Misha

Lobban Clarke

Executive Director

Barbados Chamber of Commerce & Industry

m.lobbanclarke@barbadoschamber.com

Biography

Misha Lobban-Clarke, M.A. Executive Director Barbados Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI) Since assuming the role as Executive Director in June 2019, Misha has been playing a key role in the implementation of the Chamber’s strategic mandate and has been successfully leading the process of organizational change and repositioning the Chamber as a more visible and engaged organization. The Barbados Chamber promotes the diverse interests of the business community in Barbados through advocacy and representation, and trade facilitation. A key priority of the BCCI is to ensure that a robust and enabling business ecosystem exists in Barbados. Misha is a Management and Communications Specialist with 25 years’ experience in organizational management, corporate governance, communications and in building stakeholder relationships and strategic partnerships across different sectors. Prior to joining the Chamber, she was the Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean (ICAC), a position she held for 10 years. Misha served as vice chair of the regional network of Caribbean Chambers of Commerce (CARICHAM) from June 2021 – May 2022 and currently serves as chair of its Governance Working Group. A professional with a keen interest in promoting strong corporate governance practices within organisations, she is a member of the Caribbean Corporate Governance Institute (CCGI) and has presented at conferences and training events hosted by CCGI. Misha holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Political Science and a Master of Arts in Communication Studies from the University of West Indies (Mona). She is also certified by the International Finance Corporation/Global Corporate Governance Forum as a trainer in Corporate Governance Board Leadership.

Reasons to join the program

The primary reasons for my interest in participating in ACE Seattle are: 1. To further deepen the partnerships and connections that the ACE network has to offer and to gain a more in-depth knowledge of the ACE programme to assist in building out a proposed strategy/road map for the Barbados Chamber to host the first ACE Caribbean Competitiveness Programme here in Barbados in partnership with the Government of Barbados. 2. To support the further build-out and formalisation of the LAC Investment Network which was a positive outcome of my participation in ACE Ecuador in November 2022. The first Informal Meeting of LAC IPAs was held during ACE Ecuador with the Barbados Chamber being one of the participants along with Invest Minas, Invest Bogota, Invest Puerto Rico, Pro Colombia, Pro Ecuador, Guatemala Chamber, Invest Monterrey and the Manta Chamber. The objective of the group is to share best practices and promote a more organic leads for trade and investment opportunities between our countries. This group has received positive support/endorsement from the OAS and we are currently working to formalise the network as a sub-group of ACE. 3. To continue to explore trade and investment partnerships, cutting-edge trends and best practices that will assist the Barbados Chamber as we continue to play a critical role in support the building of a sustainable and vibrant business/private sector and ecosystem in Barbados. In this regard, I am hoping to identify potential business, trade and investment opportunities in Seattle for the Barbadian businesses. It is also hoped that the knowledge gained about Seattle’s economic development, innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem will provide best practices that can be leveraged for the benefit of the business sector in Barbados.

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