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Richard S. Sammy, Group Vice President, Republic Financial Holdings Limited and Vice President, Republic Bank Limited, is a distinguished banker with significant expertise in Risk Management, Investment Banking, Corporate Banking and overall banking operations. A member of the Republic Group for more than a decade, he has served in numerous senior leadership positions, including, General Manager, Corporate and Investment Banking, Republic Bank Limited; Managing Director, Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited; Regional Manager, Corporate Business Centre–South and Regional Manager, Investment Banking Division, Republic Bank Limited.
Mr. Sammy currently serves as a Director of The Heroes Foundation and is a former Chairman of the Guyana Association of Bankers Inc. (GABI), a former Director of the Caribbean Association of Bankers Inc. (CAB), and a former founding Director of the Guyana American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM). Mr. Sammy holds a BSc. (Hons.) in Management Studies from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine (Trinidad & Tobago), an MBA from Warwick Business School (United Kingdom) and is a graduate of the Wharton School Advanced Management Program (United States).
Mr. Sammy is the Chairman of Republic Bank (BVI) Limited, Republic Bank (Cayman) Limited, Republic Insurance Company (Cayman) Limited, Republic Investments Limited, Republic Wealth Management Limited and serves as Director on the Boards of Cayman National Corporation Limited, Cayman National Bank Limited and Republic Life Insurance Company Limited.
Mariana Escobar is a Senior Operations Officer for IFC.
Before joining IFC, and for the past 12 years, Mariana has held various roles, including Head of Sustainable Finance at the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia, where she led the design and implementation of Colombia’s Sustainable Finance Strategy; Citibank Colombia’s Sustainability Manager, where she supported adherence to the Green Protocol; and Senior Consultant at BSD Consulting, where she coordinated their sustainable finance practice. Additionally, Mariana has contributed as a public policy advisor to the Director of the Department of Social Prosperity and as Deputy Director at the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, focusing on financial inclusion and fintech initiatives.
She holds a degree in International Studies from Bentley University and a Master’s in International Affairs from Columbia University.
As Senior Business Development Leader, Jorge has a duorole as Country Manager of Trinidad & Tobago and Haiti and as leader of Visa’s Emerging Businesses in Central America and the Caribbean, working with fintech, financial institutions and enablers to expand digital payments.
Prior to this, he was a Country Manager, leading Visa’s business in 14 markets in the English and Dutch Caribbean. In this role Jorge worked with a variety of stakeholders, including financial institutions, governments, and merchants, to develop the Caribbean’s payments ecosystem.
Jorge joined Visa in 2013 as a Business Development Leader. In this role, Jorge led Visa’s merchant acquiring business in the Caribbean, where he worked with merchants, acquirers, processors and technology enablers to expand Visa’s acceptance network and introduce new payment acceptance technologies.
Prior to joining Visa, Jorge worked in a variety of business development roles in various industries, including financial services and fast-moving consumer goods, throughout North and South America.
Jorge completed his MBA at the University of Miami and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Zia leads Digital Services at PwC in the Caribbean and is also the joint leader of the Consulting Practice for PwC in the Southern Caribbean. With over 28 years of experience, Zia works closely with clients to deliver on Strategy and Transformation supporting them with adopting leading practices in people, process, technology and sustainability. Zia stays at the fore of leading trends like GenAI to drive awareness and support adoption across the region
She is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and holds a Masters of Business Administration from the Edinburgh Business School, Heriot Watt University in the United Kingdom and is a Prosci® Certified Change Practitioner.
Ms. Kyana Bowen was appointed Executive Director of the UN Global Compact Network Caribbean in May 2024. Prior to joining the UN Global Compact, Kyana was the National Project Coordinator (2023 – 2024) for the ILO Caribbean Office implementing the SDG Fund Joint Programme, “Resilient Caribbean: Engaging and Training Youth, Strengthening Integrated Social Protection Sector Delivery” across three countries.
Kyana also held the position of Programme Officer – Humanitarian, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Resilience with the UN Women Multi Country Office – Caribbean for three years (2020 – 2022). In this role, Kyana was the UN Women Project Manager for the Enabling Gender-Responsive Disaster Recovery, Climate, and Environmental Resilience in the Caribbean (EnGenDER) Project, which was implemented across nine Caribbean countries.
Kyana’s work experience also spans humanitarian action, as before her tenure within the UN, she was the Senior Programme and Policy Manager at the Department of Disaster Management and Emergencies within the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 2016 to 2019. Kyana also worked with the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for five years (2011 – 2016) with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (2014 – 2016) as Regional Planner, and with the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (2011 – 2014) as Planning and Development Consultant. Both roles involved disaster resilience planning for vulnerable/marginalized groups.
Kyana graduated from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus with a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning, as well as with an undergraduate degree in Social Work. Kyana is also a proud alumnus of St. François Girls’ College.
Ria’s journey in finance has been marked by several significant accomplishments and a strong commitment to supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
MBA Specialization: She furthered her academics by obtaining a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) with a specialization in Leadership, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship from Anglia Ruskin University Leadership Roles.
ACCA Recognition: Ria began her finance journey in the Caribbean, she earned an award-winning recognition from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA-CAT)
Ria has had the privilege of holding key leadership positions in various international, regional, and local business organizations. With a finance career spanning over two decades, she accumulated extensive experience and expertise in her field currently holding the position of CFO for a RegionalRetailDistributor. Sheisasmallbusinessownerandthefounder of the WE Thrive Foundation, an NGO which promotes the Financial Inclusion of Women Led-Entrepreneurs & Caribbean MSMEs.
Membership roles:
Sian Cuffy Young, CEO/Founder at Siel Environmental Services Limited
Richard Ramrattan, Renewable Energy
Dharamrajh Ramdass, AI and Climate Tech
David Quesnel, Sustainable Solutions
Dareem Jeffrey, Founded and CEO of EcoWash
George Guerrero, Technology and ESG
As the Sustainability Officer, Jiselle Granderson has multi-company responsibility for both Carib Glassworks and ANSA Polymer under its sector, ANSA Packaging implementing its sustainability framework. Jiselle plays a pivotal role in spearheading initiatives that promote sustainability and enhance the sector’s ESG performance
Carib Glassworks recently received its Scope 1 and 2 Badge from the Science Based Target Initiative-SBTI through the Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition– SLoCT program; a significant recognition of the company’s commitment to climate action and the first manufacturer in the region to attain this accreditation.
In addition to her professional achievements, Jiselle has been deeply involved in volunteer work throughout the Caribbean region. She has led and supported various social and environmental projects in seven countries, focusing on education, indigenous community, community development and environmental conservation.
Vandana Mangroo is the Founder and MD of Hello Green, and co-founder of Close the Loop Caribbean. She is recipient of the 2018 “Entrepreneur of the Year” (Startup) Award, 2020 bPTT’s“Best Carbon Sequestration Project”, 2022 CARIRI’s Shaping the Future of Innovation (Call 1)Grant Awardee and “Bluetech for Waste” Grant Awardee from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). She holds a Bachelor in Commerce (B.Comm) from Ryerson University with a focus on Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Finance; and Master’s in Small and Medium Enterprise Management MSMEM (Hons.) from the UWI. She is certified in Principles of Waste Reduction, Recycling and Solid Waste Management, from SBCS; and Digital Automation in Warehouse and Inventory Management, from SHEL Caribbean.
Vandana is an advocate for environmental policy and works with various public and private stakeholders such as the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS), the Ministry of Planning and Development, the IDB, SWMCOL, IAMovement, CARIRI, EuroChamTT, amongst others.
Tricia Bissoon-Pollard is the Manager for the Centre for Business Innovation at Republic Bank, bringing over 25 years of extensive experience in the banking industry, with a specialized focus on credit. She holds an MCBI Chartered Banker designation from the Chartered Banker Institute, an MBA from Bangor University, and a BA in Business Administration from the University of Sunderland.
A dedicated advocate for SMEs and underserved communities, she mentors young professionals and actively engages in community development. Through volunteer work with non-profits, she promotes financial literacy. Her leadership focuses on innovative solutions for business growth.
At just 18 years old, Priyanka is a girl on a mission. Awarded the first UNICEF Youth Advocate, for the Eastern Caribbean area, Priyanka aims to bring about positive change and continue her work in promoting the rights of the child. She speaks about keeping hope alive, the beauty and vitality of her country and region and her commitment to taking action to preserve and protect it for future generations. Priyanka’s work has received local, regional, and global recognition.
Priyanka’s advocacy is endorsed by the former President and Nobel Peace Laureate, Juan Manual Santos. In his foreword to her blog on the Caroni Swamp, Santos said hers is an example for all to follow. An intergenerational conversation, with Former President of Ireland and former UN Human Rights Ambassador, Mary Robinson, was published in the Financial Times. She is also the first child invited to participate in a Cross-Sectoral Steering Committee, Office of the Prime Minister, Trinidad and Tobago.
