Agenda

This concept seeks to advance organizations beyond occasional disaster response towards a continuous, embedded culture of proactive resilience, integrated across all levels of operation and planning. Building a culture of resilience is more than a strategy; it is a fundamental shift in institutional and individual mindsets. Resilience should be a daily operational habit, rather than a seasonal checkbox or an emergency response. A true culture of resilience exists when every member of an organization understands that timely recording of information and mindful adherence to relevant policies, processes and procedures are the invisible threads that hold safety nets together before, during and after a crisis. It is about replacing ad-hoc responses with a shared commitment to multi-layered, multi-sectoral resilience, ensuring that when the grid fails, our systems of coordination and capacity to withstand, bounce back, and rebuild, do not.

AGENDA

9:00 a.m. – 9:05 a.m.	Introduction and Announcements
9:05 a.m. – 9:10 a.m.	Dr. Cletus Bertin, Executive Director and Chairperson of the Disaster Management Coordinators Committee, CARILEC
9:10 a.m. – 9:20 a.m.	Opening Remarks by Mr. Wayne Caines, Chairman of CARILEC Board of Directors
9:20 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.	The Cultural Shift: The Psychology of Disaster Management. Dr Katija Khan, Director of Caribbean Alliance of National Psychological Associations (CANPA)
9:50 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.	Feature Address: The Resilience Imperative. *Dr. Didacus Jules, Director General, Organization of the Eastern Caribbean States*
10:15 a.m. – 10:25 a.m.	BREAK
10:25 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.	The Jamaica Experience: Part 1. – Panel Discussion A deep-dive analysis of the Hurricane Melissa response. Analyzing supply chain logistics and inventory, timely communication, and the effectiveness of pre-positioned resources, and response capabilities. Mr. Ricardo Case – Senior Vice President – Shared Services, Jamaica Public Service Company Mr. George Scarlett – Director, Logistics and Inventory and Logistics Chief, Jamaica Public Service Company Ms. Winsome Callum – Director, Corporate Communications and Public Information Officer, Jamaica Public Service Company Moderator: Mrs. Brittany Pratt, Director of Regulatory Affairs and Compliance, Grand Bahama Power Company
11:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.	Room 1 Financial Resilience & Investment – Panel discussion. Justifying Build Back Better costs. Business cases for infrastructure hardening. Accessing regional financing mechanisms (CDB, IDB, World Bank facilities). Demonstrating the long-term ROI of resilience investment Mr. Thomas Mitschke, Senior Solutions Advisor, Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC) Mr. Vernon Douglas, Chief Financial Officer – Jamaica Public Service Company Ms. Chrystal Rhone, Manager – Regulatory Finance & Tariff Strategy – Jamaica Public Service Company Moderator: Mr. Martyn Forde, CAREC Leader, Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC)
11:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.	Room 2 Resilience Planning: The Dominica 10MW Geothermal Energy Project – Presentation Mr. Dalton Eloi, Project Support Engineer (Mechanical) and Safeguards Lead, Dominica Geothermal Development Company Ltd.
11:45 a.m. – 12:25 p.m.	Partnerships for Disaster Resilience and Response – Panel Discussion Mr. Roberto Aiello – Principal Energy Specialist for the Caribbean Region, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Mr. Manases Mercedes – Renewable Energy Adviser, Euroclima Caribbean, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Ms. Virginie Andre – Programme Manager for Disaster Risk Management, Delegation of the European Union to Barbados, Eastern Caribbean States and the OECS) Moderator – Ms. Chelsa Jongue, Assistant Manager, Member Services (Communications and Marketing), CARILEC
12:25 p.m. – 12:50 p.m.	LUNCH
12:50 p.m. – 1:25 p.m.	The Jamaica Experience: Part 2. – Lineworkers Experience Mr. Leighton Barnes – Manager, Transmission & Distribution Construction and Maintenance, Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC) Mr. Emmanuel Monsanto – Lines Construction Supervisor, Anguilla Electricity Company Ltd. (ANGLEC) Mr. Justin Small – Line Construction Supervisor, St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC) Mr. Resean Maynard – Emergency Supervisor, Nevis Electricity Company Limited (NEVLEC)
1:25 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.	The Associate Advantage: Integrating the Associate Member into the CARILEC Disaster Assistance Program (CDAP)– Panel Discussion Mr. Dalton Kellet, President, K-Line Insulators Ltd. Mr. Dervon McKellop, Chief Unmanned Aircraft Systems Pilot, DRIFT Enterprise Limited Ms. Shavana Baxter, Creative Content, Corporate Electric Ltd. Moderator – Mr. Johann Greaves, Barbados Light & Power Company (BLPC)
1:45 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.	CDAP Manual Revision
2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.	CARILEC Disaster Assistance Program (CDAP) 2026 IDB Project support – Mr. Roberto Aiello, IDB DRP and BCP update – Mrs. Christina Becker-Birck, Vice President, CADMUS Group Update on the RVA and the Hotspot Mapping – Mrs. Amanda Harris-Logie, Technical Consultant on the IDB Project CDAP Expansion – Ms. Sophia Primus, Learning and Development Manager, CARILEC Updates and reporting to CARILEC during disasters