Her Excellency Zalayhar Hassanali
First Lady of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago
1987-1997

Mrs. Zalayhar Hassanali is Patron of the Guardian Life Wildlife Trust, having agreed to come on board in December 2005. A devoted Muslim and mother, Mrs. Hassanali was patron of many charitable organisations over the years while First Lady. She continues to live a life of service to others through her active involvement in many non-governmental and charitable organisations.

Mrs. Hassanali gives generously of her time and her wisdom to the Trustees of the Guardian Life Wildlife Fund.

Dr Carol James, Chairman
Dr Carol James is a biologist and policy specialist with thirty years of experience in several Caribbean, African and Pacific countries.

Prior to serving an a United Nations Senior Advisor on Environment and Development, she spent 10 years as Head of the Trinidad & Tobago government's Wildlife Section. She has been instrumental in fostering successful community involvement in turtle management and nature tour guiding in several rural communities in the Caribbean region and is an active member of national and regional environmental NGOs.

Dr. James is currently Chair of the boards of the Asa Wright Nature Centre and of the Guardian Life Wildlife Trust. Her concern for youth development has also led to her participation in the new experiment in secondary school education as a Board member of the Bishop Anstey East/Trinity College East Schools. 

Dr. Howard P. Nelson
Dr. Nelson received his undergraduate and M.Phil. degrees in Zoology at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, and completed his doctorate in Wildlife Ecology and Forestry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research interests include endangered species conservation, forest ecosystems modelling and mammalian ecology. Dr. Nelson has also taught courses in Conservation Biology, Zoo and Wildlife Management, and Human Ecology and Conservation at the University of the West Indies.

He worked at Trinidad and Tobago’s Forestry Division for 5 years, and subsequently became the Ministry of the Environment’s first Environmental Biologist, with responsibility for forestry, national parks and wildlife policy. Dr. Nelson was also the Fauna Specialist of the team that prepared Trinidad and Tobago’s current National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. Dr. Nelson was the Conservation Manager and Chief Executive Officer at the Asa Wright Nature Centre, from 2003 to 2008, and is currently the Project Manager/Scientific Coordinator for an EU-ACP funded project to develop a regional MSc in Biodiversity Conservation at the University of the West Indies. He is also the current Chairman of the Green Fund Advisory Committee.

Mark Webster
Mark Webster is a former national athlete who earned an athletic scholarship from Florida Atlantic University to pursue a degree in general management. In 1992, Mark graduated from university at the top of the business school with an honours degree in general management and in his graduating year was awarded as the University’s most outstanding student athlete for his tennis achievements and the highest academic grade point average of all the athletes in every sport.

Back in Trinidad & Tobago, Mark entered the financial services sector, specifically the marketing and administration of employee benefits (health, life, and pensions) and has worked with major regional financial institutions in addition to carrying out various assignments in his own consulting practice.

Mark is currently an executive and partner of Farah Insurance Brokers Limited, a new and expanding insurance broking firm in Trinidad & Tobago.

Maria Rivas-Mc Millan
Maria Rivas-Mc Millan is Group Vice President Corporate Communications at Guardian Holdings Limited. She is a graduate of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine where she was awarded a BA in English and Social Sciences (Upper Second Class Hon.) and a post-graduate Diploma in International Relations (Hon.). After joining the insurance industry, she added the FLMI designation with Distinction from LOMA International and became deeply involved in industry activities serving on various committees for the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (TTAIFA) and as an Executive member of the LOMA Society of Trinidad and Tobago. Currently she is a Council Member of the Trinidad and Tobago Insurance Institute, a Director of the Canning's Employees' Credit Union where she leads its Marketing & Education Committee and an Executive member of the International Association of Business Communicators, Trinidad & Tobago Chapter.

Richard Espinet