Petal Joseph Roberts
BSc., LEED® Green Associate™
Sustainable Planner & Green Building Consultant
Petal is a sustainability strategist, environmental planner, and founder of i3 Green Consultants Ltd., where “green vision meets fearless voice.” With over two decades of experience spanning environmental justice, urban planning, and green building, Petal helps organizations and communities create spaces that are healthier, smarter, and more sustainable.
A magna cum laude graduate with dual degrees in Environmental Science and Geography, and a UWI M.Sc. Planning and Development alumna, Petal has served as a regional planner, policy advisor, and sustainability consultant on major national projects — including the new Tobago Airport Terminal.
Certified as a LEED Green Associate and Green Advantage Practitioner, she combines technical expertise with a deep commitment to environmental and social equity. As an executive member of the Trinidad and Tobago Green Building Council and the Trinidad and Tobago Society of Planners, Petal continues to shape the conversation on sustainability across the Caribbean.
Her mission is simple yet transformative: to turn visionary ideas into practical, sustainable solutions that deliver lasting environmental, social, and economic impact.
Petal entered the UWI’s M.Sc. Planning and Development Programme in 2006, after being awarded a Tobago House of Assembly scholarship, and in December 2007 won the UNESCO Junior Professional Scholarship. A year later, she joined the Ministry of Local Government eventually becoming the first Regional Planner to be placed at the local government level within a Municipal Corporation. During her tenure at the municipal level, Petal was involved in the preparation of regional development and investment plans, often coordinating physical and local economic implementation projects, and serving in an advisory capacity on committees. She was also the resident tree-hugger at the ministry, chairing the first Green Team and leading efforts to educate and sensitise staff and stakeholders alike about the importance and benefits of infusing sustainability and green principles into planning and decision-making at the local level.
Despite making her marks in both fields, a growing sense of discontent with the state of the environment and related emerging issues propelled her to do more. In 2010, Petal became a Green Advantage Certified Practitioner (GACP), making her uniquely qualified in the application and/or analysis of green construction concepts, materials, and practices for residential and commercial projects. Realising a natural passion for the field of sustainable design and green building, in 2015 Petal sought further specialisation and attained accreditation as a Green Associate in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credit rating system. This has been her most fulfilling achievement and one she maintains to date.
Once she completed her tenure at the Ministry of Local Government in 2014, Petal dedicated herself full time to growing i3 Green Consultants – a firm dedicated to bringing a fresh and revolutionary approach to design and planning projects through imaginative, intelligent, innovative planning and design concepts.
Her most recent consultancy has been with the China Railway Construction Caribbean Company on the new airport terminal project in Tobago as their Sustainability Planning & LEED Consultant. Her primary focus over her tenure involved ensuring that the project’s design submissions were in accordance with the requirements for obtaining basic LEED certification in areas of waste management, water use, energy efficiency, and quality of life management.
She has been a member of the Trinidad and Tobago Green Building Council (TTGBC) since 2014 and has served on its Executive Board. With her international training and highly-specialised qualifications in green building and construction, Petal is sharing her knowledge and expertise with clients so that each one of us can be the change agent of our spaces.
Board of Directors
Margaret McDowall
BA., MSc., MSCRP
Director with specialty in urban planning and land management
A professional planner for over thirty five years. Employed with the Town and Country Planning Division between 1980 and 1984, Ms McDowall-Thompson co-edited the first National Physical Development Plan. Then at NHA from 1984 – 1990, she created the National Housing Land Bank and was involved in regularisation of squatting communities. At NIPDEC from 1990 to 2006, her contributions included the planning and negotiation for urban redevelopment, vendor and maxi-taxi regularisation, planning and implementation of health, national security, community and commercial buildings in Trinidad and St. Lucia, before becoming General Manager.
After this as a consultant, she has concentrated on urban management projects and the creation of municipal investment plans as well as planning for the rationalisation of squatting communities. As a member of the built heritage advocacy group, the Citizens for Conservation, she participated in the programme of leveraging the heritage of depressed urban communities to create economic development and promoting adaptive reuse of heritage buildings. As Chairman of the National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago, she is heavily involved in energising the Heritage sector and to encourage the development of a heritage economy.
Ms McDowall-Thompson is also a past President of the Trinidad and Tobago Society of Planners, an Executive member of the Citizens for Conservation and a core member of ICOMOS Trinidad and Tobago.
Stephen Boodhram
MBA, MSc., PMP
Director with specialty in procurement, policy and programme management
A Programme Management and Policy Innovations Professional having obtained post graduate qualifications, with Distinction, in both his MSc. in Planning and Development and MSc in Geoinfomatics from the University of the West Indies. Mr. Boodhram is also a holder of an MBA from the Herriot Watt University and has attained his PMP designation as well as a holder of a Diploma in Procurement from CIPS.
Mr. Boodhram worked with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago in the conceptualization, implementation and coordination of a series of strategic projects that focused on Regional Planning, Disaster Management and GIS. His portfolio at the Office of the Parliament focused on the implementation of the organisation’s Strategic Plan, strengthening the Constituency Operations management capacities and strengthening the organisation’s project management abilities. He currently oversees the implementation of the Procurement Portfolio and works closely with the organisation’s strategic managers in the implementation of institutional strengthening initiatives.
As the current Immediate Past President of the Trinidad and Tobago Society of Planners (TTSP) Mr. Boodhram has championed the development of a policy for Professional Development within the TTSP and under his leadership as President assisted with the passing of legislation that will recognize the registration of Urban and Regional Planners within Trinidad and Tobago.
Dave Williams (ret. Col.)
MBA, MSc.
Director with specialty in disaster response management
Colonel Williams served as a commissioned officer in the Trinidad and Tobago Defense Force for thirty-four years, retiring in April, 2009.
With respect to disaster risk reduction, he has been in the business for just over thirty years to date, amassing experience in directing response operations, leading rapid needs assessment teams, and adapting, developing, and teaching disaster management subjects.
He spent seven years as Director of the then National Emergency Management Agency (now re-incarnated as the ODPM) and two years (August 2010 –August 2012) as the Chief Disaster Management Coordinator at the Ministry of Local Government.
Most recently, he held the appointment of Deputy CEO at the ODPM for a brief period of 10 ten months. Currently, he works with PODS Marketing Mix Limited as an Emergency Management Consultant.
Professional Committees/Affiliations
- Executive Member – Trinidad & Tobago Green Building Council (TTGBC)
- Member – Caribbean Urban Forum (CUF) Planning Committee (2013, 2019 & 2025)
- Former Executive Member – Trinidad & Tobago Society of Planners (TTSP)
- Member – Environment Tobago (ET)
- Former Nominee – Cabinet Appointed Land Management Co-ordinating Committee (2011-2013)
- Former Member – Development Control Sub-Committee (DCS) of the National Planning Task Force (2011-2012)
- Former Member – Tourism Product Development Sub-Committee of the Standing Committee for the Sustainable Development of Tourism in Trinidad (2010-2011)
- Former Co-opted Member – Cabinet Appointed Committee to Develop a Model for the Control of Development (2009)