Lelei LeLaulu

Development Entrepreneur at Earth Council Alliance, SIDS DOCK, Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism

Lelei TuiSamoa LeLaulu is a development entrepreneur working at the confluence of climate change, tourism, food security and renewable energy, currently serving as chairman of the Earth Council Alliance and advisor to SIDS DOCK which links island nations to renewable energy. He is a charter member of India-based Kaitha which is repurposing tourism for humanitarian assistance, and is a director of the Caribbean Media Exchange on Sustainable Tourism (CMEx). He was a founding director of the World Tourism Forum for Peace and Sustainable Development which, over several conferences in Brazil, amassed hundreds of case studies, and was Chairman of George Washington University’s advisory council for tourism.

At the World Bank he helped set up the Global Partnership for Oceans and hosted its symposium on Oceans and Tourism. At the International Finance Corporation he was a member of the panel advising on sustainability and pushed for linking extractive industry responsibility to the levels of their insurance premiums.

As strategic advisor to Australia’s Pacific Leadership Program, he was also advisor to the head of the Pacific Islands Forum of Pacific government leaders, and helmed the Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific (FSP). As CEO of Counterpart International, he expanded  operations from Central Asia and Eastern Europe to the Caribbean, Africa and Latin America, where he worked with the IDB and National Geographic to set up the Mundo Maya Sustainable Tourism Project.

Lelei was a member of the small group picked to start reforming the United Nations in the 1990s, and headed the Committee for the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service working on the release of hostages and detained people. He represented the UN Secretary General as an original member of the Symposium series on Religion, Science and the Environment.

Born in Samoa, Lelei is a board member of several international organizations including Applied Brilliance, Marketplace Excellence, the National Cancer Coalition of the US, and the South-Eastern Europe Film Festival.