Innovation as a Driver of Economic Resilience and Recovery
Our Vision
The Visionaries’ Summit has established a strong reputation for attracting Business Titans, World Leaders, Royalty, Celebrities, Global Influencers and International Press. It’s a platform designed to connect global wealth, innovation, influence and big media with emerging and frontier markets.
A powerful gathering, intimate by design. A highly curated and diverse audience of 200 leaders assembled in a non-hierarchical & collaborative environment.
Celebrate your success with us in a unique environment where business and pleasure thrive harmoniously.
The Destination Experience Visionaries’ Summit offers a multi-stakeholder business acceleration environment designed for decision makers from around the world to connect with their peers in untapped markets in a bid to drive economic transformation and growth.
Our platform is designed to drive a paradigm shift in the economic outlook of host territories by offering accelerated networks facilitating high-level partnerships and investment. We have a strong track record for attracting an audience of global business luminaries, innovators, influencers, and investors
Our platform is designed to drive a paradigm shift in the economic outlook of host territories by offering accelerated networks facilitating high-level partnerships and investment. We have a strong track record for attracting an audience of global business luminaries, innovators, influencers, and investors
key pillars
We have built our brand on a number of key pillars, including:
Transformation
Transforming the international business image of our partner territories, shifting mindsets and positively affecting the way business is done
Collaboration
Strengthening engagement with U.S. counterparts and the diaspora. Attracting global investment, influence and media to target territories
Leadership
Driving thought leadership on business strategy, economic growth and development, technology and innovation
Entrepreneurship
Promotion of entrepreneurship and new enterprise. Connecting people and organizations with ideas, opportunities and resources
Since inception we have convened a community controlling collective resources in excess of US$140 billion and have seeded over US$300 million in investments across a variety of sectors including real estate, energy, finance and the creative industries. In May of 2015, we were celebrated by President Obama at the White House as “An innovative platform for the promotion of entrepreneurship and a unique business catalyst”. We have also been honored by the World Economic Forum at the Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland and featured in global publications such as Forbes.
Join our community of heads of state, taste-makers, influencers, celebrities, royalty and captains of industry for a stimulating exchange with your peers. Celebrate your success with us in a unique environment where business and pleasure thrive harmoniously.
FEATURED SPEAKERS
Dr. Mark Mobius
Legendary Emerging Market Investor, Founder Mobius Capital Partners
Eponymous founder Dr. Mobius has spent over 40 years working in and traveling throughout emerging and frontier markets. During this time he has been in charge of actively managed funds...
read full bio
RICK FOX
Rick Fox - Co-Founder and CEO, Partanna Global
Rick Fox is a businessman, philanthropist and three-time NBA champion who co-founded Partanna Global.
During his professional basketball career, Rick captained two of the NBA’s most storied franchises, the Boston Celtics...
read full bio
Jacky Wright
Chief Technology Officer, McKinsey
Jacky Wright is a global technology leader who has made broad impact in business transformation and on social issues.
She currently serves as the Corporate Vice President and Chief Digital Officer...
read full bio
Dr. Nicolas Brathwaite
Founding Managing Partner, Celesta Capital
Nicholas Brathwaite is Founding Managing Partner of Celesta Capital a leading venture capital firm that
invests in exceptional entrepreneurs and disruptive technologies that help shape the future.
President, Liberty (Bermuda) and Belco Corporation
Wayne Caines, Member of Parliament (MP) for Devonshire North West, is the President of Liberty Bermuda Group. Previously, he served as Minister of National Security July 2017 to July 2020 and...
read full bio
Abdeslam Alaoui Smaili
CEO, HPS
Abdeslam Alaoui Smaili is the Chief Executive Officer of HPS and has overall responsibility for all of HPS’ activities.
With more than 30 years of experience in the industry, Abdeslam has...
read full bio
Richie Etwaru
Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Mobeus
Richie Etwaru was born in a rural farming village in Guyana, South America. He is the eldest of two brothers and a son to parents who were both educators. As...
read full bio
Ty Heath
Director, B2B Institute, Linkedin
Tyrona Heath is a leading B2B marketer, speaker, author, athlete and community builder who explores these topics at the intersection of behavioral science, diversity, equity, inclusion and transformation. Ty is...
read full bio
Eric Guichard
Chairman & CEO, Gravitas Capital and Homestrings
Eric V. Guichard is founder and CEO of Homestrings a diaspora investment and research platform. Prior to Homestrings, Eric founded GRAVITAS Capital a boutique institutional asset management company with $1.5...
read full bio
Legendary Emerging Market Investor, Founder Mobius Capital Partners
Eponymous founder Dr. Mobius has spent over 40 years working in and traveling throughout emerging and frontier markets. During this time he has been in charge of actively managed funds totalling over $50 billion in assets. Prior to launching Mobius Capital Partners LLP in May 2018, Dr. Mobius was with Franklin Templeton Investments for more than 30 years, most recently as executive chairman of the Templeton Emerging Markets Group. During his tenure, the group expanded assets under management from US$100 million to over US$50 billion and launched a number of emerging market and frontier funds focusing on Asia, Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. In addition to open-end and closed-end mutual funds, he launched a successful series of emerging market private equity funds.
Rick Fox is a businessman, philanthropist and three-time NBA champion who co-founded Partanna Global.
During his professional basketball career, Rick captained two of the NBA’s most storied franchises, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles.
Rick’s off-court accolades rival his athletic accomplishments, having found success in entrepreneurship, acting, television and gaming.
After retiring from the NBA, Rick pursued a career in television and entertainment including 5 years as an NBA Analyst for TNT and NBATV. He has over 200 movie and TV episode credits to his name, either as an actor of producer, and has worked alongside Oscar & Emmy nominated producers, directors and actors during his career.
As an entrepreneur, Rick has worked with top Fortune 500 brands including American Express, Walt Disney, Hewlett-Packard, Asus, AT&T, Comcast, Pepsi, Ford, T-Mobile and Verizon, to name a few, across their global growth initiatives.
More recently, as a technology investor, Rick became one of the first major athletes to buy-into eSports – and helped to bring mainstream attention, along with traditional sports business models, to esports teams.
As a developer in hospitality, and one of the faces of tourism in The Bahamas, Rick has given his time and energy in creating The Bahamas Relief Foundation and bringing real-estate development opportunities to the region.
Jacky Wright is a global technology leader who has made broad impact in business transformation and on social issues.
She currently serves as the Corporate Vice President and Chief Digital Officer for Microsoft US. As Chief Digital Officer and Corporate Vice President of Microsoft US, she inspires and leads teams to help businesses leverage technology to drive innovation, adopt sustainable and accessible business models, and digitally transform.
Wright rejoined Microsoft in 2019 after completing a two-year secondment as Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO) for HMRC, the British Government tax department. Jacky has extensive experience leading large scale organizations driving digital transformation and market making solutions.
Her career spans senior technology leadership roles across many industries including CIO roles at Microsoft, BP and GE. As a leader in technology, Jacky uses her broad platform to drive thought leadership not just for the positive impact of digital transformation for business, but also for social, economic and environmental change.
As a woman of color, her passion, advocacy and influence to create a truly inclusive world is demonstrated in the various forums where she regularly speaks on diversity, digital inclusion and the power of inclusive leadership.
She has been widely recognized for her many contributions in technology and diversity, including an honorary doctorate from Aston University, named as a 2020 National Diversity Council’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology, Britain’s Powerlist 100 of Most Influential Black People, the Top 100 BAME Leaders in Business, the Top 100 BAME Leaders in Tech, and Savoy Magazine’s Top Women list. She has also been featured in numerous publications, including CIO Magazine and the WSJ CIO Journal.
Jacky is a member of the Board of Directors for nVent plc, Board of Trustees for Harvey Mudd College and the MxD Manufacturing Council. She also serves on various technical advisory boards.
Nicholas Brathwaite is Founding Managing Partner of Celesta Capital a leading venture capital firm that
invests in exceptional entrepreneurs and disruptive technologies that help shape the future.
In addition to Celesta Capital, Dr. Brathwaite also co-founded Riverwood Capital, a private equity firm focused on investments in high growth technology and related companies.
Prior to starting Riverwood Capital, Nicholas spent over 25 years developing technology and building technology-oriented businesses. He was Chairman and CEO of Aptina Imaging a semiconductor company
that was a leader in developing CMOS image sensors for mobile phones, automotive applications, medical devices and industrial applications.
Dr. Brathwaite spent 12 years at Flextronics where, as the Chief Technology Officer, he oversaw the launch and growth of several of Flextronics’ largest business units including an innovative push into product development.
He started his career at Intel before leaving to become a founding member of nChip where he was responsible for the development of industry-leading advanced multi-chip module assembly processes.
Dr. Brathwaite earned a M.Sc. Degree in Polymer Science from the University of Waterloo, Canada and a
B.Sc. (Honors) Degree in Applied Chemistry from McMaster University, Canada. He was granted honorary doctorates by McMaster University and The University of the West Indies and was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by the University of Waterloo.
President, Liberty (Bermuda) and Belco Corporation
Wayne Caines, Member of Parliament (MP) for Devonshire North West, is the President of Liberty Bermuda Group. Previously, he served as Minister of National Security July 2017 to July 2020 and is a former CEO of Digicel Bermuda. He sits on several boards, including Stevedoring Services, ILS Capital, Prospero Re, and Masterworks Foundation. In former Bermuda Government roles, he served as Chief of Staff to the Premier and as a Senator, with responsibilities as the Junior Minister of Tourism, Transport, Environment and Sport. He attained a BA in History and Political Science at Oakwood University and is a graduate of the University of Kent School of Law, UK, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Abdeslam Alaoui Smaili is the Chief Executive Officer of HPS and has overall responsibility for all of HPS’ activities.
With more than 30 years of experience in the industry, Abdeslam has co-founded two IT services companies before becoming one of the founding members of HPS back in 1995. Abdeslam has subsequently overseen HPS’ continued development and expansion and has been involved in countless implementations of payment systems in countless countries.
Over the years Abdeslam has helped clients design and launch new and innovative payment instruments in complex and challenging markets and implement challenging transformation programs across multiple countries, currencies and languages, including domestic and regional payment schemes.
Abdeslam holds a degree in Engineering from Toulouse University in France.
Richie Etwaru was born in a rural farming village in Guyana, South America. He is the eldest of two brothers and a son to parents who were both educators. As a member of CARICOM,the Caribbean Community and Common Market, Richie was raised to promote and support a unified Caribbean community that is inclusive, resilient, and competitive, sharing economic, social, and cultural prosperity.
Always a champion for innovation, Richie most recently co-founded Mobeus, a company born from the belief that technology should be frictionless. At Mobeus, Richie serves as Chair and Chief Creative Officer, where he is responsible for designing and delivering a new global sector of technology that is redefining what it means to connect.
Before devoting his work full-time to Mobeus, Richie’s career has been punctuated by the kind of ingenuity that places people and companies in influential positions that drive creativity and success. He has served as a COO for technology at a large financial services company, a divisional CIO at a large investment bank, a head of innovation of a billion-dollar software company, and has sat on multiple start-up advisory boards.
Spanning unlikely disciplines and multiple continents over two decades, Richie has been honored to operate in academia, entrepreneurship, government advisory, and several Fortune 500 companies. He has been quoted in news mediums such as NPR, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, Computer World, Forbes, VentureBeat, and WIRED. He has also appeared on dozens of global television outlets and has delivered over 100 keynotes across the world.
Tyrona Heath is a leading B2B marketer, speaker, author, athlete and community builder who explores these topics at the intersection of behavioral science, diversity, equity, inclusion and transformation. Ty is Director, Market Engagement, The B2B Institute at LinkedIn, a think tank funded by LinkedIn studying the future of B2B marketing and decision making. She is also Co-Founder of TransformHer, the premier conference for professional women of color and allies in technology. With research, Ty engages and educates the industry in partnership with the leading marketing effectiveness thinkers and organizations such as Cannes Lions, ANA, and IPA to help better define the category, and drive growth.
Ty is passionate about connecting people with information needed to make intelligent decisions, sharing research to help marketers be more productive and successful with a bit of humor. An award winning marketer, speaker and two time Olympic Trials qualifier in the 800 meters, Ty is a top B2B marketing influencer teaching B2B marketing as well as leadership and diversity, equity and inclusion.
Marketers benefit from Ty’s marketing experience at Google Inc, consulting within IBM as a social business manager and leading her own B2B consulting practice where she authored “Marketers of Tomorrow: A Step-by-Step Toolkit for Inbound Marketing”. Beyond marketing, Ty served as the President of LinkedIn’s Black Inclusion Group (BIG).
Today, Ty serves on the Digital Marketing Institute’s Global Advisory Council, on the Board of Directors for the American Advertising Federation and as an Adobe Insider with top executives, experts, and pioneers in technology. In her career, she has delivered marketing education to thousands.
Eric V. Guichard is founder and CEO of Homestrings a diaspora investment and research platform. Prior to Homestrings, Eric founded GRAVITAS Capital a boutique institutional asset management company with $1.5 billion under advisory. Prior to his stint in the private sector, Eric was Portfolio Manager at the World Bank.
Eric has advised the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, The World Bank and USAID on diaspora investment engagement matters. He has published research papers on connecting remittances to development finance in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for the Asian Development Bank.
He is a graduate of Cheikh Anta Diop University (Dakar, Senegal), Duquesne University, and Harvard Business School (a World Bank Scholar and a Harvard Fellowship recipient). Eric is recipient of several awards including 2013 Entrepreneur of the Year and 2014 African Financier of the Year for Homestrings.
PAST SPEAKERS
Lord Michael Hastings
Global Head of Citizenship, KPMG
KPMG International's Global Head of Corporate Citizenship, Lord Michael Hastings was previously the BBC's Head of Public Affairs and the first Head of Corporate Responsibility. He is also the second...
read full bio
Ann-Marie Campbell
Executive Vice President, The Home Depot Inc
Ms. Ann-Marie Campbell currently serves as an Executive Vice President of US Stores at The Home Depot, Inc. Over her career at The Home Depot spanning 30 years, she has...
read full bio
HON. DR. NIGEL CLARKE
Dr. Clarke has previously served as Ambassador of Economic Affairs where he represented Jamaica’s interests with multilateral institutions and also served as a Senator between 2013 and 2015. His public...
read full bio
Wayne Hewett
Chairman, DiversiTech Corporation; Board Member, The Home Depot Inc. and General Electric
Recently appointed to the board of Wells Fargo, Mr. Hewett is a seasoned executive leader who has worked across a number of industries. Since March 2018, he has served as...
read full bio
Jeff Pulver
Co-Founder, Vonage; Chairman, Alchemist
Throughout his highly successful international career, Jeff Pulver is known for promoting internet communications and telephony and has changed the way the world communicates. An "Order" named after Jeff Pulver...
read full bio
Jimmy Nguyen
CEO, NChain
After a 21-year career as an intellectual property and digital technology lawyer, Jimmy joined nCHain Group as nChain Group CEO, Diversity & Innovation. Over the course of his private practice...
read full bio
Peter Blair Henry
Dean Emeritus, NYU Stern School of Business; Board Member, CitiGroup and General Electric
A current member of the board of Citi Group, Peter is an author and economist, having led one of the world's most recognized business schools - at NYU - as...
read full bio
Dr. Bernard Harris
Founder and CEO, Vesalius Ventures Inc.
Dr. Harris is currently Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of Vesalius Ventures, Inc., a venture capital firm that supports and invests in early to mid-stage Healthcare technologies and companies....
read full bio
Christopher Edgerton Warburton
Founding Partner, Lion’s Head Global Partners
Christopher “Edge” Egerton-Warburton is a Founding Partner of Lion’s Head Global Partners, a London-based merchant bank that provides advisory, financial structuring, capital raising and asset management services, specializing in Development,...
read full bio
LINDA HILL
PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL
Linda A. Hill is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and chair of the Leadership Initiative. Hill is regarded as one of the...
read full bio
STERLING HAWKINS
GLOBAL LEADER ON INNOVATION AND TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Sterling Hawkins has become a master of innovation through massive changes and obstacles he has experienced in his own life. As a business leader, entrepreneur investor and futurist, Sterling is...
read full bio
PAUL B. SCOTT
CHAIRMAN AND CEO, MUSSON GROUP
Mr. P.B. Scott is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Principal Shareholder of the Musson Group. His Chairmanship extends to Musson’s subsidiaries and affiliates; namely Facey Group Ltd, T. Geddes...
read full bio
ANDREW MAHFOOD
CEO, WISYNCO GROUP LTD.
Andrew Mahfood is the Chief Executive Officer of Wisynco Group Ltd. one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of consumer goods in the Caribbean representing global brands including Coca-Cola, Unilever,...
read full bio
JEFFREY HALL
CEO, JAMAICA PRODUCERS LTD.
Jeffrey Hall is the Chief Executive Officer of Jamaica Producers Group (JP). JP is listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and has its primary interests in manufacturing, agri-business and logistics...
read full bio
TIM HENTSCHEL
CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, HOTELPLANNER.COM
Mr. Tim Hentschel is the Co-Foudner and Chief Executive Officer of HotelPlanner & Meetings.com. Hentschel was an early leader in providing online resources for group travel, becoming a mainstay for...
read full bio
MICHAEL WRIGHT
PRESIDENT AND CEO, INOLIFE SCIENCES INC.
Michael is a passionate entrepreneur with over 20 years experience as an executive and over 25 years experience in the financial industry having served served many commercial industry leaders, both...
read full bio
DR. JASON MARS
CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, CLINC
Dr. Jason Mars is co-founder and CEO of Clinc, the cutting-edge A.I. startup that developed Finie, a customizable, voice-activated personal financial assistant and intelligence platform for banks. He is a...
read full bio
SEAN WATSON
MANAGING DIRECTOR, INNOVATION PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM, SINGULARITY UNIVERSITY
Sean Watson is a social entrepreneur, innovation strategist, and coalition-builder who has spent the past decade working with corporations, impact organizations, governments, and startups to transform critical business and societal...
read full bio
HON. WAYNE M. CAINES JP MP
Min. Caines graduated Oakwood University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and a Minor in Political Science. He went on to obtain a Law Degree at the University...
read full bio
ODETTA ROCKHEAD-KERR
COUNTRY HEAD AND VICE PRESIDENT, SUTHERLAND GLOBAL
A senior executive in the Business Process Outsourcing and Transformation space with over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience, Odetta Rockhead-Kerr is the Country Head and Vice President at Sutherland Jamaica...
read full bio
DIANE EDWARDS
PRESIDENT, JAMPRO
Diane Edwards is the President of Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) – the national investment and export promotion agency. Possessing a wealth of knowledge and experience in international marketing and business...
read full bio
MARK CROSKERY
CEO, SSL GROWTH EQUITY LTD.
Mr. Mark Croskery is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SSL Growth Equity Limited, parent Company of SSL that provides growth equity and finance for entrepreneurs and companies in Jamaica and...
read full bio
MAURO MIYAKE
DIRECTOR OF PARTNERS AND SALES, MICROSOFT
Mauro has over 25 years of work experience starting his career as a SMB owner at age 17 in Sao Paulo city, Brazil, during a period of high inflation and...
read full bio
Allan Wayne Smith
Head Fintech Business Unit The Government of Bermuda
Major Smith retired from the Bermuda Regiment in 2008 after serving for 22 years. He has held a variety of positions in both the Civil Service and in the private...
read full bio
Huhnsik Chung
Partner, Stroock
In the FinTech space, Huhnsik has been immersed in blockchain development and deployment in his representation of accelerators, exchanges, sponsors, investors and developers with an emphasis on offshore jurisdictions. As...
read full bio
Jill Richmond
Co-Founder and Head of Corporate Affairs, Jewel
Jill Richmond is the co-founder and Head of Corporate Affairs for Jewel. Jewel is seeking a full banking license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) and was formed with the...
read full bio
ERIC GUICHARD
FOUNDER AND CEO, MOVEMENT CAPITAL
Harvard-educated investment banker, Mr. Eric-Vincent Guichard is the Founder & CEO of Movement Capital, formerly Homestrings.com, an electronic investment platform that caters to opening up market opportunities to diaspora investments....
read full bio
Christopher Williams
CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, PROVEN INVESTMENTS LTD.
Christopher Williams is a pioneer in Jamaica’s finance space having played an integral role in the success of Proven to date – from raising US $30 million of equity exclusively...
read full bio
BCT is providing a regtech solution to Bermuda for various Investors, Issuers, CSPs, and Gov’t stakeholders to process AML/KYC and registrations in Bermuda. Darren brings over 15 years of institutional...
read full bio
Richie Etwaru
Founder and CEO, Hu-manity.co
Richie Etwaru believes the most important ingredient for change is courage. Courage not mistaken with risk but consistent with the bravery required to embark upon something never attempted. Richie has...
read full bio
Dr. Peter Adriaens
Director, Center for InfraTech Finance, University of Michigan.
Dr. Adriaens is Professor of Environmental Engineering, Finance and Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan, with appointments in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Ross School of Business and the School for...
read full bio
Therese Turner Jones
General Manager, Caribbean Group, Inter-American Development Bank
Therese Turner-Jones has been the IDB’s country representative for Jamaica since 2013. In 2017 her portfolio was expanded when she was promoted to general manager of IDB’s Country Department Caribbean...
read full bio
Gordon Gill
Partner, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture
A founding partner of the award-winning Chicago design firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Gordon’s work includes the design of the world’s first net zero-energy skyscraper, the Pearl River...
read full bio
Claudette McGowan
CIO, Bank of Montreal
Claudette McGowan is a global information technology leader with more than 17 years of success leading digital transformations and designing new approaches that improve service experiences. She has worked in...
read full bio
Ty Heath
Global Lead, B2B Institute, Linkedin
Ty is Global Lead at LinkedIn's B2B Institute. Passionate about connecting people with information needed to make intelligent decisions, Ty delivers educational content to help marketers stay on top of...
read full bio
Alexandra Chong
Founder and CEO, Jacana
Jacana is a pioneering global medical cannabis company, harnessing the power of nature to transform lives. Jacana cultivates, develops and distributes certified medical cannabis internationally and in a historic move,...
read full bio
Pilar Manchon
Senior Director, Strategy and Research, Google AI
Pilar has been a leading voice within the AI industry for more than 20 years: as an entrepreneur, driving her AI startup through a successful exit, and as an executive...
read full bio
André Anderson
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
André Anderson is first vice president and chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, a position he assumed in July 2018. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the...
read full bio
RICHARD BYLES
GOVERNOR, BANK OF JAMAICA
Mr. Byles was appointed Governor of Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) effective 19 August 2019.
Before assuming the role of BOJ Governor, he served as Chairman of Sagicor Group Jamaica Limited following...
read full bio
Ray McGuire
Vice Chairman, Citigroup Chairman, Banking, Capital Markets & Advisory
Raymond McGuire is Citi’s Global Head of Corporate and Investment Banking. He is based in New York. Mr. McGuire is a member of Citi’s Business Development Committee, the Institutional Clients...
read full bio
KPMG International's Global Head of Corporate Citizenship, Lord Michael Hastings was previously the BBC's Head of Public Affairs and the first Head of Corporate Responsibility. He is also the second Chancellor of Regent's University London and a trustee of the Vodafone Group Foundation and previously served for 9 years on the Board for Responsible Business at British Telecom. He has also been awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire and has been granted independent peerage to the House of Lords.
Ms. Ann-Marie Campbell currently serves as an Executive Vice President of US Stores at The Home Depot, Inc. Over her career at The Home Depot spanning 30 years, she has served in many capacities including Vice President and President roles for multiple store operations, merchandising, sales and marketing. She has served as an Independent Director at Barnes & Noble and is currently on the board of Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business and of Catalyst, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding opportunities for women and business.
Dr. Clarke has previously served as Ambassador of Economic Affairs where he represented Jamaica’s interests with multilateral institutions and also served as a Senator between 2013 and 2015. His public sector career includes service, over various periods, as Chairman of numerous boards. Minister Clarke formerly served as Vice Chairman of the Musson Group where, over 15 years, he played an integral executive leadership role in the expansion of the group from a base in Jamaica to subsidiaries in over 30 countries.
Chairman, DiversiTech Corporation; Board Member, The Home Depot Inc. and General Electric
Recently appointed to the board of Wells Fargo, Mr. Hewett is a seasoned executive leader who has worked across a number of industries. Since March 2018, he has served as an advisor to Permira, a global private equity firm, and Non-Executive Chairman of DiversiTech Corporation. His distinguished corporate CV includes a post as Chief Executive Officer of Klöckner Pentaplast Group. Mr. Hewett's career has also included over 20 years with General Electric Company across roles as Vice-President and Chief Executive Officer of several business lines within the conglomerate.
Throughout his highly successful international career, Jeff Pulver is known for promoting internet communications and telephony and has changed the way the world communicates. An "Order" named after Jeff Pulver was issued by the Federal Communications Commission supported by the White House. In 1995, he defined "VON" to stand for Voice/Video on the Net. Founder / co-founder of numerous startups including Alchemist, Free World Dialup, and Vonage, Jeff is the reason that services like FaceTime, Messenger and WhatsApp are free.
After a 21-year career as an intellectual property and digital technology lawyer, Jimmy joined nCHain Group as nChain Group CEO, Diversity & Innovation. Over the course of his private practice legal career, Jimmy was a partner at three major U.S. law firms – most recently Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. He represented multinational corporates and emerging companies in a wide range of sectors including technology, entertainment & media, sports, financial services, consumer products, retail, and automotive.
Dean Emeritus, NYU Stern School of Business; Board Member, CitiGroup and General Electric
A current member of the board of Citi Group, Peter is an author and economist, having led one of the world's most recognized business schools - at NYU - as the youngest person to assume Deanship there. Furthermore, he has raised over US$225 million to date - more than any Dean in school history. He is the author of "Turn Around: Third World Lessons for First World Growth". Peter sits on the boards of CitiBank, General Electric and the National Bureau of Economic Research. In 2009, he was appointed by President Barack Obama to the President's Commission of White House Fellowships.
Dr. Harris is currently Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of Vesalius Ventures, Inc., a venture capital firm that supports and invests in early to mid-stage Healthcare technologies and companies. In addition, Dr. Harris serves as a Director of a number of investment funds, including Babson Capital Funds Trust with over $600m AUM. A veteran astronaut for over eighteen years, he has logged more than 438 hours and traveled over 7.2 million miles in space, as the first African American astronaut who has walked in space.
Christopher “Edge” Egerton-Warburton is a Founding Partner of Lion’s Head Global Partners, a London-based merchant bank that provides advisory, financial structuring, capital raising and asset management services, specializing in Development, Agriculture, Infrastructure, Health and renewable energy. Prior to establishing Lion’s Head in 2008, Edge spent 14 years at Goldman Sachs within the Debt Capital Markets group.
PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL
Linda A. Hill is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and chair of the Leadership Initiative. Hill is regarded as one of the top experts on leadership and is the co-author of Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation, co-founder of Paradox Strategies, and co-creator of the Innovation Quotient. She was named by Thinkers50 as one of the top ten management thinkers in the world in 2013 and received the Thinkers50 Innovation Award in 2015. Hill’s research focuses on implementing global strategies and leading innovation; building innovative organizations and ecosystems; developing leaders for innovation; and the role of the board in governing innovation. Collective Genius was named by Business Insider as one of “The 20 Best Business Books” in 2014 and received the Gold Medal for Leadership, Axiom Business Book Award. Hill has chaired numerous HBS Executive Education programs, including the Young Presidents' Organization Presidents' Seminar and the High Potentials Leadership Program, and Leading and Building a Culture of Innovation.
GLOBAL LEADER ON INNOVATION AND TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Sterling Hawkins has become a master of innovation through massive changes and obstacles he has experienced in his own life. As a business leader, entrepreneur investor and futurist, Sterling is an internationally renowned keynote speaker. As a 5th generation retailer and still very active in retail innovation, he has worked with the likes of Stanford, Cornell and the University of Texas to create the future of commerce, and today evaluates over 1,000 innovative technologies annually which are looking to dynamically transform retail and how people fulfill on their wants and needs. He has worked with countless startups, investment groups, retailers, brands and Fortune 500 companies including P&G and Mitsubishi to ignite innovation and innovation thinking inside their organizations. Sterling has been seen in Inc. Magazine, The New York Times, Fast Company, Forbes and other major media outlets. Living at the intersection of in-store, online and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Sterling is actively shaping the future by helping others create and respond to innovation in a way that betters businesses, communities and the human condition.
Mr. P.B. Scott is the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Principal Shareholder of the Musson Group. His Chairmanship extends to Musson’s subsidiaries and affiliates; namely Facey Group Ltd, T. Geddes Grant Ltd., General Accident Insurance Company Ltd., Seprod Ltd., and PBS Group Ltd. In addition to his responsibilities at Musson, he serves on several boards and commissions which include being Chairman of the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), He is also trustee of the American International School of Kingston. He is a former President of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica.
Andrew Mahfood is the Chief Executive Officer of Wisynco Group Ltd. one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of consumer goods in the Caribbean representing global brands including Coca-Cola, Unilever, Kellog’s, General Mills and Haagen Daaz alongside locally produced and widely popular local brands such as Wata and CranWata. In 2017 Wisynco Group issued an Initial Public Offering in Jamaica marking the largest IPO in the island’s history. Andrew Mahfood also serves as Chairman of Food for the Poor the largest charity organization in Jamaica and the largest international relief and development organization in the United States.
Jeffrey Hall is the Chief Executive Officer of Jamaica Producers Group (JP). JP is listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and has its primary interests in manufacturing, agri-business and logistics in the Caribbean and Europe. Mr. Hall joined the company in 2002 and has served as CEO since July 2007. Mr. Hall is credited with a turnaround of the Group and under his tenure led an acquisition strategy that included Kingston Wharves (Jamaica’s leading multipurpose port operator and private investor in logistics), Hoogesteger (the leading fresh juice company in Northern Europe), Tortuga International (a leading Caribbean rum-based food souvenir brand), Mavis Bank Coffee Factory (a since divested leader in Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee) and Ram Shipping (a UK based freight forwarder serving all of the English Caribbean territories). He serves on the Board’s Audit and Executive Committees and as a director of its international subsidiaries and associated companies. Mr. Hall presently serves as Chairman of Scotia Group Jamaica, Scotia Investments Jamaica Limited and Kingston Wharves. He is also a Director of the National Housing Trust, Blue Power Group, Eppley Caribbean Property Fund Limited SCC and the Shipping Association of Jamaica Property Limited.
Mr. Tim Hentschel is the Co-Foudner and Chief Executive Officer of HotelPlanner & Meetings.com. Hentschel was an early leader in providing online resources for group travel, becoming a mainstay for group event planners and hotel partners alike. Tim has grown HotelPlanner to $50M in net revenues annually, growing organically YOY while continuing to give back to their community and their employee shareholders. HotelPlanner provides group travel technology expertise to over 5 million group event planners, generating approximately $10 billion in group hotel revenues. He emphasizes a mantra of entrepreneurship through giving back, and supports several great charities through his two annual events; The American Group Travel Awards and The European Group Travel Awards, recognizing the best suppliers in the group travel industry. He has been named the recipient of the 2018 Cornell Hospitality Innovator Award, an honor given annually by the Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship by his alma mater the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.
Michael is a passionate entrepreneur with over 20 years experience as an executive and over 25 years experience in the financial industry having served served many commercial industry leaders, both private and publicly listed companies as well as traditional financial and institutional lenders. Inolife commercializes patented, FDA-cleared, needle-free injection systems. He is currently the President and CEO of Inolife Sciences, an emerging life science company and innovation leader in comprehensive needle free injection solutions. Michael is also a Managing Partner at N3GU; a boutique investment fund. A bold, charismatic leader, Michael is a former Chairman and President of the Chairman of the Children’s Wish Foundation, where he strongly contributed to the charity’s explosive growth.
Dr. Jason Mars is co-founder and CEO of Clinc, the cutting-edge A.I. startup that developed Finie, a customizable, voice-activated personal financial assistant and intelligence platform for banks. He is a professor of computer science at the University of Michigan where he directs Clarity Lab, one of the best places in the world to be trained in A.I. and system design. He is an active part of the IBM Watson Conversational System Research Center and participates in ongoing collaborative research with Intel and the National Science Foundation. Jason has devoted his career to solving difficult real-world problems with A.I., computer vision, and natural language processing at scale. Prior to University of Michigan, Jason was a professor at UCSD. He also worked at Google, Intel, and IBM. Jason’s work building the world’s first open-source platform for constructing large-scale A.I. and deep learning-based Intelligent Personal Assistants (IPAs) has been recognized globally and continues to have a significant impact on industry and academia. Jason holds a PhD in Computer Science from UVA.
MANAGING DIRECTOR, INNOVATION PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM, SINGULARITY UNIVERSITY
Sean Watson is a social entrepreneur, innovation strategist, and coalition-builder who has spent the past decade working with corporations, impact organizations, governments, and startups to transform critical business and societal challenges into game-changing opportunities. As Managing Director of IPP - a joint venture of Singularity University and XPRIZE Foundation in alliance with Deloitte - Sean Watson leads a membership ecosystem of Fortune Global 500 companies from nearly every industry, convening and empowering senior executives to adopt emerging technologies and business models, co-create solutions to pressing business and societal challenges, and thrive as leaders in our exponential age. An alumnus of the 2008 Obama campaign, in 2011 Sean founded his consulting firm - Catalytik - to build cross-sector coalitions and initiatives to tackle complex issues on the nexus of business, policy, and impact. He has led successful regional and national initiatives in diverse realms, including clean energy, fisheries management, conservation, mobility, public health, industrial agriculture, and arts education. Sean is a graduate of Wesleyan University, a tri-citizen, and a competitive distance athlete. At the end of March 2019 he’s partnering with Nike to lead a record-breaking attempt with six runners in a 340-mile relay race, from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, against teams from around the globe.
Min. Caines graduated Oakwood University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and a Minor in Political Science. He went on to obtain a Law Degree at the University of Kent, School of Law; and enrolled at the Royal Military Academy (Sandhurst), Territorial Army Officers Commissioning Course. Wayne was employed for seven years as a Crown Counsel with the Bermuda Department of Public Prosecutions. Minister Caines is the former Chief Executive Officer of Digicel Bermuda and CEO of SENIAC Consulting. Mr. Caines is the Minister of National Security, having administrative responsibility for the Bermuda Police Service, the Royal Bermuda Regiment, Bermuda Customs, the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service, and the Bermuda Department of Corrections. His portfolio also includes the Department of ICT Policy and Innovation, E-Commerce and FinTech.
COUNTRY HEAD AND VICE PRESIDENT, SUTHERLAND GLOBAL
A senior executive in the Business Process Outsourcing and Transformation space with over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience, Odetta Rockhead-Kerr is the Country Head and Vice President at Sutherland Jamaica since its inception in 2012. Headquartered in New York and established in 1986, Sutherland is the largest privately owned global provider of business transformation and technology management services, employing over 50,000 professionals in 19 countries globally supporting 21 Languages, with 40% of its revenue generated by Fortune 50 companies. Odetta spearheaded Sutherland’s entry into Jamaica eventually employing more than 5,000 professionals at a growth rate of 1,000 per year and establishing 4 (soon to be 5) service delivery centres in less than 5 years.
Diane Edwards is the President of Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) – the national investment and export promotion agency. Possessing a wealth of knowledge and experience in international marketing and business development, Ms. Edwards is committed to building Jamaica’s business brand through increased customer focus and effective marketing communications programmes. Prior to leading JAMPRO, she served as General Manager and Director of J. Wray & Nephew UK Ltd., where she successfully grew the UK Company’s turnover by 77% over 10 years. Ms. Edwards holds an MBA from New York’s Pace University, a Masters in International Relations from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and is fluent in English, French, Spanish and German.
Mr. Mark Croskery is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SSL Growth Equity Limited, parent Company of SSL that provides growth equity and finance for entrepreneurs and companies in Jamaica and the Caribbean. He has been involved with SSL since 2006, and previously served as President and CEO of Stocks and Securities Limited, until March 2018. He steered SSL into a leading investment bank with a brokerage distribution arm, that sells leading managed financial plans and brokerage accounts for Jamaicans. SSL manages in excess of US$ 260 million of Assets under Management and 7,000 investment accounts in 2018. Mr. Croskery specializes in providing growth equity, investment advice and other services to Companies and Families in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of SSL Growth Equity Limited, SSL Capital (Cayman) Limited, SSL REIT Limited, Dolla Financial Services Limited, and Everything Fresh Limited. Mr. Croskery received a M.Sc. in Global Financial Analysis and a dual B.Sc. in Corporate Finance/Accounting from Bentley University in Boston, Massachusetts. He is also a Member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO).
Mauro has over 25 years of work experience starting his career as a SMB owner at age 17 in Sao Paulo city, Brazil, during a period of high inflation and heavy taxes burden. He then moved into Corporate world including 8 years at Royal Dutch Philips and for the last 16 years working for Microsoft in several positions in Brazil, Florida and now in the Caribbean. Now based in Puerto Rico, Mauro has been appointed as Director for Partners and Sales for the Caribbean, helping Microsoft Customers, Governments and Partners to transform their businesses and services through digital solutions.Mauro is Brazilian, Industrial Engineer from Sao Paulo University and Master Degree in Finance and Political Science from Getulio Vargas, with extension at UCLA Anderson Business School.
Head Fintech Business Unit The Government of Bermuda
Major Smith retired from the Bermuda Regiment in 2008 after serving for 22 years. He has held a variety of positions in both the Civil Service and in the private sector, such as: Director of Labour and Training; Policy Analyst; Coordinator, Security Services; Executive Director for the Bermuda Alliance for Tourism, Aide de Camp to His Excellency the Governor. He now leads Bermuda’s ambitions to become a Global Fin-Tech Innovation Hub.
In the FinTech space, Huhnsik has been immersed in blockchain development and deployment in his representation of accelerators, exchanges, sponsors, investors and developers with an emphasis on offshore jurisdictions. As a sought out advisor for his deep understanding of the insurance sector, Huhnsik also represents clients in complicated insurance and reinsurance matters. He has broad insurance regulatory and transactional experience and has represented clients in the formation, acquisition, sale and licensing of insurers, reinsurers, producers, MGAs, captives, risk purchasing and risk retention groups, as well as InsurTech investments, ILS and new product development.
Jill Richmond is the co-founder and Head of Corporate Affairs for Jewel. Jewel is seeking a full banking license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) and was formed with the intent to act as a regulated institution for the new digital assets economy; bridging the gap between digital and traditional asset worlds. Ms. Richmond is also co-founder of the Digital Asset Trade Association (DATA), DATA helps to shape public policy issues to support the growth of digital assets, digital identity, smart-contracts and digital currencies and worked extensively in Wyoming and Colorado on blockchain and cryptocurrency legislation. She also Founded Moonshots Consulting, a consultancy that helps companies that work at the frontier of technology to tell their story, and educate and inspire three key audiences: the market, partners, and employees. She is a former Forbes, Distributed and Bitcoin Magazine contributor, where she wrote about the impact of emerging technology on our world. An economist and political scientist by training at UCL’s School of Oriental and African Studies, she has spent her career at the intersection of policy + emerging technology, with 20 years working and consulting to technology-first startups the World Bank Institute, United States Senate and companies across industries including fintech, healthcare, media, and hospitality.
Harvard-educated investment banker, Mr. Eric-Vincent Guichard is the Founder & CEO of Movement Capital, formerly Homestrings.com, an electronic investment platform that caters to opening up market opportunities to diaspora investments. Prior to this, he founded Gravitas Capital, an institutional asset management company. He serves on several non-profit boards including University of Maryland's Center for Financial Policy, Capital Partners for Education and OIC International – an initiative that encourages economic self-reliance in Africa.
Christopher Williams is a pioneer in Jamaica’s finance space having played an integral role in the success of Proven to date – from raising US $30 million of equity exclusively through a private placement representing one of the largest private or public US dollar offerings in Jamaica's capital market history; posting just over US $10 million of profit in its first two years of operation and being the first company to list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s US market. Christopher was formerly the Managing Director of NCB Capital Markets Limited, which he grew into one of Jamaica’s most successful investment houses and leading stock brokerage and primary dealers.
BCT is providing a regtech solution to Bermuda for various Investors, Issuers, CSPs, and Gov’t stakeholders to process AML/KYC and registrations in Bermuda. Darren brings over 15 years of institutional finance experience and has served in management capacities at Bay Crest Partners, a US FINRA Registered Broker Dealer. Darren is a registered representative in the US and a holder of FINRA Series 7, 63, 55 and 24 designations. His previous roles included Head of Cash Equities and Futures Trading for BNP Paribas where he was a regular contributor to CNBC, Bloomberg & Fox Business. Darren also spent, ten years at Morgan Stanley and BTIG.
Darren has start up experience at Broadform, an education-technology company, FlyClip LLC, a technology wearables company, and Housetab, a payment processing company. He has served on the Board of Director for Redi, a company that was sold to Thompson Reuters in 2017, and currently sits on the Board of AiX, a Natural Language Processing Fintech, and DLCC, a Regulated Lending Platform for Banks, BDs and Custody Providers. Darren has VC and product development experience working for Sony’s Design Center, and as part of Sony’s Venture Capital Group. Darren graduated with a BFA from the University of Michigan in 1998, and graduated with an MBA from the Chicago Booth School of Business in 2003.
Richie Etwaru believes the most important ingredient for change is courage. Courage not mistaken with risk but consistent with the bravery required to embark upon something never attempted. Richie has spanned unlikely disciplines and multiple continents over two decades. He has had the honor to operate in academia, entrepreneurship, government advisory, and Fortune 500 companies in financial services and healthcare. He’s been quoted in NPR, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, Computer World, Forbes, VentureBeat, WIRED, and has appeared on dozens of television stations and media outlets globally.
As founder and CEO of Hu-manity.co, Etwaru is known for pursuing the 31st Human Right “everyone has the right to legal ownership of their inherent human data as property.” He is driven to reshape the world by creating a new data economy that thrives on a balance of power between individuals and institutions.
Director, Center for InfraTech Finance, University of Michigan.
Dr. Adriaens is Professor of Environmental Engineering, Finance and Entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan, with appointments in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Ross School of Business and the School for Environment and Sustainability. He directs the Center and Master of Engineering program in InfraTech Finance, focused on data platforms and efficient financing mechanisms for public and private infrastructure and asset management. The Center is a cofounder of the University’s FinTech Collaboratory with the Ross School of Business FinTech Initiative and the Center on Finance, Law and Policy in the Ford School for Public Policy. He was President of the Association of Environmental Science and Engineering Professors, is a member of the American Academy of Environmental Engineering, and of the Belgian Royal Academy of Applied Sciences and the Arts. Previously, he was Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship at Sichuan University (China) and at the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (Helsinki, Finland) focused on investment and financing models for green economic transitioning. He serves as investment advisor to the Great Lakes Impact Investment Platform under auspices of the Council of Great Lakes Governors. His research and teaching focus on data-driven (digital) business and finance models for infrastructure, blockchain applications for smart cities infrastructure, and AI/ML models for water risk pricing in securities. He is co-founder of Equarius Risk Analytics, a financial technology firm focused on pricing and indexing water risk using waterBeta data platforms.
General Manager, Caribbean Group, Inter-American Development Bank
Therese Turner-Jones has been the IDB’s country representative for Jamaica since 2013. In 2017 her portfolio was expanded when she was promoted to general manager of IDB’s Country Department Caribbean Group (CCB). Her purview spans IDB operations in Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and her home country, the Bahamas. A trained economist, Mrs. Turner-Jones has over 25 years’ experience in macroeconomics and economic development, with special emphasis on the Caribbean. She served the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in senior posts for over 20 years. She holds a master’s degree in Economics from the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom. She is also an alumnus of the University of Toronto, and United World Colleges (Lester Pearson College). A member of the International Women’s Forum, Mrs. Turner Jones is passionate about financial inclusion, gender equity, children, vulnerable communities and the environment. She is an ardent champion of the IDB’s vision to improve lives in the Caribbean.
A founding partner of the award-winning Chicago design firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Gordon’s work includes the design of the world’s first net zero-energy skyscraper, the Pearl River Tower in Guangzhou, China; the world’s first large-scale positive energy building, Masdar Headquarters design for Abu Dhabi, UAE; the world’s tallest tower, Jeddah Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; and Al Wasl Plaza, an open space currently being designed as the centerpiece of Expo 2020 Dubai, featuring an intricate domed trellis that will be the world’s largest immersive projection experience. Gordon also designs smaller, more intimate spaces like the recently completed The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater and the Chicago Architecture Center.
Claudette McGowan is a global information technology leader with more than 17 years of success leading digital transformations and designing new approaches that improve service experiences. She has worked in the technology industry for organizations such as Deloitte, Metropolitan Police Services, North York General Hospital and Bank of Montreal. Claudette began her career at BMO in 2000 and she is the current Chief Information Officer, Enterprise Technology Employee Experience. Claudette is a published author of 5 books and founder of the Black Arts & Innovation Expo. Claudette holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Business Administration. In 2018, Claudette was recognized as Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada. In 2019, she was also the recipient of two prestigious awards: AdWeek Magazine heralded Claudette a Toronto Brand Star and the Digital Finance Institute honoured her as one of the Top 50 Canadian Women in FinTech.
Ty is Global Lead at LinkedIn's B2B Institute. Passionate about connecting people with information needed to make intelligent decisions, Ty delivers educational content to help marketers stay on top of the latest in digital marketing strategy with a bit of humor. Ty is also the author of "Marketers of Tomorrow: A Step by Step Toolkit for Inbound Marketing". Prior to LinkedIn, Ty led digital marketing education at Google Inc, consulting within IBM as a social business manager and her B2B marketing consulting practice, Spectacled Marketer. Ty serves on the Digital Marketing Institute's Global Advisory Council and the Diversity and Inclusion Council for Adweek. In her career, she has delivered digital marketing education to thousands.
Jacana is a pioneering global medical cannabis company, harnessing the power of nature to transform lives. Jacana cultivates, develops and distributes certified medical cannabis internationally and in a historic move, it was the first company to export Jamaican medical cannabis flower internationally. Prior to Jacana, Alexandra founded Lulu, an innovative app for young women. At its peak, the Lulu app was installed on the phone of 1 in every 4 US college women. The New York Times noted that Alexandra started a “take back the internet movement for young women.” In 2016 Lulu was acquired, with Business Insider, AdWeek, WSJ and the New York Times recognizing Alexandra as one of the top entrepreneurs globally.
In addition to Jacana, Alexandra sits on the Advisory Board of MedShr, the world’s largest online network for doctors to connect and share data and served on the board of Elvie, a pioneering women’s consumer health technology business. She holds a BSc and an LLB from the London School of Economics & Political Science. Alexandra is a proud Jamaican, having played tennis for Jamaica at the Federation Cup and Central American & Caribbean Games.
Pilar has been a leading voice within the AI industry for more than 20 years: as an entrepreneur, driving her AI startup through a successful exit, and as an executive at companies such as Roku, Amazon, Intel and now Google. After building high-performance teams, launching full product lines, raising millions in venture capital and developing leading-edge AI, Pilar believes that having an inspiring mission and a hard-working, determined and diverse team are the key to a successful venture. Pilar’s main areas of expertise range from Natural Language Understanding and Multimodal Conversational Systems to Speech Recognition & Synthesis, Machine Translation and Language Technologies and AI in general. Pilar is particularly interested in Intelligent Conversational Agents, Cognitive Science, Machine Learning, Human-Computer Interaction, User Experience, Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Computing, Ambient Computing & Robotics. Pilar is originally from Spain and holds an MSc. in Cognitive Science and Natural Language and a PhD in Intelligent Dialog Systems. She is also an advisor to severAl companies, an investor, a lecturer and a public speaker.
Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
André Anderson is first vice president and chief operating officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, a position he assumed in July 2018. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the Atlanta Fed, including all operating and support activities at the corporate headquarters in Atlanta and at the branch offices in Birmingham, Jacksonville, Miami, Nashville, and New Orleans. He is also vice chair of the Bank's Management Committee and a member of the Discount Committee that reviews district discount window lending, and is backup to the Atlanta Fed president in the execution of his monetary policy responsibilities.
In addition to his responsibilities at the Atlanta Fed, Anderson is the retail payments product director for the Federal Reserve System. His responsibilities in this area include the management and direction of check collection and automated clearinghouse products and services that the Federal Reserve System provides.
Mr. Byles was appointed Governor of Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) effective 19 August 2019.
Before assuming the role of BOJ Governor, he served as Chairman of Sagicor Group Jamaica Limited following 13 successful years at the helm of Sagicor Group Jamaica as President and CEO. Prior to his tenure at Sagicor, Mr. Byles served as President and CEO at PanJam Investment Limited for 13 years.
In addition to serving as Chairman for several Sagicor Group-related boards, he was also Chairman of several other boards, including Desnoes and Geddes Limited (Red Stripe Jamaica) and a Director on others, including PanJam Investment Limited.
His public sector service includes serving as the first private sector Co-Chairman of Jamaica’s landmark Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC).
He is also an inductee to the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ) Hall of Fame, and an awardee from both the Observer and Gleaner publications for his work as a private sector business leader.
Vice Chairman, Citigroup Chairman, Banking, Capital Markets & Advisory
Raymond McGuire is Citi’s Global Head of Corporate and Investment Banking. He is based in New York. Mr. McGuire is a member of Citi’s Business Development Committee, the Institutional Clients Group Executive Committee and the Institutional Clients Group Business Practices Committee. Mr. McGuire has advised on transactions valued at more than $250 Billion, including representing Time Warner in its separation of Time Warner Cable ($45.0 Billion); Conoco Phillips Co.’s ($36.0 Billion) acquisition of Burlington Resources; Koch Industries’ ($21.0 Billion) acquisition of Georgia Pacific; EDS in its sale to Hewlett Packard ($13.0 Billion); SABIC’s ($12.0 Billion) acquisition of GE Plastics, UST in its sale to Altria ($12.0 Billion) and Wyeth [former Director] in its sale to Pfizer ($68 Billion). Prior to joining Citi, Mr. McGuire was the Global Co-Head of Mergers & Acquisitions at Morgan Stanley; Managing Director in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.; and one of the original members of Wasserstein Perella & Co., Inc. where he became a Partner/Managing Director in 1991. He started his career in 1984 in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group of The First Boston Corporation.
THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
KIRK-ANTHONY HAMILTON
ENTREPRENEUR/GLOBAL INFLUENCER, CO-FOUNDER AND CURATOR
Kirk-Anthony is architectural designer turned dynamic entrepreneur, investor, community curator and founder of the Infiniti Partnership, The Destination Experience and Tech Beach Retreat. His primary mission is to elevate the Caribbean’s position as a business destination by creating connections with global business ecosystem and catalyze wealth creation opportunities for the region.
MICHELE-ANNE HAMILTON
MARKETING ENTREPRENEUR, CO-FOUNDER AND CURATOR
An experienced marketer with a history of providing brands with excellent personalized service and valuable return on investment. Michele has worked with companies large and small and understands how to build dope brands on any budget. She is an internationally published photographer, her work has been featured in numerous publications as well as on the big screen in Time Square, New York.
DR. DAVID WALCOTT
MANAGING PARTNER & CURATOR
A Medical Doctor and Investor, David recently completed his Ph.D. and mini-MBA at the University of Oxford & INSEAD University respectively, as a Rhodes Scholar. He has taught himself 6 foreign languages to be able to connect the Caribbean to the world. He attended the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2018, and is focused on driving transformation of healthcare in the region through investing in medical tourism, digital health, wellness and medical education.
THE COMMITTEE
Stephen Facey
CEO, Pan Jam
Paula Kerr Jarrett
Director, Barnett Ltd
Thalia Lyn
CEO, Island Grill
Sir Paul Altman
Chairman, Altman Real Estate
Mauricio Pulido
CEO, GB Energy
Zachary Harding
CEO, Hyperion Equity LLC.
Chris Reckord
CEO, tTech
Novia McDonald-Whyte
Snr. Editor,The Jamaica Observer
Dr. David Panton
Chairman, Panton Capital
Michael McMorris
CEO, Kronos ID
OUR COMMUNITY
The US$100 Billion Room
A snapshot of Participants and speakers across our series of events including Techbeach Retreat. We’ve built a global business ecosystem that attracts business luminaries, influencers, celebrities, sports icons, media and royalty.
Hon. Andrew Holness
Prime Minister of Jamaica
Hon.Wes Edens
Co-Founder Fortress Investments
Hon.Dr. Patrick Byrne
Founder and Chairman Overstock.com
Hon.Michael Lee-Chin
Founder and Chairman Portland Holding
Hon.Jack Dorsey
Co-Founder, CEO and Chairman, Twitter & Square
Hon.Wes HaLL
Kingsdale Shareholder Services, Canada
Hon.Marie McKenzie
Global Vice Pres. Carnival Corp.
Hon.Chris Blackwell
Chairman Island Outpost
Hon.Paul Scott
Chairman, The Musson
Hon.Dr. Sabrina Kaye
Founder and Chairman Fremont Investments
Hon.Peter Blair Henry Dean
NYU Stern School of Business
Hon.Paul Doyle
Chairman, Crane Resorts
Hon.Kelly Tomblin
CEO, Intren
Hon.Michael V. Roberts
Chairman, The Roberts’ Companies
Hon.H.E. Audrey Marks
Jamaica’s Ambassador to the U.S.
Hon.Prince Michael of Kent
Hon.Alex McKenzie
President, IFS Securtie
Hon.William Mahfood
Chairman, Wisynco Group
Hon.Michael Rollins
President RoseHall Development
Hon.Douglas Orane
Former CEO & Chairman, Grace Kennedy
Hon.Dr. Auliana Poon
Founder and CEO Tourism Intelligence
Hon.Dr. Bernard Harris
Founder and MD Vesalius Ventures
Hon.Jeff Pulver
Co-Founder Vonage
Hon.John Burbank
Founder and CIO Passport Capital
Hon.Nandi Witter Byer
Director of Technology Investments, Barclays
Hon.Rania Hoteit
Founder and CEO, ID4A Technologies
Hon.Julius Erving
NBA Legend
Hon.Tom Desanto
Award Winning Film Producer, X-Men
Hon.Valerie Mosley
Founder and CEO Valmo Ventures
OUR PURPOSE AND IMPACT
Promote Entrepreneurship and Investment, Foster Global Connections, Spur Economic Growth and Development and Transform the Global Business Image of our Host Territories. We connect wealth with opportunity as we strive to participate in unlocking the full economic potential of our partner nations.
The Give Back – Building a more Inclusive Jamaica One of our core missions is to ensure we benefit the wider community by partnering with non-profit and philanthropic organizations. Make a difference with us
EVENT SCHEDULE
Main Events : April 17-18 2024
Below is the event schedule for The Destination Experience. Opportunities exist for private sponsor events to be added to the roster
Welcome Reception
April 17 7:00pm-9:30pm
Welcome to Jamaica! A light meet and greet introducing our international guests to their local counterparts. A casual affair fusing island delights and entertainment. Hosted by one of the island’s business luminaries.
VISIONARIES’ SUMMIT
April 17 & 18 10:00am-5:00pm
An interactive master class in innovation and business, exploring global trends, ground breaking ideas and new technologies with industry pioneers who push beyond the boundaries of reality daily.
Masters of Industry Reception
April 18 7:00pm-2:00am
A celebration of success featuring world class dining, hand crafted cocktails and entertainment in honour of our business luminaries and our supporting partners. We showcase our host territory through a totally unexpected and exciting setting.
Influencer Dinner
CLOSED 7:00pm-10:00pm
An interactive master class in innovation and business, exploring global trends, ground breaking ideas and new technologies with industry pioneers who push beyond the boundaries of reality daily.
Reasons to attend TVS
MEET INDUSTRY GIANTS & ENJOY UNRIVALED ACCESS
You are a trailblazer in not only your industry but also the global community. Our community targets captains of industry and influencers with global reach. Our relaxed non-hierarchical environments make for relationship building seamless.
EXPLORE NEW FRONTIERS AND BE AHEAD OF THE LEARNING CURVE
Learn from the best and grow. The Visionaries’ Summit provides the opportunity to engage your peers in organic conversations and stay ahead of the curve on matters of global relevance, pertinent to your business. Our presenters will share their journeys to success and strategies for navigating the challenges and opportunities of the new technology driven multi-dimensional global economy.
UNPARALELLED DIVERSITY VIA OUR MULTI-STAKEHOLDER APPROACH
We successfully bring together leadership from all facets of the business ecosystem, including Business Executives and Titans of Business, Investors, Entrepreneurs, Government Officials, Multi Lateral Agencies, Innovators, Big Media and other influencers across a wide variety of sectors and expertise.
MULTI-DIMENSIONAL EXPERIENCE
We will stimulate your mind and your senses as we provide a variety of curated experiences anchored by our extremely diverse audience representing various geographies and industries.
MIX AND MINGLE
Above all we want you to enjoy yourself. Participate in one or many of our planned activities and you will have an amazing time. There is no better way to truly connect with someone than when they feel relaxed and comfortable and we curate the space for this to happen, seamlessly.
ENJOY BEAUTIFUL JAMAICA
They say ‘Once you go you know,’ ditch your city for a restful but productive weekend on the island of Jamaica, one of the most culturally powerful nations on earth. We promise the people, the food, the ambiance and the scenery will blow your mind.
WHO INVESTS HERE?
Michael Lee-Chin
Jamaican born and ‘self-made’, Michael Lee-Chin owns the largest bank in Jamaica and continues to head the island’s Economic Growth Council as the country’s growth czar on a mission to attract investment and drive growth in Jamaica.
Sir Richard Branson
The Virgin Atlantic Founder loves Jamaica. In 2016 he acquired BMR Energy as a part of a vision to help drive the region to being Carbon neutral.
John Malone
The media Mogul who bought the Formula One also acquired one of the region’s two largest telecoms in what closed 2015 as Latin America’s largest M&A transaction.
Wes Edens
This business magnate is transforming the energy landspace in the region. He is the Founder of US$70 billion Fortress Investment Group, which was acquired by Softbank in 2017 is also the Founder of New Fortress Energy, a company aggressively investing in energy infrastructure in Jamaica and the Caribbean.
Butch Stewart
The Jamaican Founder of the Caribbean's only super brand, Sandals, has been aggressively investing in the region for over 40 years.
Chris Blackwell
The music industry legend and former South Beach hotel magnate, owns some of the island’s most magnificent resort properties. He is best known for his involvement in the careers of Bob Marley, Grace Jones and U2 amongst many others.
Past Partners
Use left/right arrows to navigate the slideshow or swipe left/right if using a mobile device
choosing a selection results in a full page refresh