Keynote Speakers
Cleo Huggins
Cleo Huggins is the Executive Director of Invest SVG
Prior to joining Invest SVGI, she worked at Barclays Bank PLC now First Caribbean International Bank (FCIB) and RBTT Bank Caribbean Ltd for a total of eleven (11) years holding positions including business development officer and management trainee.
Cleo holds a BA in Business Administration and Marketing from the University of Wales, and she also holds a Professional Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (ACIM) in the United Kingdom.
Prior to joining Invest SVGI, she worked at Barclays Bank PLC now First Caribbean International Bank (FCIB) and RBTT Bank Caribbean Ltd for a total of eleven (11) years holding positions including business development officer and management trainee.
Cleo holds a BA in Business Administration and Marketing from the University of Wales, and she also holds a Professional Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (ACIM) in the United Kingdom.
Ezra D. Ledger
Mr. Ezra D. Ledger is a Chemical Engineer by profession. Mr. Ledger is presently the Executive Director of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Bureau of Standards, and has been associated with pioneering the development of this important entity over the past 9 years.
Mr. Ledger also holds a Post-Graduate Certificate in Project Management and a Post-Graduate Diploma in WTO Trade Policy.
Additionally, Mr. Ledger has received a multiplicity of training in a wide range of Standards and Quality subject areas, such as, GMP, GAP, HACCP, ISO (9000, 14000, 26000, 17025, 22000), Conformity Assessment, WTO TBT and SPS Agreements, Labelling & Packaging, Standardization, Metrology and Quality Assurance.
Mr. Ledger is a member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and presently serves as Vice Chair of the Council of the CARICOM Regional Organization for Standards and Quality (CROSQ). Further, he is the national focal point for several region and International standards bodies (ASTM, IEC, WTO, Codex, SIM, COPANT, ISO, OILM).
Mr. Ledger enjoys cricket and playing chess among other things.
Mr. Ledger also holds a Post-Graduate Certificate in Project Management and a Post-Graduate Diploma in WTO Trade Policy.
Additionally, Mr. Ledger has received a multiplicity of training in a wide range of Standards and Quality subject areas, such as, GMP, GAP, HACCP, ISO (9000, 14000, 26000, 17025, 22000), Conformity Assessment, WTO TBT and SPS Agreements, Labelling & Packaging, Standardization, Metrology and Quality Assurance.
Mr. Ledger is a member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and presently serves as Vice Chair of the Council of the CARICOM Regional Organization for Standards and Quality (CROSQ). Further, he is the national focal point for several region and International standards bodies (ASTM, IEC, WTO, Codex, SIM, COPANT, ISO, OILM).
Mr. Ledger enjoys cricket and playing chess among other things.
Steve Andrews
Chief Executive Officer / Master Therapist SOOTHING TOUCH DA SPA, INC.
Steve Andrews is the founder and chief executive officer of Soothing Touch Da Spa,Inc., and developer of soon to come Caribbean Spa Village located in Barbados, West Indies.
A fourteen-year veteran of the Caribbean spa industry, Steve first discovered the benefits of massage therapy while participating in the sport of karate, where he developed his skill for treating tired, sore muscles resulting from contact sports. He established Soothing Touch Massage & Aromatherapy in the mid-1990s, combining his skills as a therapist and his love for and participation in contact sports.
On a visit to Mexico, Steve was introduced to the concept of a day spa. On his return to Barbados he decided to combine massage therapy services with beauty treatments in a quiet country setting. Soothing Touch Da Spa, Inc was born. Steve continues to work towards fulfilling his dream of making Soothing Touch Da Spa a premier Caribbean Spa.
His entrepreneurial prowess and success has been officially recognised by the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES) of Barbados, beginning in 1999 with the Youth Achievement Award. Steve received YES’s Most Outstanding EntrepreneurAward in (2000), In 2003 he received the Business Survival Award and Outstanding Entrepreneur Silver Award
from the Barbados Youth Business Trust. In 2006 he also received the Achievement Award for Services and the Cordia Award, For Visioning In Business from YES. And was a finalist in 2007 for Barbados Small Business, Also represent Barbados at the 10th world summit for young entrepreneurs in Sao Paulo Brazil 2006, and many more.
In addition to managing the spa, Steve has been a featured guest and spa expert on various local television and radio programmes.
Steve’s passion to develop the Caribbean as the world’s leading spa destination continues to result in invitations to speak and/or present at conferences across the region including tthe Caribbean Health Tourism & Spa Symposium in February 2005. He was a featured speaker presenting also on the topic: ‘The Concept Of A True Caribbean Spa’ in a segment titled ‘Market Leaders And Successful Examples Of Spas In The Caribbean’. This event was the first Caribbean Spa & Wellness Conference sponsored by the Centre for Development of Enterprise and hosted by the award-wining Body Holiday Le Sport and Sandals Grande Resort & Spa in St. Lucia, in November 2005.
He was a guest speaker at the 2006 Caribbean Health Tourism & Spa Symposium in Jamaica, and at Inter-American Development Bank’s Private Investment Opportunities in the Caribbean Health and Wellness Sector Meeting in Washington D.C., where he spoke on the topic ‘Wellness and Alterative Health’. He was also invited by Caricom Regional Organization for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) to take part in a focus group aimed at developing strategies for improving the standards and quality of CSME (Caribbean Single Market & Economy) goods and services and to it conference in Trinidad & Tobago. Most recently he was invited by Carib Export to a meeting for the Caribbean Health and Wellness sector to draft a road map, in Jamaica and was truing to be one of a ten member team to continue developing the road map, that grope is call (The Leadership Circle) Was a featured speaker at the CTO’s (Caribbean Tourism Organisation’s) 9th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development on the topic Success, Challenges and Opportunities within the Caribbean wellness sector. He also shares his knowledge and experience though the training of therapists in Barbados, Dominica, St Vincent & The Grenadines and St Lucia.
Steve is now the chairman of the Caribbean Spa and Wellness Association (C-SWA). He was also a founding member and a director of the Day Spa Association’s Caribbean Chapter.
Joyce B. Burgin
BSc. (Nutrition & Dietetics) Nutrition and Dietetics Consultant
Ms. Burgin a single mother of two sons and the guardian of twin nieces, nine (9) years old. She enjoys Cooking, Swimming, Dancing, Walking and Family gatherings. Presently employed as the Assistant Nutritionist in the Ministry of Health and the Environment.
Also a member of the national protocol committee and serves as liaison officer at national events. Ms Burgin has served as an Executive member of the Kingstown Government School, St Martin’s Secondary and the St. Vincent Grammar School’s, Parent Teacher’s Association.
Also she continues to provide nutrition education for Community groups, Church groups, PTAs, and other institutions on request.
Ms. Burgin has Bachelor of Science Human Ecology (Nutrition and Dietetics) and is presently pursuing a Masters Degree in Nutrition through Distance Online learning.
Dr. Almus Mc Dowall
Dr. Almus Mc Dowall is a Doctor of Naturopathy, Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture, Homeopathy, Homotoxicology and Iridiology. He was trained in Canada and the United States of America. He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Wilfred Laurier University in Canada.
Dr. Mc Dowall has been practicing Alternative Medicine for the past fifteen (15) years in Canada and in the Caribbean. He is based in St. Lucia for the past ten (10) years and has treated a wide range of diseases including cancer. He specializes in the treatment of Impotence, Erectile Dysfunction and Prostate Problems.
Over the past eight (8) years, Dr. Mc Dowall has maintained programmes promoting Healthy Lifestyle on radio and Television in St. Lucia and recently the programmes are being aired in St. Vincent & The Grenadines and Dominica.
Dr. Mc Dowall is a member of the Allied Health Practitioners Association in Saint Lucia and has a passion for sharing his knowledge about Health and Wellness.
Dr. Mc Dowall has been practicing Alternative Medicine for the past fifteen (15) years in Canada and in the Caribbean. He is based in St. Lucia for the past ten (10) years and has treated a wide range of diseases including cancer. He specializes in the treatment of Impotence, Erectile Dysfunction and Prostate Problems.
Over the past eight (8) years, Dr. Mc Dowall has maintained programmes promoting Healthy Lifestyle on radio and Television in St. Lucia and recently the programmes are being aired in St. Vincent & The Grenadines and Dominica.
Dr. Mc Dowall is a member of the Allied Health Practitioners Association in Saint Lucia and has a passion for sharing his knowledge about Health and Wellness.