WHO WE ARE

Rupert, a Bahamian national, Principal and Co-Chairman of the Grand Bahama Port Authority and Grand Bahama Utility Company, Director of Disaster Relief Foundation, Freeport Harbour Company, Grand Bahama Shipyard & the Grand Bahama Utility Company, among others.

​He holds a Govt' appointed board seat, as Vice-Chair, of The Bahamas Protected Areas Fund, and is an advisor to the University of The Bahamas, on climate and resilience.

​He completed his MA (Hons) in Geography — Caribbean Development — at Edinburgh University, UK 2003, and has an MBA in Sustainable Business Management from Presidio Graduate School, San Francisco.

Rashema is a Bahamian National and Grand Bahama Resident. She is the Caribbean Program Director at Bonefish and Tarpon Trust and Founder of GB Envirobins.

She has been recognized as one of the 40 Most Successful & Influential Professionals in The Bahamas in 2019.

Fiona is a Bahamian National and a resident of Grand Bahama. She is a CPA, licensed by the Bahamas Institute of Chartered Accountants. Fiona obtained her undergraduate and graduate education at the University of South Florida and currently holds a Master of Accountancy graduate degree. Fiona's career began in public accounting at KPMG Atlanta and The Bahamas offices. Since then, she has held executive level financial positions at Okyanos Cell Therapy and Kelly's Freeport Ltd. Additionally, Fiona has had the opportunity to be adjunct faculty at the University of The Bahamas in previous years.

Jeff has worked on sustainability strategy for over two decades, from vantages ranging from nonprofits and commercial startups, to academia, think tanks and federal policy-making.

Prior to joining Blue Action, he served as Special Appointment at the U.S. State Department conducting "corporate diplomacy" in Silicon Valley. He also founded the Climate Philanthropy Project at the Urban Institute.

Jeff holds a PhD in International Sustainable Development from Yale University, co-founded two social enterprises focused on sustainable agriculture (Georgia and Ecuador) and engaged in community development in places as diverse as the SF Bay Area and Cairo.

Lashanti is a Bahamian Marine Conservationist and Science Communicator. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Biology from Barry University, USA, and an MPhil in Conservation Leadership from the University of Cambridge, UK. Over the last decade, Lashanti has been involved in educating young Bahamians and communities across nearly a dozen islands in The Bahamas about marine conservation and marine protected areas, through creative outreach and community meetings. Lashanti led the Bahamas Protected project as Conservation Planner at the Bahamas National Trust to help the government of The Bahamas meet its commitment to reaching 20% marine protection by the year 2020.

She is the host and creator of the environmentally-focused web show/podcast, Siren Sundays. She uses Siren Sundays as a platform to raise awareness about the Bahamian conservation and environmental sector to people who are not environmentalists or conservationists.

Melissa is passionate about building holistic solutions for climate resilience and fostering ecopreneurship through integrated education, innovation, and ecosystem restoration projects.

Prior to co-founding Blue Action, she practiced law at a boutique intellectual property firm in San Diego, gaining specialized experience in technology transactions, licensing, commercial contracts, and IP strategy. She then worked in-house building international partnerships for an educational technology start-up.

Melissa holds a B.A. cum laude from Davidson College and a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law with a Concentration in Intellectual Property Law. She is a member of the State Bar of California.