Meet Our Team
Board of Directors
Peter K. Melhado
CHAIRMAN
Daaf Van Tilburg
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Gene M. Douglas
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Management Team
Daaf van Tilburg – Managing Director Red Stripe
Daaf is the Managing Director of Red Stripe since July 2023. With a Master of Science Degree and a Professional Doctorate in Engineering, he boasts a track record of transforming, fostering growth and delivering strong results in different companies. Daaf is motivated by rallying and developing high-performance teams toward a unified vision, achieving ambitious targets, driving business development, and inspiring a better world through inclusion and collaboration. Daaf joined the Heineken company in 2005 and since then served in increasingly senior roles. He has been Management team member of different Heineken organization during the last 13 years of which he served the last 7 years as Managing Director. Daaf's influence extends beyond HEINEKEN, as he has held board positions in both public and private sector organizations. Currently, he serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Celebration Brands Limited.
Roberto Vazzoler, Finance Director
Roberto is Finance Director since November 2023 coming to Red Stripe after 25 years of experience in different HEINEKEN organizations and countries. He has worked in Italy, Austria, Serbia, Switzerland and joined Red Stripe after 3 years in Haiti. Roberto holds a master’s in business economics with specialization in mathematics, from the University of Venice (Italy). Roberto has broad experience in financial matters, and loves resolving complex problems to reach the best solution for the company and its customers. In his role, Roberto is the primary financial business partner of the Red Stripe Management Team; he is also in charge of the teams of Procurement, and Digital & Technology.
Roberto is happily married, has two grown up kids living in Canada, and enjoys traveling across Jamaican seashores and mountains.Nele Vanbeneden - Head of Supply
Nele Vanbeneden is the Head of Supply at Red Stripe since July 2022 and has over 20 years of experience in the Beverage and Brewing industry. Originally from Belgium, she holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and a master’s degree in business economics from the Catholic University of Leuven. Nele joined the HEINEKEN company in 2010 at the Head Office in The Netherlands. Since 2014, Nele has worked in increasingly senior roles in Manufacturing and Supply for several HEINEKEN Operating Companies. She was involved in the construction and commissioning of a new brewery in Myanmar; led capacity extensions & developing competencies of the brewery teams In Haiti and led the Supply Chain organization in Suriname. To unwind, Nele likes to travel and explore the underwater world with scuba diving.
Sean Wallace, Head of Commerce
Head of Commerce - Sean is a seasoned commercial professional with more than two decades of experience in the FMCG industry across the Caribbean and Central America. He joined Red Stripe after a 15-year career with Nestlé, during which he held various positions in marketing and sales in Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Before joining Nestlé, Sean had a successful stint in the pharmaceutical industry with various companies including Schering-Plough and Novartis: starting as a medical delegate in the sales team and ending as a group product manager in the marketing team.
Dianne Ashton-Smith - Head of Corporate Affairs
Dianne Ashton-Smith is the Head of Corporate Affairs at Red Stripe. She is a Senior Executive and Masters Degree recipient who is highly creative and results driven with a track record of success and expertise in multi-media communications, public policy, strategy development, stakeholder and reputation management, sales, marketing and events planning.
Ms. Ashton-Smith joined Red Stripe in 2008 as Communications Manager and was appointed to the Management Team as Head of Corporate Affairs in 2012. During this time, she has been responsible for the design and implementation of numerous company-wide initiatives, employee engagement and communication roll-out of major projects. She has pioneered Red Stripe’s Sustainability and Responsibility agenda which has received widespread acclaim and awards for the Drink and Live Responsibly Campaign as well community development, in particular the Learning for Life skills training programme with over 20,000 Jamaicans impacted through first time employment.
Judon Bowden - Head of Human Resources
Judon joined Red Stripe in March 2017 and since 2021 has been our Head of Human Resources. He earned a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Business Administration (Human Resource/ International Management) from the University of Technology, Jamaica.
Prior to joining Red Stripe, Judon worked with multinational companies in the banking and energy sectors where he held positions of increasing responsibility and complexity.
In his role, Judon works with the management team to truly integrate HR across the Company so that it is a true Business Partner that can work with the Team Members we have to improve our Company.
