Ms. Yorshabell Cattouse is Manager, Member Relations of the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI). She possesses more than 16 years of experience supporting entrepreneurs, employers, and the private sector. She has worked as the Expo Coordinator for the Made in Belize Trade Show and MarketPlace Belize Expo. 

Ms Cattouse currently serves as a member of the Labour Advisory Board, the BCCI’s In-house Labour Sub Council, the Skills to Access the Green Economy (SAGE) Committee, the Apprenticeship Advisory Committee and the Free Movement Committee. Ms Cattouse has also served as a past member of the National Committee for Children and Families, the National AIDS Committee, the OAS National Commission and the BCCI’s in-house Contraband committee. In addition to her membership roles, Ms Cattouse has composed and supported several business support capacitating projects including most recent for members to incorporate Climate Resilience tools and processes in their daily operations. 

In her personal time, she loves cooking/ baking, art painting, traveling, and spending time with family.

Monique presently serving as the Manager for the Small Business Development Centre Belize (SBDCBelize) holding a bachelor’s degree in management from the University of Belize (UB) and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of East London. 

She has spent much of her young life as a business-oriented person, working in her family’s business from the age of sixteen. Late 2012, started her own small online Facebook business: “Aureonne”. 

Through an internship program with UB she joined BELTRAIDE in 2013; later employed as the Marketing & Public Relations Officer. During her tenure, assisted in the positive positioning of the organization locally, regionally and internationally. Contributing to publications such as the Invest Belize Magazine, Volume 2,3, and 4. 

Fascinated by the many working parts it takes to operate a successful business she transitioned from marketing to small business development at SBDCBelize in 2015. Offering advisory services to MSME and entrepreneurs in business support areas such as management, marketing, finance, pricing, customer service, and taxation. She enjoys imparting knowledge as a facilitator through the year-round business development training calendar. 

Monique knows the value of strong work ethics, the importance of teamwork, and communicating value through her business advisory support.

In 2019, SBDC was integral in the Entrepreneurship Fest, InnovateBelize, National Entrepreneurship Roadshow, Change Dah Story, Global Entrepreneurship Week, and the National Entrepreneurship Convention. 

When not busy building her career, she enjoys reading, cooking and listening to uplifting podcasts; a firm believer that the mind is the most powerful construct. 

Ms. Melanie Blake is the General Manager of DigiWallet Limited, a financial technology and mobile wallet provider formed under Belize's national telecom - Digi. She joined the company in August of 2000, and worked in various departments throughout her tenure.

In her previous position as the Innovation Manager, Ms.Blake was responsible for identifying opportunities for innovation and diversification. Of her many successful projects, her proudest was the launch of DigiLearn, which transformed the lives of more than 3,000 high school students by providing them with the tools and foundational skills required to continue to learn and excel, especially during changing times. 

Ms. Blake continues to strive for excellence and is ecstatic to be a part of the team to launch the one of the most innovative cutting-edge mobile payment solutions in Belize to date – DigiWallet.

Kay Menzies is the President & CEO of Fortis Belize Ltd., a hydroelectric company serving Belize with a mission of sustainability, and as such is the first woman to lead an energy company in Belize. She has also served on Belize Electricity Ltd's Board of Directors since 2015, becoming Deputy Chairman in 2021. Prior to her transition to Fortis Belize she was for 20 years the Managing Director at Karl H Menzies Co Ltd and in that time led the 53-year-old import & distribution company through multiple transformations, including investment in e-commerce development.

Kay also co-founded a technology/digital transformation company, Socias Ltd in 2019. That year, with her enthusiastic involvement, Socias and Karl H Menzies together developed Belize's first e-commerce platform, BelizeON.bz, which has grown into a full e-service ecosystem, inclusive of food delivery, freight logistics and online payment acceptance services for small businesses to more easily connect with consumers.

She is also a member of the Board of Directors for Grace Kennedy Belize Ltd, Honorary Consul for the Federal Republic of Germany and Prosperity Honorary Consul for the United Kingdom and previously served as Chair of the Belize Port Authority and Co-Chair of the government's Economic Development Council as well as serving on the boards of Beltraide and DFC.

Kay has an MBA from Loyola University, New Orleans. During her 25-plus years of work experience in Belize she has been extensively involved with private sector development advocacy on matters such as taxation, enabling environment, access to finance and transportation challenges, particularly through her involvement with the Belize Chamber of Commerce & Industry where she served two terms (2010-2014) as President and continues in an advisory role today.

Cindy Thompson is a self-driven individual who inspires others to achieve their goals. She has been in the teaching profession for the past thirteen years. Nine of which were at the University of Belize. She also worked as an auditor for over two years. Her research interest is in finance and accounting. Thompson is also the author and co-author of three published journals and attended and presented at international research conferences. She is also actively engaged in religious duties, serving as a steward. Her degrees include an MBA with a concentration in finance from Galen University and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Belize. She also completed several Doctor of Business Administration Courses at the University of South Florida and is currently a Ph.D. candidate. Thompson currently serves as chair of the FMSS Belmopan branch and is a member of the minimum wage task force in Belize that started and ended in 2022.

Mrs. Shanelle Reneau currently serves as the Assistant General Manager at the Development Finance Corporation (DFC) in charge of Lending Operations. She is a career Banker with over 19 years of banking experience working first in regulatory banking for over 10  years at the Central Bank where she held the post of Bank Examiner. She then made the transition to commercial banking with Belize’s oldest and largest commercial bank, at the Belize Bank Limited for eight and a half years. At the Belize Bank, Mrs. Reneau was the Manager of Retail Banking Services in Orange Walk followed by . First two years as Manager of Orange Walk and Belize City. She now uses her experience to support Belize’s only Development Bank in all aspects of its lending operations.

Ms. Karlene McSweaney is a Senior Economist at the Ministry of Economic Development in Belize. A career public officer, she joined the Ministry in 2007, having held positions in other ministries and departments of the Public Service prior to that. As a member of the Policy and Planning Unit at the MED, she has been involved in development planning processes, policy development, public sector investment program reporting, and project planning, coordination, and oversight. Among other duties, she represents the Ministry on Task Force 4 - Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting, convened to support the implementation of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy. She holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from the University of the West Indies (UWI), Jamaica, and a Master’s degree in Development Studies from the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social and Economic Studies, UWI, Jamaica. Karlene enjoys singing, mountain bike riding, crafting, solving word puzzles, and baking cookies.