He is a recognised expert and visionary on creating sustainable destinations through multi stakeholder collaboration and co-creation. In 2015 Guy launched the Global Destinations Sustainability Index to accelerate the development and performance of sustainable business tourism destinations.
From 2006 to 2018, Guy was the Sustainability Director of MCI, the world’s largest association management, communications and events agency. He launched a CSR program across the corporation’s 60 offices, developing a business strategy that positioned MCI to be an award winning sustainability champion, and the organiser of over 1000 events about sustainable development, Smart Cities and energy.
Guy is a passionate and outstanding communicator, who has delivered over 440 keynote presentations and facilitated workshops engaging over 40,000 participants in more than 40 countries. He teaches Regenerative Leadership at Esade Business School, and is a visiting lecturer at various universities around the world.
Previously, Guy was the Managing Director of MCI in Spain, on the management board of MCI Group, President of the Green Meeting Industry Council and worked for HP as a Technology Consultant for 11 years.
When not working, you can find Guy cycling or climbing in the Pyrenees, planting vegetables in his organic garden in Barcelona, cooking up a feast for friends or dancing Swing.
With a full bundle of qualifications under her belt (ISO 20121, ISO 14001, GSTC, Travelife Auditor, GRI, Biosphere, Sustainable Event Alliance accreditation) and experience in providing sustainability trainings, Rebecca is well equipped to guide the full range of destination stakeholders in their mission to develop and implement a sustainability strategy.
As a multilingual Brit (Spanish, French, German, Catalan) Rebecca has been living in Barcelona for 16 years and working in events for 20. She has thrived in the international Event Management sector, where her roles in Trade Fair Management, Event Production, Meetings, Incentives and Congresses have all allowed her endless opportunities to learn, grow and meet people from different cultures and backgrounds.
Rebecca supports the GDS-Index with a mission to drive the sustainability performance of destinations, while developing and implementing strategic consulting solutions for DMOs, CVBs, venues and events.
In her spare time Rebecca enjoys recharging batteries with good food, good company and the great outdoors.
• Claudia, founder of Sustained Impact, helps businesses in both for profit and nonprofits companies, organizations and destinations advance the transformation to conscious and regenerative businesses to create a thriving world and value for everyone.
• Claudia designs and facilitates awareness-based organizational strategies, programs and workshops where she incorporates a conscious leadership, regenerative thinking and Design Thinking approach.
• Claudia is a senior consultant with the Global Destination Sustainability Movement (GDS Movement) to help enable the co-creation of regenerative strategies, skillsets and mindsets that will support destinations of the future.
• Further areas of expertise include event design (CED), management and marketing, meeting design, marketing communications and measurement (ROI Methodology).
• She has been a long-time dedicated advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals, and volunteers as a Climate Reality Leader and Mentor. Claudia returns for a second term to serve as a member of the Events Industry Council (EIC) Sustainability and Social Impact Committee.
• Claudia is passionate about human transformation, co-creation, empowering others, entrepreneurial thinking, and is a graduate of Robert Holden’s Conscious Leadership Program Success Intelligence.
• Peruvian-Austrian, raised in three different continents, she lives, works and play in English, Spanish and German. Claudia loves nature, people, food and travel.
Having graduated from The University of St Andrews with a MA in Sustainable Development, he worked for the GDS-Index, and now the GDS-Movement, since 2019.
He has spearheaded our marketing and sales arm, managed the development of our online data platform (OMNI), and is the main contact for benchmarking queries. From helping to run workshops, and co-facilitating our online webinar series (Feeling the Pulse), to speaking and representing the GDS-Movement at international events (e.g. of the UNWTO and UNFCCC), Noah is core to both internal management and external outreach.
If you are a destination that wants to participate in the GDS-Index, or wants to be part of the GDS-Movement, get in touch with Noah. Chances are he will be able to help you with most of your questions.
In his personal life he is passionate about nurturing the people around him with good food, and himself by practising yoga and listening to Jazz.
Her time as a meeting professional has led her to her current position as Changemaker and Event Manager at the GDS Movement where she is able to combine her passion for sustainability & events to support the mission of the GDS Movement.
During her career, Milda was working as Strategic Project Manager at TNW (A Financial Times Company), navigating the ever-changing tech & start-up environment. Prior to that, Milda played an integral role in planning and implementing education and sustainability projects at the IMEX Group for their two leading exhibitions, IMEX America and IMEX in Frankfurt.
Born and raised in Lithuania, Milda has travelled the world and lived in Norway, Denmark, and the UK. She currently lives in Amsterdam, where she fully embraces her love of yoga, sustainable living and volunteering opportunities that nurture her professional and personal interests.
Alejandra is a pioneer of sustainable events in the Latin America region.
• She is currently working on her Master Degree thesis on Sustainable Tourism at UCI, the University of International Cooperation of Costa Rica.
• Over 18 years experience in the tourism sector, working in DMC agencies in Cancun, Riviera Maya and Los Cabos. Additional experience in ecotourism with Tour Operators and in the hospitality industry for large hotel chains like Hilton, JW Marriott, and Fiesta Americana.
• Since 2017, she has trained more than 300 people in the region as an instructor of the first Sustainable Events Certificate Course (CES) in Spanish.
• Sustainability Consultant for the GDS-Movement. Recent sustainability projects include the ICCA Annual Congress in Houston.
• Certified Sustainable Events Professional (SEPC) by the Events Industry Council.
• Following the call of her indigenous roots, she began to study Herbal medicine & Phytotherapy (science-oriented traditional medicine). Her continuing education also includes: Environmental Education, Regenerative Tourism, and Spiritual healing.
• She is an active member of MPI Mexican Caribbean Chapter Board as a Sustainability Director.
• Chaillo worked for 12 years at the Mexico Tourism Board. He started his tourism career as Secretary of Tourism in the State of Zacatecas, Mexico.
• Chaillo has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico (ITAM) and studies of master’s degree in finance at the Monterrey Technological Institute (ITESM). He got his CIC’s global Certification as a Meeting Professional (CMP) in 2004, MPI’s CMM on Meeting Management in 2006, and CASE (Certified Association Sales Executive) from PCMA in 2013.
• He served for 6 years in the ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) Board of Directors representing North America; PCMA’s Board of Trustees; 5-years on the CMP Board of Directors within the CIC; and 3-years at the DMAI (Destination Marketing Association International) Board of Directors. Currently he serves as a member to the Grupo Hotelero Santa Fe BOD (public company), the Expo Guadalajara technical committee, as well as in the COCAL and MPI México Board of Directors.
• Eduardo was given the JMIC’s Profile and Power Award, was recognized by Successful Meetings Magazine as one of the 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry, and he was inducted to the CIC’s Hall of Leaders 2013 class. Mas Expos magazine has selected him as one of the 15 most influential leaders in the Latin American meetings market in their 2015 list and obtained the Latino Leader award from Fiexpo Trade Show this same year. The MPI Mexico Chapter recognized him with the HEEL Award for the Leader of the Industry in Mexico. Finally, he received the 2019 Supplier Life Time Achievement Visionary Award from PCMA Foundation.
Her ethos comes from a place of personal experience. Although she graduated from Simon Fraser University, she found her best education has been her life experiences of global travel and working abroad in Africa, Colombia and the Philippines. Tourism is a very powerful tool to help solve global inequality and enact environmental change. But can be detrimental to communities and the environment if not managed properly.
Therefore, she co-founded ConnectSeven Group – a project management firm focused on social and sustainable tourism projects including sustainable tourism development, social procurement, environmental analysis, sustainable event production and destination development.
She graduated from Simon Fraser University with honours from the Bachelor of Business Administration program with majors in Finance and Management Science. She is based in Vancouver, BC, Canada and is the North American GDSM Changemaker.
When not working, you can find her sailing, at the dog park or on trying to pull together a last minute international trip.
Emma is the co-founder of ConnectSeven Group – a project management firm primarily working with social and sustainable development projects that enact global positive change. They focus on social enterprise supply chain integration, environmental analysis, sustainable event production, destination development, and producing large conventions enacting social and sustainable change. They work with the likes of the United Nations, TED, Buy Social Canada and Destination Canada, and integrate the Sustainable Development Goals into everything they do. The close alignment between ConnectSeven and the GDSM, have made Emma a great representative for the Movement in North America.
With over 15 years experience in the event world, previously Emma was the Director of Operations for MCI Canada and worked with the global Sustainability Director to implement sustainable policies into their North American events and operations. She was also a key member of the TED production team, and was a lead project manager on the Dalia Lama’s Canadian tour. She has been on the board of MPI and ILEA and was recognized as top 40 under 40 in North America by CollaborateMeetings.
Emma lives on beautiful Vancouver Island, and in the rare moments she has to herself you can find her doing yoga or on her paddle board – followed by a local craft beer or glass of wine.
Over the last 16 years, Janet has developed a holistic approach to wellness that combines the wisdom and practices of western and oriental techniques; Entitled “Inner Sense”, this approach not only has helped her patients stay healthy but has been developed into a way to work with employees and participants at events. The simple mantra being healthy people make healthy organisations.
In another life, Janet was a chartered accountant and worked for 15 years for PWC. In the GDSM, she oversees finance, administration, and talent management.
She lives in the hills near Barcelona, and when not working can be found in her organic garden or enjoying nature in the mountains.
She is also an experienced event creator and content curator specialised in conceptualising and presenting at transformation events about sustainability and regeneration. Examples of her work include co-creating Sustainable Brands Cape Town 2016, event host and presenter at Sustainability Week South Africa and being MC at the inaugural Sustainable Brands Oceans event in Porto, Portugal in 2019.
During her career Melissa was the editor of Green Home magazine, The Green Economy Journal and is the founding publisher of South Africa’s first conscious lifestyle publication and website – Life in Balance.
Melissa is a published poet, inspiring presenter and lecturer, editor of business books, academic papers, opinion pieces and an expert in crafting sustainability strategies and narratives relating to social, environmental, and economic regeneration.
He strongly believes that creative communication will act as the critical link in behaviour change to increase awareness and inspire action for a sustainable future. He is a passionate believer in regeneration and innovation that can empower a resilient, adaptable Future that can deliver Enough. For all. Forever. Deon finds inspiration in cooking with chillies and time in Nature with the Love of his life, Fran and their four rather busy teenagers.
He is the author of ‘Only Planet – a flight-free adventure around the world’ a book about his circumnavigation of the globe without getting on a plane. Ed’s core talent is to take the complex, interconnected, interdependent nature of the many urgent challenges the world faces, from climate change to disruptive innovation, and make common sense of them for non-specialist audiences in a pandemic world.
He started his career as a marine biologist and has worked and lived all over the globe, including in Jamaica, the Orkney Islands, Australia and New Caledonia.
Professionally Ed is known for his own unique brand of authentic ‘insultancy’ – being strategically and playfully cheeky to clients, with judicious wit and wisdom to inspire them to greater heights and aspirations.
As well as the Resident Futurist at the GDS-Movement, Ed is a facilitator with the Forward Institute for responsible leadership, a Director of Greenpeace UK, a Trustee of Energy Revolution, and a founder investor and former Chair of pioneering online rail ticketing business ‘Loco2’ now rebranded as Rail Europe.
Ed co-hosts Itunes chart-topping podcast ‘Jon Richardson and the Futurenauts’ and ‘The Great Humbling’. He is a regular media contributor from the BBC to the Guardian (for whom he wrote a regular column during his flight-free navigation of the world – ‘The Slow Traveller’) to Conde Naste (read his latest piece on ‘How to embrace a travel mind set while staying at home’).
