Dwarka Lakhan BA, MBA, FICB, FCSI

Dwarka Lakhan is President & CEO of the Caprion Group of Companies. He has almost four decades of diverse international experience and has successfully performed a myriad of consulting roles in both the public and private sectors.

As a former Economist with the Government of Guyana he worked as a team member and/or counterpart consultant on various development projects in collaboration with consultants to various international financial institutions. He was a member of the intergovernmental team that developed the first Caribbean Food and Nutrition Plan.

Dwarka is a Principal with Meadowbank Asset Management Inc., a regulated investment manager and exempt market dealer and is former Chairman and Director of Meadowbank Capital Inc. and Director of the publicly traded closed-end fund, the Legg Mason BWI Investment Grade Focus Fund (TSX: BWI.UN).

Previously, Dwarka held management positions with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Royal Trust Corporation and Altamira Management Ltd. He also acted in consulting roles as President and CEO of Data Core Financial Services (Toronto); and Chairman and CEO of Commercial Investment Bank Limited (St. Lucia); and is formerly Chairman of the Public Relations Committee of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada and Member of its Education Committee.

Dwarka holds an undergraduate degree in Economics; a Masters in Business Administration; and a Masters Certificate in Marketing Communications Management. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute (FCSI) and a Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers (FICB).

Hughward Pinard BBA, MBA, Diploma AIB

Hughward Pinard is a consultant with Caprion Consulting International. He is a former Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Branch manager, and a dedicated and enterprising professional with four decades of experience in Banking, Business, Finance Investments and Management.

Hugh has successfully managed and enhanced the operations, performance and profitability of various Royal Bank Branches in the USA and the Eastern Caribbean, and he was recognized by RBC as the Eastern Caribbean’s top performer in 2005. He retired from the Bank in October 2006 and was retained as a Market Development Consultant from November 2006 to October 2007.

Over the years he has served as a recognized resource person on several important committees and boards in the public and private sectors in the USA and the Caribbean region, including a member of the New York Personnel Management Association (NYPMA), Director of the Dominica Association of Industry of Commerce (DAIC), Chairman of the National Development Corporation of Dominica (NDC), Director of the St Kitts Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce (SKNIC) and a Director of Commercial Investment Bank Limited (St Lucia).

Hugh was also closely associated with the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) and became the Charter President of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union Bankers Association following its formation in 2004. He also served as a steering Committee Member of the Central Bank’s Money and Capital Markets Development program, and a Director of the Eastern Caribbean Institute of Banking and the Eastern Caribbean Enterprise Fund.

Hugh holds a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree (BBA) in Banking Economics and Finance from Pace University in New York, a Master of Business Administration Degree (MBA) in Management from Fairleigh Dickenson University in New Jersey and Standard and Advanced Level Diplomas in Commercial and International Banking from the American Institute of New York. He also attained a Certificate in Financial Services Marketing from the Institute of Canadian Bankers (ICB) in April 1999.

Joe Fontana Hon. Joe Fontana, P.C.

Joe Fontana is an expert in government policy and administration. A former Minister of Labor and Housing with the Canadian Federal government, he was first elected to the House of Commons in 1988 and was re-elected in 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004 and 2006.

During his lengthy political career, Mr. Fontana held numerous parliamentary portfolios, with a wide range of responsibilities.

As a Member of the official Liberal Opposition between 1988 -1993 he was critic for Housing and Urban Affairs and associate critic for Electoral Reform. When the Liberal Party attained power in 1993, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, playing a key role in, among other things, the introduction of the National Airports Policy and the privatization of Canadian airports and ports.

He was also a Member of the Standing Committee on Transport and an associate member of the Standing Committee on Finance and the Standing Committee on Industry. Other parliamentary accomplishments include Chairperson of the National Liberal Task Force on Housing, Chairperson for the Liberal Via Rail Task Force, Member of the Liberal Caucus Committee on Economic Policy, Chair of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, with special emphasis on Science and Small Business.

Mr. Fontana is a former Chair of the Canada/Europe Parliamentary Association and a Member of Canada/U.S., Canada/Italy, Canada/China, Canada/Israel, Canada/Arab Parliamentary Associations. Most recently, he was the Mayor of the City of London, Ontario. He has travelled extensively to Europe, middle-east, China, Korea and South America and Caricom Countries.

Prior to entering federal politics, Mr. Fontana was an Insurance Executive and Small Business Owner.

Donna Alexander-London BA, MBA

Donna Alexander-London is a Business Development Consultant with Caprion Consulting International. Mrs. London is a career banker with 35 years of experience in the financial services industry, 28 of which were spent at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Prior to joining Caprion, she was a Senior Vice President at Bank of America primarily responsible for correspondent banking relationships in the English-speaking Caribbean, the Netherlands Antilles and the French Caribbean. She also had responsibility for Bank of America’s international portfolio in Guyana and Belize.

At Bank of America Merrill Lynch she managed a portfolio of approximately USD$50MM per annum in revenue. Products included Credit Facilities, Cash Management and Investment Products and Structured Trade Products. Her Client base consisted of approximately 52 Commercial Banks and Corporations throughout the Region. She also managed all Central Bank relationships in the region having herself worked as an economist in Central Banks in Guyana and Barbados

Donna holds a BA Honors Degree in Economics and History from McMasters University in Hamilton, Canada and an MBA from Columbia University.