognition such as Forbes 30 under 30 list 2017, Shell Global Innovator 2017 and Shell Entrepreneur of the Year 2016. At his own Aceleron company which operates in the UK he works as chief technical officer. In this role he channels his energy into developing technology strategies and product innovations to make batteries more accessible and sustainable. To date Aceleron has developed over 5 battery products and 4 technology patents.
Nuno Cunha Rodrigues is the President of the Portuguese Competition Authority (AdC).
With an academic career at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon (FDUL), where he graduated, obtained a master's degree in Legal and Business Sciences and a PhD in Legal and Economic Sciences, Nuno Cunha Rodrigues is President of the AdC since March 13, 2023.
As an Associate Professor at the mentioned Faculty of Law, he holds a Jean Monnet Chair, awarded in 2018 by the European Commission.
Before taking office at the AdC, he was also a lawyer, legal consultant and held non-executive positions, being an invited speaker by several national and international universities.
Rafael Mafra is currently serving as Brazilian Agricultural Attaché in Geneva. He has 25 years of public service experience, including 20 in international affairs and 12 at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA). He actively participates in WTO Committees such as SPS, TBT, and CoA, among others, reporting and offering expert analysis to MAPA on trade and regulatory matters.
Vania Borgerth is the Chair of ISAR’s Regional Alliance for Latin America (ARL).
She is also a Commissioner of CBPS (Brazilian Committee for Sustainability Pronouncements); Board Member of International Ethics Standards Board for Accounting (IESBA), SHIFT Project and International Foundation for Valuing Impacts (IFVI).
At ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board), she represents the Brazilian Institute for Corporate Governance (IBGC) at the Integrated Reporting and Connectivity Council – IRCC (former IIRC) and CBPS at SSAF (Sustainability Standards Advisory Forum). She is also a Member of the Expert Panel of Accounting for Sustainability – A4S.
Mrs. Borgerth is the Head of CBARI - the Brazilian Network for Integrated Reporting. She is a former executive at BNDES (The Brazilian Development Bank) and an active attendee of UNCTAD’s ISAR since 2007 (Chair of 32nd session).
Clara Manuela da Luz Delgado Jesus was appointed Permanent Representative of Cabo Verde to the United Nations Office at Geneva on 13 January 2021.
Prior to her appointment to Geneva, Ms. Delgado Jesus had been serving as an Ambassador and Advisor to the President of Cabo Verde for diplomatic matters since 2016. She was a Minister Plenipotentiary at the Directorate General for Global Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Communities from 2015 to 2016, responsible for matters relating to the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and trade relations with the European Union, among others. Ms. Delgado Jesus also served as Head of the Embassy of Cabo Verde in Luxembourg as Chargé d’affaires from 2009 to 2015.
From 2006 to 2009, Ms. Delgado Jesus was a Counsellor at the Directorate General for Foreign Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Communities, where she served as the Coordinator for United Nations matters, the environment, and Small Island Developing States, among others. She was First Secretary at the Embassy of Cabo Verde in Brussels and the Permanent Mission of Cabo Verde to the European Union and to African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, as well as to the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Luxembourg, from 2001 to 2005. She joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Communities in 1993.
Ms. Delgado Jesus has a master’s degree in international economic relations (1992/1993) from the State University of Kiev, Ukraine. She also has a degree in international economic relations (1987/1991) from the same University.
With a long experience in multilateral affairs, Ambassador Margarida Izata she was appointed as Permanent Representative of the Republic of Angola to the United Nations Office in Geneva, since May 2018.
In 2020, she was the African Group Coordinator for UNCTAD. She was also been appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council Gender Focal Point for cases of sexual and gender-based harassment.
In 2019, she was the African Group Coordinator for Human Rights issues and Vice-President of the ILO Centenary Conference.
Prior to her appointment to Geneva, Mrs Izata had been serving as Director of the Multilateral Affairs at the Ministry of External Relations, since 2008 during 10 years. She has been a member of Angolan delegations to the UNGA since 1989.
She was also the national Coordinator of the Inter-sectorial Committee for Drafting National Report on Human Rights issues (CIERNDH) during 5 years.
Mrs. Izata served as Minister-Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Angola to the United Nations in New York (2nd and 5th Committees) from 1998 to 2004.
She joined the Ministry of External Relations in 1985, after graduating from 1977 to 1981, at the Academy of Economics Sciences of Bucharest, Romania. She also gets a Master’s Degree, from 2003 to 2004, in “Prevention and Resolution Conflict”, at the Ignatius-University in New York, a joint program with Sofia University-Bulgaria.