SVG Tourism Leader Wins Global Fellowship and Rare Scholarship

Shafia London, who leads the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority, has been chosen for the International Women's Forum (IWF) Leadership Fellows Programme, a distinction that makes her the first woman from the Eastern Caribbean to receive the honour.

The selection comes with an additional achievement: London has secured one of the programme's highly competitive scholarships. The IWF typically awards between two and four partial or full scholarships to the entire global Fellowship cohort each year, making the award particularly rare.

London was put forward by IWF Barbados while she was based in Barbados during a career transition. She subsequently returned to St. Vincent and the Grenadines and took on her current role as SVGTA CEO on July 1, 2026.

The International Women's Forum operates as an invitation-only network spanning more than 8,400 accomplished women across 78 Forums in 37 countries. Members work across business, government, academia, science, the arts and related fields. The Leadership Fellows Programme, now in its fourth decade, brings together up to 50 leaders annually through a rigorous international competition.

Participants engage in an intensive year-long experience that includes executive education at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, and the University of Cambridge in England, with additional programming in Mexico City. The programme concludes at the IWF World Leadership Conference and Gala in Miami. Each Fellow receives one-on-one mentorship from an IWF member and completes a Legacy Project designed to apply Fellowship insights to create lasting change.

London reflected on the significance of her selection, noting that the scholarship recognition held particular meaning. She said she plans to apply what she learns to advance tourism development in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. She also expressed gratitude to IWF Barbados for nominating her and spoke of the symbolic importance of entering the Fellowship after returning home to lead her country's tourism efforts.