InvesTT's Global Diaspora Business Advocates

InvesTT's Global Diaspora Business Advocates

Who are Global Diaspora Business Advocates (DBAs)?

InvesTT’s Global Diaspora Business Advocates (DBAs) are a passionate team of Trinidad and Tobago diaspora who have volunteered to be advisors and connectors located around the world. They are keen on giving back by opening up their ‘executive rolodexes’ to facilitate connections and link global investors/corporations within their networks to investment opportunities in their homeland. DBAs have considerable capacity and potential to attract foreign direct investment to Trinidad and Tobago through the execution of a strategic advocacy strategy.

What is the role of DBAs?

DBAs play a pivotal role in supporting Trinidad and Tobago’s economic growth agenda while anchored in their respective locations across North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Europe. Within their networks, DBAs will assist in expanding InvesTT’s footprint through publicity, events or webinars to enhance the global visibility of Trinidad & Tobago’s investment offerings. DBAs will communicate directly with the InvesTT team in Trinidad and Tobago and will be supported with relevant marketing communications to creatively promote investment opportunities within their networks.

Meet InvesTT's Global Diaspora Business Advocates

Anthony Brand possesses more than 20 years’ experience in manufacturing, utilities, logistics, public and private sector development in the Caribbean and Europe, along with expertise in trade related technical assistance, business development, and human/corporate capacity-building through training. As the CEO at Coverpoint RCM Business and Technology Solutions, Anthony works on engaging SME's, Export Development Agencies, IPAs, and Agricultural Cooperatives in the CARIFORUM and Africa Regions to expand international trade (including services) and investment with the EU.

Dr. Sabeeta Bidasie Singh often likes to call herself “The Global Trini” having lived and worked in several continents over the last 25 years. She is a proven business executive with a record of driving dramatic results and growth for companies. Sabeeta heads up the Operations and Administration of the Houston Minority Supplier Development Council and has honed her Entrepreneurial skills as the CEO of Cardinal Services LLC. She is a recognized leader, known for being an effective communicator; writer; public speaker; and strategic thinker with exceptional interpersonal, analytical, and problem-solving skills. She is a board member of several Not-for-Profit Organizations and a Director on the Lead India Foundation (USA chapter) and sits in an advisory capacity for the InvesTT Board (Trinidad and Tobago).

Churchill Piggott is an accomplished business professional: a retired business consultant trained in business management practices. Prior to retirement, he worked for 2 US based companies, in excess of 15 years each, while residing in Toronto, Canada; one in the insurance sector and the other at an information technology firm. After retirement Churchill devoted his waking hours to his driving passion for “giving bacK”; he successfully managed – 3 times - the largest North American community carnival; he volunteered with a major philanthropic organization and currently mentors 2 youths. It is his dream to give back to his land of birth – Trinidad and Tobago – by sharing his extensive experience and expertise.

Lars G.O. Söderström is a Business Development and General Management specialist with hands-on B2B and B2C experience from US, Europe and LatAm/Caricom. His expertise spans from business development to general management and commercial implementation of innovative business strategies in the start-up and corporate environments. He has developed winning business models and helped companies build new brands and grow market share, attain performance improvements and increase return on investment. Lars has held full-time and interim senior management/CEO positions and managed consulting assignments in the media/broadcast, telecommunications (mobile and fixed), high-tech, industrial markets and to Caribbean Governments.

Ronald Poon Affat has been based in Brazil for the last 25 years and is currently the head of Life & Health Units for Brazil’s largest Reinsurer, IRB Re. He is a qualified Actuary with both UK and USA Fellowship designations and the holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. An active volunteer in the actuarial profession, Ronald has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Actuaries (SOA), and in 2016 he received the SOA’s Presidential Award for his contribution to advancing the profession.

Gyneth McAllister is the former Expediter of International Business for Antigua and Barbuda as well as a former university professor of International Business and Finance in both the US and Canada. At present she oversees the operations of a US loan brokerage firm that sources financing for domestic business owners. She divides her time with her presidency of SBS International which provides loans and wealth enhancement programs for funding international development projects up to US$50 Billion.

After learning of Trinidad and Tobago's Global Diaspora Business Advocate Program Mrs. McAllister saw an opportunity to return to the country of her childhood and citizenship. Her father, Col. Stanley Johnson served as the head of the Trinidad and Tobago Defense Forces. Her patriotism stems from her father and his life service both in Trinidad and in Washington DC where the family still resides after her father's service as Military Attaché to the United States.

Jason Alleyne is a qualified actuary and innovation-oriented leader with an equally mathematical orientation and social purpose mindset. He is a thought-leader and facilitator of business collaboration in the pursuit of combinatorial innovation.

His early life in Trinidad & Tobago had the biggest influence on his passion for championing the under-privileged. Despite his professional designation and roles in large financial institutions, his vision has always been to empower community in a deep and fundamentally “human-centric” way. Since the beginning of covid-19, he has put ever more of his energy and expertise into solving critical risk management issues for small businesses esp. those communities who might never get to meet someone with his professional expertise in financial and risk management.
He believes that pathways for economic stability at the citizenry and local business level will be critical to global well-being, economic stability and prosperity for all. This is especially true in the developing world and even more so for tackling the climate change transition to net-zero. He has always been a voice for “thinking differently” and now the world needs to be more inclusive, to reimagine business models, to collaborate more and to care more about our human reality than simply the quarterly profit report. Video recordings of his thought leadership can be found on his LinkedIn profile.

Krishna Brian Narine is the owner and Chief Executive Officer of Community Power Logistics LLC (“CPL”). CPL is a minority-owned small business (certification pending) that provides innovative service and equipment solutions to the energy industry worldwide. Mr. Narine is also an A.V. rated attorney and is the general counsel to HLI Rail & Rigging LLC, HLI Laredo LLC and Mars Transformers LLC. HLI Rail & Rigging, LLC specializes in the transportation and rigging of over-dimensional loads safely and cost effectively worldwide. He has represented clients in a wide variety of commercial matters, including representing both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts throughout the United States, as well as providing general legal advice and services including with respect to antitrust and competition issues, business entity formation, asset purchases and sales and real estate transactions.

Everard Findlay builds strategies for global leaders, with the core value of creating opportunities for greater cross-disciplinary understanding, innovation and growth. For the past 20 years, Everard Findlay LLC has been widely recognized as a global thought-leader, providing targeted strategic consultancy and brand development for clients ranging from countries to cities, regions, corporations, recording and visual artists, Ivy-league universities and foundations. Findlay is actively engaged in fostering alignment across the public, private and NGO fields to achieve healthy economic, environmental and social growth.
Work has been featured in press such as: The Wall Street Journal, Vogue Magazine, Town & Country, VICE, The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler and more.

 

InvesTT invites our global community of business and corporate diaspora (with an interest in giving back to support the economic development of Trinidad and Tobago), to consider the virtual role of volunteer Global Diaspora Business Advocates.

Download Investts-Diaspora-Business-Advocates-2022.pdf

For further information, please contact Pramilla Ramdahani, Vice President, Investments, InvesTT at pramilla.ramdahani@investt.co.tt