Destination Experience Visionaries Summit launches this week
The Destination Experience Visionaries Summit launches in Barbados this Thursday. The move follows the success of the Destination Experience in Jamaica, with the conceptualisers following on their plan to expand throughout the Caribbean, starting with Barbados – with an expectation to head into Trinidad next year.
Event guests will be hosted at the luxurious Limegrove Lifestyle Centre on October 6 as the event aims to connect wealth and ideas with opportunity.
“We are working to spark an entrepreneurship and innovation revolution in the Caribbean. Our goal is to connect the best in the Caribbean with the best in the world, driving a paradigm shift in the economic outlook of the Caribbean” said Kirk-Anthony Hamilton, founder and curator of the Destination Experience.
The two-day event has become an innovative platform since its inception in Jamaica in 2014 – connecting people, ideas and opportunities with the ultimate goal of unlocking each country’s potential through entrepreneurship and engagement.
In January the group pulled together a number wealthy individuals controlling equity exceeding US$100 billion and has generated deals exceeding US$300 million in investment for Jamaica across a number of industries, according to a Destination Experience news release.
Celebrated by President Barack Obama at The White House in 2015 as “An innovative platform for the promotion of entrepreneurship and a unique business catalyst”, honored by The World Economic Forum in Davos and supported by Forbes Magazine and other industry greats, The Visionaries Summit aims to be a catalyst for change in the economic conversation in Barbados and the wider Caribbean, the release stated.
The forum is designed for relationship building, communication and organic business development, and is “a catalyst for wealth creation which exposes business leaders to the challenges and opportunities presented in an increasingly complex technology-driven, multi-dimensional global economic environment”, according to the release.
Keynote speakers at the Barbados event will include: Richard Wilson, Founder and CEO, Family Office Club, and Wilson Holdings – Wilson is an entrepreneur and best-selling author. For the past ten years, the Family Office Club has served as the premier community for more than 1 500 family offices who manage over US$1.5 trillion in assets. Wilson also operates within the real estate and private equity space; his company, the Miami Family Office, controls a portfolio of over 100 assets with a value exceeding US$500 million.
Paul Ahlstrom, founder and chairman, Alta Ventures – Ahlstrom is an entrepreneur and investor who has focused most of his career on the early-stage start-up process, investing anywhere between US$50 000 and US$10 million. Ahlstrom is also the co-author of ‘Nail It Then Scale It’.
Stephenie Rodriguez, founder and CEO, Jozu – Rodriguez is a global nomad, avid business traveller, and global expert on digital, mobile and social media. JOZUforWomen.com is a travel portal that helps women travel better and safer using technology for personalisation and transparency for shared experiences.
Adam Markel; author of Pivot: The Art and Science of Reinventing your Career and Life – Markel is a renown thought leader on transformational leadership which
inspired his journey to becoming a Wall Street Journal bestselling author. An attorney, entrepreneur and investor, Markel has built a number of successful enterprises, including a law firm and a commercial real estate enterprise.
Adryenn Ashley, author, influencer and entrepreneur, Ashley is a serial entrepreneur, speaker and investor. Whether for her abilities to generate viral conversations globally or streamline costs while increasing revenue, her advice is sought after as a start-up advisor. Her new venture, Loly, aims to disrupt the way people meet, mingle and make magic online. Funding Loly through an ICO (Initial Coin Offering, crypto currency funding mechanism) gave her the content for her next book, Minting the Future.
Ralph Weekes, senior executive financial consultant with Weekes Group Private Wealth Management – Investors Group Financial Services Inc – Ralph Weekes is a Barbadian-born financial executive based in Canada.