Community

The Forum of Young Global Leaders is a community of innovators from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Search current members and alumni by year awarded, sector or region.

Barbara Ann Bernard

Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Wincrest Capital Ltd, Bahamas

Founder & Chief Investment Officer of asset management firm, Wincrest Capital. Barbara Ann was named as one of the top 50 Women in Hedge Funds globally by Ernst & Young and the Hedge Fund Journal in 2019. She co-founded the Variant Perspectives: Women in Value Investing Conference and was honored as a Young Global Leader in 2018 by the World Economic Forum. Her passion for investing goes back to her days of growing up in The Bahamas where as a teenager she persuaded legendary value investor Sir John Templeton, a fellow Bahamian resident, to take her on board for the first of what would become a series of summer jobs at Templeton, instilling a fundamental value-oriented investment approach to the public markets. Later, working in investment banking at Goldman Sachs, followed by alternative asset management at Deutsche Bank, and as an investment analyst at Holowesko Partners, she acquired a robust grasp of private market valuation and the hedge fund industry. Today, she is the portfolio manager of the Wincrest Contraria Fund, which is a global long/short equity fund of niche, esoteric investment ideas based on bottom-up "Go-See & Verify" research. Barbara Ann is a graduate of Li Po Chun United World Colleges ("UWC") in Hong Kong, Lakefield College School in Canada, and the London School of Economics, where she Chaired the LSE Business Society. She is currently a Director of the Lyford Cay Foundation and Chair of the UWC Bahamian National Committee.

Marlene Malahoo Forte

Senator, Houses of Parliament of Jamaica, Jamaica

Currently serve as Attorney General of Jamaica and elected Member of Parliament for the Constituency of St James West Central since March 6, 2016. Formerly, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade and Government Senator from 2009 to January 2012. In between, served as Shadow Minister of Health and Opposition Senator from 2012 to February 2016. Spent time in academia as Lecturer in Criminal Law Practice and Procedure at the Norman Manley Law School, Jamaica. Served as Judge of the Parish Courts for almost a decade and as President of the Judges Association; Prosecutor and President, Legal Officer, Staff Association. Chair Emerita: Women's Leadership Initiative, a committee of United Way of Jamaica, focusing on education, health and rights of women and children. Graduate: Harvard University (Kennedy School Edward S. Mason Fellow), Yale University (Yale World Fellow), King's College London (Commonwealth Scholar), University of the West Indies & Norman Manley Law School. Named Among: Top Women in Law, Jamaica's 50 Most Powerful Women; Jamaican Woman of Excellence. Recipient: JCI West Indies Top Young Person Award (2010) & Bigga High Achiever in the Legal and Judicial Systems.

Nadeen Matthews

Vice-President, Marketing, Analytics, Digital, National Commercial Bank of Jamaica, Jamaica

Personal profile In 2015, Nadeen became the first Chief Digital Officer (CDO) to be appointed in Jamaica. In this capacity, she leads the digital transformation agenda for National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited - the largest and most profitable financial institution in Jamaica. The digitization of this systemically important financial institution will play a key role in Jamaica’s transition to a digital economy. Nadeen also serves as the CEO of the NCB Foundation, the bank’s philanthropic arm, where she has spearheaded increased impact through volunteerism, and greater focus on primary school education and support of scholarships for students pursuing non-traditional career paths. She is also Co-Creator and Co-Executive Producer of NCB Capital Quest - a business reality television programme designed to introduce the Jamaican market place to private equity as a financing alternative that small and medium sized enterprises can leverage to expand.

Rafael Paz

Executive Director, Consejo Nacional de Competitividad, Dominican Republic

Rafael Paz is currently the executive director of the National Competitiveness Council, where he develops the strategic agenda to strengthen the competitiveness of the Dominican Republic. He has extensive training in areas such as governance, public management, business, leadership and political communication. Paz served for six years as Executive Vice President of the National Council of Private Enterprise (CONEP), was a member of the National Social Security Council (CNSS), and on the Board of Directors of the Patrimonial Fund of the Reformed Companies (Fonper). He was the first secretary of the National School of Electoral Training and Civil Status (EFEC) of the Central Electoral Board.

Andrew Serazin

President, Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc., Bahamas

Andrew Serazin oversees a global portfolio including research on consciousness, creating AI to improve moral decision-making, and practical innovations to promote character strengths like humility, gratitude and forgiveness. An international expert on innovation in global health and development, Serazin led the creation of the Grand Challenges Explorations, which has funded over 1,000 projects and has been recognized as one of the most successful programmes in the history of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Andrés A. van der Horst

General Manager, Fiduciarias Reservas, Dominican Republic

Andrés van der Horst Álvarez is Secretary of State, Founder and Executive Director of the National Competitiveness Council of the Dominican Republic. He has successfully engaged the public and private sector to develop a comprehensive competitiveness strategy for the Dominican Republic, resulting in the first National Competitiveness Plan of the Dominican Republic, praised by international organizations and donors such as the Inter-American Developing Bank and European Union. Under his leadership the DR has committed to initiatives such as the Country-Brand Strategy, the Business Climate Initiative with the IDB, and cluster development, consistently increasing the number of clusters in the DR since 2004. He has presented more than 10 policy reforms on competitiveness, resulting in the country's recognition as one of the top 10 reformers according to Doing Business 2009. An author and former negotiator for the Dominican Republic, Central America and the United States Free Trade Agreement, he has been invited as professor, lecturer and special guest speaker at over 100 international events.

Stephanie Villedrouin

Product Development & Public Relation Director, Explore Caribbean, Dominican Republic

Married since November 2003 to Marcel Villedrouin, mother of three children Shamsy, Nathan and Sylka.

Stephanie B. Villedrouin was nominated Minister of Tourism Octobre 2011 at the age of 29, making her the youngest minister of President Martelly administration. She has set some prestigious goals for Haiti, including leading this country to be one of the top five destinations of the Caribbean; The Minister sets forth her strategy of developing the sector by promoting tourism investment to attract and accompany potential investors. In the past two years, she has signed numerous contracts to help the students in the tourism field to acquire more knowledge and experience through better education. She develop a new concept of developing new destinations “a regional all inclusive experience”, where the communities in the surrounding of the hotels will benefit directly from the tourist dollar, from which she got a grant from the IDB representing en envelop of 36M$ that will be invested in all regional natural and historical attractions. She has launched a Hibiscus quality control for the Hotels as well as the Touristic Police Corp. More than twenty sites have been redeveloped as part of her effort to promote local and international tourism.

Prior to her nomination, Hon. Villedrouin after returning from her studies in Dominican Republic (choice of field hotel management) she became the following year a board member of The Haitian Tourism Association for more than 5 years. She also served the community by becoming a voluntary teacher in the private University of Quisqueya. Her efforts have helped to raise the awareness of both public and private sectors in this industry and helped them realize the outstanding role that Tourism plays in the country’s economy.