Dr Jason Haynes is an attorney-at-law of over 7 years, having been called to the Bar of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados. At present, he is an Associate Professor of Law and Deputy Head of Postgraduate Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK. Previously, he was a Senior Lecturer in Law and Deputy Dean (Graduate Studies and Research) at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. He served as a Senior Legal Officer at the British High Commission in Barbados for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Crown Prosecution Service. In this capacity, he worked on a range of matters, including human trafficking. 

He has consulted on the issue of human trafficking for the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, and the Caribbean Community. On the issue of migrant smuggling, he has consulted for the International Organisation for Migration (Caribbean). He has advised a range of regional and international actors on human trafficking, including the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Free the Slaves, CARICOM IMPACTS, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and has drafted sentencing guidelines on human trafficking for the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. He has written a book (Hart Publishing) on human trafficking, as well as several journal articles in international peer-reviewed journals. 

He has a First Class Honours LLB degree (University of the West Indies), a LLM with Distinction (University of Nottingham), a MSc (University of Oxford), and a PhD (Durham University). He is a Chevening Scholar and a Commonwealth Scholar, an O’Brien Fellow in Residence at McGill University, an Academic Fellow of the Honourable Society of Middle Temple, UK, and the Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. His work on human trafficking won the 2022 UNESCO/Juan Bosch Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Social Science Research in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Merphilus James is an avid disability rights advocate from the island of Saint Lucia. He has served as President of the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) in Saint Lucia since January 2015. In 2019 he was elected President of Disabled People’s International North America and The Caribbean Inc. (DPI NAC) at the Tenth Regional Assembly which was held in Saint Kitts. 

Due to an extremely rare condition called Amniotic Band Syndrome, Merphilus was born with differences of his right hand and left leg. He has used a left prosthetic leg from the age of four. James is passionate about the advancement of persons with disabilities through education, social justice and empowerment, harnessing the innate talents of PWDs in advocacy and public awareness. 

 Merphilus James has held positions in the public service as a Programme Officer and National Volunteer Coordinator in the Office of the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia. He is currently a Training Officer with the National Skills Development Center where he cherishes his involvement in the education of youth in invaluable, marketable technical vocational skills. 

Major projects currently being undertaken under James’ leadership in Saint Lucia are prosthetic leg manufacturing, mobility aid distribution, climate resilience aquaponics for persons with disabilities and community-based rehabilitation. 

Ms. Cherisse Francis is a native of the beautiful Caribbean island of Barbados. Although she now considers herself to be an educator and researcher Cherisse began her career as a legal professional having graduated from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus with a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) and the University of Aberdeen with a Master of Laws (Distinction). Cherisse also attended the Hugh Wooding Law School where she completed her Legal Education Certificate on the Principal’s Honour Roll and was subsequently called to the Barbadian legal bar in 2018. Throughout her educational pursuits, Cherisse remained committed to the pursuit of human rights through academia and her volunteering activities. After her LLM, Cherisse spent a short time as an intern at the United Nations Office for Barbados and the OECS before accepting a position with the Human Trafficking Institute (HTI). From 2019 to 2020 Cherisse was employed by the HTI as Judicial Research Assistant to the designated Trafficking in Persons Judge in the Belizean High Court. In this role she was involved in legal writing and research as well as training activities for state and non-state actors both in Belize and across the Caribbean. These experiences led Cherisse to pursue her PhD studies examining the culture, history, discourses and law surrounding anti-trafficking in the Anglophone Caribbean at the University of Warwick, UK which she submitted in January 2024. Since becoming a part of the regional anti-trafficking field Cherisse has also been involved in numerous consultancies, trainings, and workshops as a facilitator and scholar. At present, Cherisse is a Senior Lecturer (Law) at St.Mary’s University, Twickenham in England where she has taught among other things a course on Organised Crime, Trafficking and Contemporary slavery. She also continues to be engaged in research and serves as a trustee for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (London Office) which has modern slavery as a flagship area. 

Charmaine Gandhi-Andrews served in Trinidad and Tobago Public Service for thirty-eight years, thirty-two of which was spent as an Immigration Officer in the Ministry of National Security. She became the first female Chief Immigration Officer in Trinidad and Tobago in 2015, a position she held until her early retirement from Public Service in January of this year.  

Passionate about issues relating to trafficking in persons, Charmaine has been involved in anti-human trafficking activities since 2009. She advocated for and was actively involved in developing and implementing policies and legislation on trafficking in persons in Trinidad and Tobago. In 2012 she was appointed as the first Director to lead the establishment of Trinidad and Tobago’s Counter Trafficking Unit and develop and implement the country’s anti-trafficking efforts. She led the investigation, identification, rescue, rehabilitation, and reunification of victims of human trafficking with their families.

The US State Department recognized Charmaine as a hero acting to end modern-day slavery in its 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report. In December 2022, she was honored with the Migrant Hero Award from the International Organization for Migration, Port of Spain office, for her years of dedication and service in the field of migration. 

Mrs. Diahann Gordon Harrison has been the Children’s Advocate of Jamaica since January 2012 and has been Jamaica’s National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons since March 2015, making her the first to hold such a post in the Latin American & Caribbean Region. She is an Attorney-at-Law by profession, with over 20 years of experience, and has practiced at the Public Bar since she graduated from The Norman Manley Law School. Before she was appointed Children’s Advocate, Mrs. Gordon Harrison served as a Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.   

Known for her advocacy skills, she states that her current roles provide a national and regional platform from which to promote the rights of children and other people in vulnerable circumstances from a victim-centered and rights-based orientation. She is also passionate about accountability frameworks through which persons who violate the rights of children and vulnerable persons can be held responsible for their actions.  

Mrs. Gordon Harrison is an Associate Tutor at the Norman Manley Law School,  has also been an external reviewer for the British Council in Jamaica, and has been designated champion for CARICOM’s Regional Sex Guidelines for Courts. In November 2019, she was certified as a global expert by the Geneva-based  Justice Rapid Response Roster of global experts in International Criminal Law for potential deployment worldwide with a focus on Crimes against Humanity,  War Crimes, and International Human Rights Law. Since 2020 she has been a serving member of the Board of Directors for the International Society for the  Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, a United States-based non-profit organization that works in over 200 countries worldwide. 

Neil Bacchus is the Chief Executive Officer of the Indigenous Peoples’ Commission which promotes and protects the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Guyana. He has double master’s qualifications, professional qualifications in project management, and a degree and diploma in Public Management.  Neil serves on several NGOs, including the National Task Force on Trafficking in Person and the Inter-religious Organisation in Guyana. He is a community, religious, and youth advocate. He has over twenty-eight years of working experience and possesses excellent logistical, training, and operational skills. Neil has recently completed a  Fellowship Program in Religious Dialogue and culture and is committed to moving Guyana and the Caribbean forward.