|
 Paul Issa
Chairman
Paul Issa was born in Kingston, Jamaica, the son of the Hon. Abe Issa, and Lorraine Shaouy Issa. He attended St. George’s College, in Kingston, and, later, Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York. He studied drama at Tulane University in New Orleans and at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York. As a young man he taught drama and speech, worked in radio broadcasting, journalism and publishing, as well as directing and acting in theatrical productions.
After earning his Bachelor of Business Administration degree and his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Miami, he began working in the family business, the House of Issa Group of companies.
He is currently Deputy Chairman of House of Issa, and its subsidiary Issa Hotels & Resorts Ltd. which owns and operates Couples Resorts.
He is Chairman of the Issa Foundation, the Edna Manley College of the Visual and performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica, and Paul Issa Publications.
He is a director of the Independent Radio Company Ltd (Power 106 and Music 99), and a member of the Council of the Institute of Jamaica; the Spanish-Jamaican Foundation Advisory Board; the Issa Scholarship Selection Committee; the Consular Corps of Jamaica; Visual & Performing Arts Jamaica (VPAJ); the University Players; and the Issa Trust Foundation.
With a long standing love for philanthropy, theatre, literature, and art in general, he has been part of the Jamaican cultural scene since the early 1970s. He is married to Spanish painter Oriente Davila Issa and they live in Kingston with their five children.
 Diane
Pollard
President and CEO
Diane was hired February 2010 as Issa Trust
Foundation’s first paid employee. She has been working as
Issa’s volunteer VP of Operations since its earliest
planning stages in 2004, and with children in Jamaica
since 1997. Her responsibilities with Issa include program
planning and implementation, volunteer recruitment and
oversight, outreach to supporters and current and
potential partners, evaluation, budgeting, advocacy and
meetings with policymakers, and strategic planning. Diane
makes at minimum 4 trips per year to Jamaica to ensure
policies and project goals are being followed. She brings
with her over 30 years of experience, beginning in the
1970’s in the legal area working for the Attorney
General’s Office in Criminal and Special Prosecutions. Her
broad experience of directing, overseeing, delegating, and
managing various corporate entities has helped her gain
success in the non-profit arena. Prior to her work with
Issa, Diane has worked in both the private and nonprofit
sectors for two decades, working for the Principal
Financial Group as an IT Performance Training Assistant,
Retail IS Market-Information Systems Technology Analyst,
Systems Support Specialist, and Staffing Specialist; with
Principal Residential Mortgage as a Vendor Manager; and
with the United Way of Central Iowa as a Loan Executive.
Diane holds an Associate degree in Legal Studies from the
Des Moines Area Community College.
She has spent the last 10 years focusing her attention
internationally helping children in need. Diane has raised
nearly one million dollars in her efforts both locally and
internationally. She is currently a member of the
Consulate General of Jamaica/New York Medical & Healthcare
Council, United Way of Central Iowa's Emerging Leaders
Initiative and has received Certificate of Recognition by
the State of Iowa for outstanding commitment to
philanthropy and public service, with honors from State
Representative Kevin McCarthy with a State of Iowa
Recognition for improving the health conditions in Jamaica
through the Issa Trust Foundation.
Many years ago while on vacation in Jamaica there was a
car accident, and so the bus took a detour. During a stop
there was four-year-old boy standing in his underwear.
He was curious and came up to the van and stood close to
Diane’s window and stared at her. He had the biggest smile
she had ever seen. “It was a moment that I cannot
explain.” The smile on her face was overshadowed by the
tears in his eyes. She placed her hand on the window and
he placed his small little hand near hers. “It was like a
sign, a moment, and a turning point in my life. I was
forever changed. At that point she knew she wanted to do
something for the underprivileged children of Jamaica even
though she did not have a lot of money to contribute
herself.
Diane is married, has two married sons and four
grandchildren.
 Randy Russell
Executive Vice-President
A fortuitous phone call from a college friend, after graduating from the University of Colorado in 1975 initiated Randy Russell into the travel industry. Randy began his career by working on cruise ships for a small tour operator who specialized in cruises and tours for single people. What started as a two week gig, lasted over 2 ½ years.
Randy set foot on dry land, becoming the managing director of Singleworld based in NY. From Singleworld Randy joined the ranks of field sales with Scandinavian World Cruises, covering the mid-atlantic states. From 1993 to 1998, Randy was Vice President of Sales at SuperClubs and is credited with creating several successful marketing campaigns, including SuperAgency, SuperSurprise, Lido Sampler and Men of Hedonism II.
In 1998, Randy formed a partnership of hospitality executives and purchased what is now Jolly Beach Resort in Antigua. After spending nearly $10 million to renovate and reopen the resort in January 2001, the partnership sold the resort for a profit.
Randy joined Couples Resorts in November 2001 and has since led the company through consecutive years of record occupancies and revenues. Randy has developed a reputation as a fun-loving executive whose signature “Luv n Life” influences both his professional and personal life.
Randy believes that the key to success in business is to create emotional connections with guests and staff so satisfying that loyalty is assured.
 Alex Ghisays
Public Relations Director
Alex Ghisays has worked in the Jamaican
Tourism Industry since 1984. She started her career as
Public Relations Manager with SuperClubs. In 1997, Alex
joined the Couples Resorts chain as Executive Assistant to
the CEO & President, with special emphasis on public
relations and events.
Since 2001, Alex has been the Group Public Relations Manager
for Couples Resorts and has spearheaded all on-island
fund-raising efforts, including the Annual Charity Golf
Tournaments in Ocho Rios and Negril, which have been highly
successful in raising over US$100,000. She is also
responsible for all on-Island administration and planning
for the Issa Trust Foundation’s projects.
In recognition of her work with several charities in
Jamaica, she was made a Justice of the Peace for the Parish
of St. Mary in 2006.
Alex is married with an eight year old son, Sage, who is her
inspiration.
 Gail A. Soares
Treasurer
Gail has worked in the travel industry since 2000. Her early career started with Air Jamaica Vacations where she moved within the corporate structure to Inside and Group Sales. She then joined the Carnival Cruise lines team, also in Groups, to broaden her industry knowledge. In 2003, Gail returned to the all inclusive industry when Couples Resorts offered her the opportunity to grow her career and contribute to its success as a Marketing Manager.
Along with her many other tasks, Gail currently handles the daily administration for the Issa Trust foundation and is proud to help out her native country. Through the work of the foundation, she feels blessed to help those less fortunate.
Gail loves children and has a young son named Gabriel. |
 Dr. Stacy McConkey
Pediatric Rotation Program Medical Director
Dr. Stacy McConkey is a General Pediatrician who works at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa. She has been the Medical Director for the Issa Trust medical mission for the past 4 years. She is also the Medical Director for the Issa Trust Foundation Pediatric Rotation program. When she isn’t in Jamaica, she is taking care of patients in her General Pediatrics practice, where she is responsible for training Pediatrics residents as the Program Director and Vice Chair of Education at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. She is married to Jeff, and they have 2 sons.
Advisory Board for
Pediatric Education Program
 Jamie Sklar BSN, MS, CCRN
Lead Advisory Team Member
Jamie Sklar BSN, MS, CCRN has been involved with the Issa Trust Foundation since 2008. Jamie served as the medical mission coordinator for the Philadelphia based multidisciplinary team in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Recently Jamie has worked to create the Issa Trust Foundation Pediatric Education Program, and serves as an Advisory Board member of the Issa Trust Foundation.
Jamie graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from the University of Pittsburgh in 2002. She started her nursing career in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia that same year. Jamie continues to work in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit as a Clinical Level IV. In 2008 Jamie graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine with a Masters of Science in Forensic Medicine. She is a Safekids National Car Seat Safety Technician and a certified instructor for Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Trauma Care Nurse (ATCN) courses. Jamie speaks at both the hospital and regional level on traumatic injuries in children, and is a simulation instructor at The University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing Simulation Center.
 Dr. Sheila Campbell-Forrester
Advisory Team Member
Dr. Sheila Campbell-Forrester was educated at the University of the West Indies where she obtained a Bachelors in Medicine and Surgery in 1975 and a Diploma in Public Health in 1978. In 1997, she was awarded the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship and attended The Rollins School of Public Health, Department of International Health, Emory University in Atlanta.
Prior to 1997, she served as Medical Officer and Senior Medical Officer of Health in the Western Region of Jamaica. After completing the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship in 1998, she returned to Jamaica and was appointed Regional Director of the Western Regional Health Authority. In 2006, she was assigned to the Ministry of Health as Acting Chief Medical Officer and was confirmed in this position in 2007. She officially retired on August 14, 2011 and is now an independent health systems and adolescent health consultant.
Dr. Campbell -Forrester is an Adolescent Health Specialist and has served as Technical Advisor to the Pan American Health Organization, UNICEF and World Health Organizations on adolescent health issues and public health issues. Between 1998 and 2000 she served as a member of the Technical Steering Committee on Child and Adolescent Health at the World Health Organization and pioneered the first Adolescent Health programme for St. James in 1984. In 2008, she was a member of the panel that reviewed the 2008 World Health Report, “Primary Health Care – Now more than ever.”
Dr. Campbell-Forrester lectures in Adolescent Health at the University of the West Indies, Department of Community Health and Psychiatry and has presented and co-authored several papers relating to adolescent health and other public health issues. She has also served as Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Bachelor in Public Health Nursing at the University of Technology. She has an interest in Public Private Partnerships in Health and believes that this is the wave of the future for strong health systems.
She is a Methodist Lay Pastor and is married with two daughters.
She is a member of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, the Medical Association of Jamaica, and a past Vice President for the International Adolescent Association for Health and a member of the National Bioethics Committee of Jamaica.
Philosophy
‘Justice, integrity, kindness, humility, team work, perseverance and discipline are qualities required for leadership and achieving results.’
Dr. Osmond Tomlinson
Advisory Team Member
Profile coming soon.
|
