Keynote Speakers and Presenters 2018

Chris Crosby is a consultant, Emotional Intelligence educator, and author of two recent books, Strategic Organizational Alignment, published in 2017, and Strategic Engagement, out this year. He is first and foremost a practitioner with internal experience working as an Organization Development Manager and external experience running his own consultancy. He has also held an adjunct faculty position at Saybrook University/Leadership Institute of Seattle. Currently, he is the President of the Board of The Pacific Northwest Organization Development Network. He spends his time writing, doing consultant work, and serving on the board.

Chris is an expert in systems thinking applied to the workplace. He uses his unique understanding of systems thinking and authority in the workplace to create organization alignment, implementation structures, and people processes for various forms of organization change including mergers, large cross-functional projects, department redesigns, software implementations, and whole system transformations.

Chris also develops leadership programs for various clients. His programs utilize a unique industry adapted Skills Training Group (T-Group) as his primary experiential learning method to train leaders to engage their workforce in such a way that builds ownership, commitment, organization alignment and ultimately better business results.

Ray Johnson is the President of Johnson Biomedical Capital where he advises business owners on how to successfully grow and sell their companies. He has over 30 years of experience in starting, funding, and building businesses. He has been the founder, president, director, owner of, and investor in 15 privately held companies.

Ray has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He is currently a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Florida where his research focus is on small business success factors.

Catarina Moreno is currently based in Jamaica and works with a number of nonprofit organizations as Organization Development Advisor. She has 15 years of leadership and management experience in social profit organizations and brings an international background of having lived, worked and studied in Europe and across the Americas. In addition to a BA and an MA in the areas of Peace and Development Studies, she holds a Graduate Certificate in Organizational Design and Development from Royal Roads University (Canada).

Is a Management Consultant who has specialised for over 35 years in Organisational Development in both the private and public sectors in Jamaica. With an MSc in Applied Behavioural Science from Johns Hopkins University, she brought to her early civil service employment the skills to assist in administrative reform programmes. She subsequently was a lecturer in a UWI/Johns Hopkins Masters degree programme in Jamaica that translated the Applied Behavioral programme to the Jamaican context. Her ongoing employment and consultancies continued over the years to speak to this passion for transformational change in the structuring and implementation of government programmes. She maintained this focus on the importance of organisational development in her extensive work in designing, developing and delivering training programmes that address structural and project administration for Ministries (e.g. Education, Health, Labour and Social Services) and other non-government institutions (e.g. University of the West Indies, the hotel Industry, private sector entities ). This work has included areas of customer service, leadership skills development, conflict management, strategic planning, cross-cultural understanding, interpersonal relations and team building.

Marva is committed to integrated approaches to engaging management, line staff, consumers and the general public in effectively changing management culture to achieve national objectives.

https://jm.linkedin.com/in/marva-greig-a000021b 

Recognized for his wide-ranging expertise and accomplishments in the political arena, Honourable Edmund Bartlett has given over thirty-five years of service to Jamaica, working both in the Senate and in the House of Representatives.

Mr. Bartlett was first appointed Minister of Tourism in 2007, serving until December 2011.  Prior to this appointment, he already had a solid track record of service as an outstanding legislator in central government in both Chambers of Parliament. He served as Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting and Culture in the Office of the Prime Minister and Minister of Youth, Sports & Community Development from 1980 to 1989; later he served as Senator and Opposition Spokesman on various portfolios, including Tourism, from 1989 to 2007.  While serving in the shadow Cabinet following his first stint as Tourism Minister, Mr. Bartlett traveled the world forging alliances with strategic partners for global initiatives. He returned to the helm of the Ministry of Tourism following the February 2016 victory at the polls by the Jamaica Labour Party.

She holds degrees from the University of the West Indies (BA 1985) Communication with Social Sciences and the University of Cincinnati (MA 1995) in collaboration with National Training Laboratories (NTL) –Institute for Applied Behavioural Sciences, Psychology and Human Resources Development. Mrs. duVerney also served as an adjunct Instructor/Lecturer at three Universities in Jamaica (UWI and CAST now UTECH) and University College of the Caribbean. She also trained at the island’s leading Training Institutions, The Institute of Management and Production, The Jamaica Institute of Management & JAMPRO.

She has over 25 years experience in Human Resource Development. Mrs. duVerney trained as a trainer through the Industrial Society (England), Training House (USA) and JIDC, (JAMPRO) and NTL. She is a certified Work Team Coach and is trained in Extended DISC behavioural assessments. She has designed and facilitated several workshops for educators and trainers in the Caribbean region and has been given an award for creating opportunities in HRD by the University of Cincinnati/NTL/JATAD for bringing the first HRD Masters programme to the Caribbean.

She is the 2012 recipient of the Woman of Excellence Award from her Alma Mater Convent of Mercy Academy – Alpha High. Mrs. duVerney was also the driving force behind the formation of the Jamaica Association for Training and Development (JATAD) now the Human Resource Management Association of Jamaica (HRMAJ).

She is a former JATAD Board Chairman and is a recipient of the JATAD Pioneer Outstanding Contribution Award. In 2001 she founded the Jamaica Customer Service Association (JaCSA) and was a pioneer facilitator in the Association’s offering of the International Certification Programme with a Caribbean Perspective through the International Customer Service Association, Rockhurst University and JaCSA. She has served on the Boards of Stony Hill HEART Academy, Convent of Mercy Academy Alpha and the Churches Co-operative Credit Union (now First Heritage Cooperative Credit Union). She served as Chairman of the JaCSA Board from (2003-2014). She has successfully facilitated strategic retreats and processes and has developed several Managers, Supervisors/Leaders, Trainers, Facilitators, Customer Service and other Personnel.

For years she wrote on HRD issues in the Business section of the Daily Gleaner. She has worked in several islands in the Caribbean and has led proactively, the gamut of Human Resource Projects in several organisations. She has facilitated sessions in Florida for the Institute of Organisation Development and has been a presenter at their International Conference. She is a Certified Organisation Development Consultant and has given several motivational talks. She spent many years as a volunteer and also served for years on the Council of the Association for Children who were mentally challenged now Jamaica Association on Intellectual Disabilities (JAID). She is committed to works of Mercy and is a Mercy Associate. Ilsa enjoys having the opportunity to serve. She considers her work to be “worship.” She is very family oriented, enjoys gardening and is passionate about national development.

iduverney@yahoo.com

Mercedes Martin, Business and Leadership consultant, Leadership Development Coach, and international speaker brings verve and new light to the topics of business transformation, disruption, and innovation.

She is a native Spanish-speaking international consultant and conference speaker, and pioneer introducing leadership transformation and global diversity programs in Africa, European and Latin American countries, as well as in the United States and Canada.   With over two decades of Strategic Business Consulting, Leadership Development, Global Diversity and Inclusion Coaching under her belt, she brings a radically different approach to the table. She weaves the political, social and economic impact of these topics in order to establish a cultural context for the audience and work at hand.

Whether it’s through delving into Samba School as a way to analyze Brazilian business culture, teaching storytelling and personal narratives techniques to bring about connection and empathy or by facilitating a dialogue about race, class and gender in the work force, she draws upon her creativity to create synergy between the business and social culture of the group in order to bring about a collective sense of belonging, business success and social impact that has long lasting impact.

A sought after speaker and panelist, Mercedes has presented at Regional and National Conferences and Associations including Conference Board, National Organizational Development Network ( ODN), SIETAR (Society for Intercultural Education Training ), and NCORE ( National Conference on Race and Ethnictiy), and UC Berkley Conference on Diversity.

Before joining Ashton212 as EVP for Business Transformation and Innovation, Mercedes spent close to ten years at Ernst & Young (EY) as Talent Development and organizational change Consultant, and certified Executive Coach. There she consulted, facilitated and coached internal leaders across America’s to align Market and Talent strategies by building high performing global teams . Including global leaders brought together via mergers and acquisitions .

A graduate of the University of Miami, Mercedes holds a Masters Degree in Leadership Development from University of San Francisco. Her training also includes advanced study and research in Organizational Development, Diversity and Inclusion, cross cultural Conflict Resolution and Program Design and Development. certified as an advanced facilitator using the conflict resolution model of Powerful Non-Defensive Communication( PNDC) and executive coach using brain- based models.and multiple certifications, including in 360^o Assessment Coaching from the Center for Creative Leadership, Diversity Facilitation from IBM, and Executive Coaching Certification from Results Coaching Systems and mindfulness coaching—a brain-based approach that applies discoveries in the field of neuroscience to develop personal communication and leadership skills.

mercedes@ashton212.com

Professor and Director of PhD in Leadership – Adventist University of Africa – Nairobi , Kenya. Prof. Musa Nyakora, holds a PhD degree in Organization Development
and Transformation (ODT) from Cebu Doctors’ university – Philippines.
Prof. Musa brings to us a wealth of experience drawn from diverse fields of
Action Research, Strategic Management consultancy, Business/Entrepreneurship Trainer and consultant in Strategic HRM. Prior to joining the academia field, Musa has worked in different international NGOs.
He has been involved in policy formulation and strategic planning programs for various international organizations.
Musa is currently the Program Director for MA & PhD in Leadership at Adventist University of Africa, Nairobi -Kenya.

Keith Lequay is an Organizational Psychologist with extensive experience exploring personal, group and organizational development (OD) issues in the Caribbean. His institutional interventions, personal coaching and consulting work are focused on harnessing the creativity and critical thinking required to develop and sustain healthy personal, group and organizational life.

He is a certified consultant and director of the AKRice Institute for the Study of Social Systems (USA) and consults to Group Relations experiential conferences, the latter includes the exploration of the unconscious processes and psychodynamics at work in group life. He provides Whole System consultations inclusive of psychometric evaluations and has been a full-time and part-time academic in graduate and undergraduate programmes in the USA and the Caribbean.

He is an active member of the CODN, the Human Resource Management Association of Jamaica and is a former president of the T&T Association of Psychologists. He is an advisory board member of the UWI-Global School of Business HRM programme in Trinidad.

Eleanor Jones is an Environmental Risk Management and Development professional with significant international experience in the fields of environmental and social safeguards; disaster risk management; climate resilience building; and sustainable development. She has worked for over thirty years in academia, applied research, consulting, results-based management processes, and civil society activities. With outstanding expertise in the analysis and management of interrelationships between human activity and the natural and built environments, Mrs. Jones has been serving as a change agent for harmonizing development with sound environmental management, sustainable development principles, and hazard vulnerability reduction in her work with public, private and civil sectors. Having received tertiary education at Hunter College, City University of New York, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Dalhousie University and University of New Orleans, she moved from the realm of academe to pioneer enterprise and awareness of the Environment as Good Business in Jamaica, the Caribbean, USA, West Africa, Canada, and South Asia. Mrs. Jones has served on national and international Boards, and has received several awards for her work in environmental risk management systems, and with civil society. Mrs. Jones serves as Chairman of Environmental Solutions Ltd. (ESL), and President, ESL Management Solutions Ltd, private sector environmental engineering and management services companies, which she co-founded, and has steered from inception.

Anne Crick is a Senior lecturer in the Department of Management Studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. She is a graduate of UWI (Hotel Management), Penn State and Rutgers University (Organizational Management). Her research interests include personalized service, emotional labour and hospitality and tourism management and she has published at the local, regional and international level. She has taught and trained in service management, leadership, organizational development and design as well as in hospitality management. She has been trained as a hospitality trainer and as a facilitator and has done training and consulting projects for some of Jamaica’s leading companies. She is currently a director of the Jamaica Money Market Brokers Group and a member of the Board of Studies at the College of Insurance and Professional Studies. She is an honorary fellow of the Jamaica Institute of Management and an advisor to the Jamaica Customer Service Board (JACSA). She is co-founder of Jamaica’s first food tour company – Jamaica Culinary Tours.

Professor Hamilton is currently Vice President of Community Service & Development at the University of Technology, Jamaica, (UTech, Ja.), where she was awarded professorship in 2008 for the recently concluded UTech, Ja./Scotiabank Chair in Entrepreneurship and Development, in recognition of her outstanding work in the promotion, development and advocacy of entrepreneurship. She is the immediate past President of The MSME Alliance, founder and director of the Institute of Law & Economics (ILE), member of the Board of Directors for LASCO Manufacturing Limited and the National Integrity Action (NIA), and well-known international trade expert, who has been at the forefront of public education on trade matters.

She taught extensively at the graduate and undergraduate levels both in the USA and Jamaica, served as Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister of Jamaica, and has engaged in consultancies with various government agencies and other international organizations.

Since May 2015, she has taken on the leadership of the Fi Wi Jamaica Project, a 3-Year national social intervention Project, funded by USAID, to expand a window of opportunity for the protection and promotion of human rights of targeted socially excluded and vulnerable Jamaicans.

Prof. Hamilton’s activities and research in the fields of entrepreneurship, law and economic development, social and economic justice, has become her “big life mission” and certainly for the next four years there is probably no one you’ll hear speak more loudly, look more closely and work more arduously on the relationship between entrepreneurship, social and economic justice and development.

Nsombi Jaja is a certified management consultant providing assistance to the business community in the areas of strategic management, quality management, change management, leadership development and customer service management. She is a recognized Regional consultant with clients and associates throughout the English speaking Caribbean. She is a certified ProNet Trainer for Energy Management & Renewables, Knowledge & Information Management, Resource Management and Quality Management. She is a certified SGG and PECB Trainer. She is also a certified Project Manager with the PMP credentials from Project management Institute.

Nsombi received her training in Quality Management through two fellowship awards from the United Nations and the Government of Japan and one fellowship award from the Government of Sweden. Foundation training in Quality Management was provided by the Juran Institute Inc. USA. She has served as presenter and moderator on several conferences. She has been rated by Joe DeFeo, CEO of Juran Institute as being on par with any member of the ‘A’ list of Juran Institute’s consultants.

Nsombi holds a BSc. in Pure & Applied Chemistry from University of the West Indies, Mona (U.W.I.), the MBA from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill and the Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from the University of Phoenix. She is a certified DreamBuilder coach with training from the Life Mastery Institute. Nsombi has been a member of the adjunct faculty of the University of the West Indies – Mona School of Business, the University College of the Caribbean (UCC) and the International University of the Caribbean. She lectured MBA students in Quality management, Transformational Leadership and Career Development.

For the past 30 years Nsombi has worked with the leadership teams of client organizations assisting them with strategic management, quality management, customer care and change management. Clients include Grace Kennedy & Co. Ltd., The Shell Co. (WI) Ltd., Sandals Group, The Ritz-Carlton Rosehall, Caribbean Cement Co., Columbus Communications Ltd. (Flow), National Commercial Bank, Scotiabank Jamaica, First Global Group, Heart Trust/NTA, Sagicor, Petrojam, Office of Utilities Regulation, Inland Revenue Dept., Courts (Ja.) Ltd., Chevron Texaco Caribbean Inc., Trinidad Hilton, WITCO (Trinidad), National Flour Mills (Trinidad), University of Technology, Jamaica, University of the West Indies, Hurricane Electronics Inc., South Florida, Bridge Dental Team, South Florida, IDB Washington DC, The Futures Forum Washington DC, the East Caribbean Group of Companies(St. Vincent), among others.

Dr. Jaja is the Chief Judge and Chair of the Private Sector Service Excellence Award Committee, is a member of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Best practices Award and serves on several boards. She is the author of ‘How Leaders Develop Spiritual Intelligence’. Her highly acclaimed CD ‘Reach for the Stars’ has motivated many to achieve excellence in their lives.

Jennifer is the Manager of the Performance Improvement Department at the Medical University of South Carolina and a retired Air Force E9 Chief Master Sergeant with 26 years of clinical, administrative and performance improvement experience in hospital, ambulatory care and dental facilities in a variety of settings worldwide.

Jennifer is an accomplished trainer and her practical experience has taken her into many types of industries including healthcare, supply chain, service organizations, aerospace and manufacturing. She is an invited speaker to numerous conferences, webinars and symposiums.

She supports MUSC’s executive leadership in the deployment of Lean Six Sigma, Design Thinking and Change Management throughout the organization. Jennifer manages Six Sigma Black and Green Belts, develops and teaches curriculum for Lean Six Sigma education, drives system-wide projects and customizes Lean Six Sigma methodology to best suit MUSC’s needs.

She is an adjunct faculty member in MUSC College of Health Professions and College of Nursing.

She has a MBA in Human Resources and BS in Occupational Education Health Administration. Jennifer is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt and also holds a LEAN Sensei Certification from Villanova University. Jennifer is a member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ), the Institute of Industrial and System Engineers (IISE), Society of Health Systems (SHS), Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and American College of Medical Quality (ACMQ). She also serves on the American Quality Institute Green Belt International Standard Technical Committee.

Melissa’s passion for people centric businesses led her to become the co-founder and cohost of InvestHuman, a podcast which explores reigniting the human element of work. Melissa is also on a mission to facilitate nation building by zooming in on professional migration and its positive effects on the economics of individuals, companies and countries. This lead her to create Pocmi Inc which is focused on creating and bringing to light innovative ways to improve the movement of high skilled labor across borders. Melissa, through the ability to work outside of her home country, has become an experienced business development professional who is an innovative, entrepreneurial thinker with broad based expertise in talent management, operations and project management. She has the proven ability to quickly analyze key business drivers and develop strategies to grow the bottom line, regardless of the industry. She has been featured on Virgin.com and SiliconCaribe.com. Melissa has previously led panels and given presentations on Personal Branding in the Work Place, Multicultural Diversity, Hiring the Best Teams, as well as Empathy and Leadership in the workplace.