Rolph Balgobin | Entrepreneur
Rolph Balgobin is an executive chairman of Quicksilver Convenience Limited and The Corporate Turnaround Company, and he has been founder and current chairman of The Oxbridge International School (OXIS) since 2019. The latter aims to blaze a trail of educational excellence, giving its students the academic, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual skills they need to thrive in their lives.
Career and Education
Between 2016 and 2019, Dr Balgobin was the chairman of CL Financial Limited, Angostura Limited, Caribbean Dockyard Limited, Caribbean Petrochemical Limited, Tru Valu Limited, Home Construction Limited and Tobago Plantations Limited.
From 2015 to 2017, Dr Balgobin was an NGC Distinguished Fellow in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of the West Indies and head of the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business (making him one of the youngest business school deans in the world), also at the University of the West Indies.
Dr Balgobin holds a PhD in business administration from the University of Manchester (UK), as well as a certificate in Corporate Governance from the Caribbean Corporate Governance Institute (Trinidad) and a postgraduate diploma in corporate governance from the ACCA (UK).
National Service
With respect to national service, Dr Balgobin was formerly an independent senator in the parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, chairing the parliament’s Joint Select Committee on National Security. He served on the Public Accounts Enterprises Committee (PAEC) and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and led the technical team that pulled together the Vision 2020 National Strategic Plan for Trinidad and Tobago. Dr Balgobin was also a member of the cabinet-appointed committee for the assessment and review of all special purpose and wholly owned state enterprises. This committee reviewed the Government-Assisted Tertiary Education (GATE) programme and the Economic Development Advisory Board of Trinidad and Tobago.
Dr Balgobin’s Contributions
Dr Balgobin’s work has been published in a plethora of research and academic publications and includes Creating a Framework for High-Tech Turnarounds (2002), Institutional Initiatives to Promote Private Sector Business (2006), Global Governance Practice: The Impact of Measures Taken to Restore Trust in Corporate Governance Practice Internationally (2008) and Influencing Development – Leadership and Governance in Trinidad and Tobago (2012).
Personal Life
Dr Balgobin has been married for 25 years and has three children. He serves on the Finance Council of the Catholic Church (Archdiocese of the Port of Spain) and is also the chair of the church’s Real Estate Committee, which governs all landholdings. When he’s not working, he enjoys practicing karate (he is a black belt in Shotokan karate), reading, and playing football and cricket.
