Chief Executive Officer
Francine Baron (Dominica)

Francine Baron was born in Roseau, Dominica.  A lawyer by training, she holds graduate and post-graduate degrees in Law from the University of Wolverhampton and the University of London respectively.

Miss Baron is currently the CEO of the Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica (CREAD). As the CEO, she is tasked among other things, with supporting the implementation of Dominica’s Climate Resilient Recovery Plan, the achievement of resilience targets, and delivery of major capital projects. Prior to taking up the role of CEO at CREAD, Ms. Baron held the position of Principal Advisor to the Government of Dominica. From December 2014 to December 2019 she was the Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs of Dominica. During the period of 2012 and 2014, Ms. Baron served in the diplomatic service as High Commissioner of Dominica to the Court of St. James’s and Head of the Dominica High Commission, in London promoting the interests of Dominica in the United Kingdom. Ms. Baron also held the position of Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Dominica from 2007 to 2010, providing legal advice to Cabinet and government departments.

Resilience Planning and Development Consultant
Samuel Carrette (Dominica)

Mr. Carrette is a Socio-Economist with over forty (40) years’ experience in Public Sector Management and holds  a Master’s Degree in Social Planning Development and  Management and another  in Development Management.  

He joined Dominica’s Public Service in 1981. During his tenure in the Public Service he served as District Development Officer, Assistant Local Government Commissioner, Local Government Commissioner, Social Development Planner,

Chief Development Planner and Permanent Secretary.  Mr. Carrette is currently the Resilience Planning and Development Consultant with CREAD where he provides guidance on resiliency across the development spectrum.

Finance Officer
Doreen Baron (Dominica)

Doreen is responsible for financial management and budgetary control as it relates to CREAD’s approved expenditure. This includes ensuring that all activities having a financial impact are documented for accuracy and transparency. Her duties also entail reporting the progress of CREAD quantitatively, to our key stakeholders and donors as a requirement of our financing.

She has over 15 years of experience in the field of accountancy working both in the public and private sector, seven years of which were acquired having worked within the Ministries of Tourism and Agriculture to execute European Union Funded Projects.

Office\HR Manager
Belinda Charles (Dominica)

As Office/HR Manager at CREAD, Belinda is responsible for managing the Administrative and Personnel functions of the organisation. Prior to joining CREAD, Belinda worked in the mainstream Public Service. She has held various managerial roles at the Inland Revenue Division to include Acting Deputy Comptroller of the VAT Unit.

During the five years spent as Acting Deputy Comptroller, she was selected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), through the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) to serve as a short-term expert providing guidance and training to staff of the Inland Revenue Divisions of Grenada and St. Lucia during their implementation of VAT.  

In 2012, she took up the role of Administrative Officer- Special Assignment in the Establishment, Personnel and Training Department.  There, she played an integral role in the Human Resource Audits, conducted within the Public Service; and the organising and coordinating of Public Service Day activities.

Knowledge and Results Lead
Dr. Emily Wilkinson (UK)

Dr. Emily Wilkinson is a Senior Research Fellow in the Risk and Resilience Programme at the Overseas Development Institute, a Knowledge Exchange Fellow of the UK Natural Environment Research Council and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica.

Her research and policy support work focus on disaster risk management: Governance, financing, policy effectiveness and accountability. She holds a PhD in Human Geography from University College London and MA in Development Studies for the last 20 years, Emily has worked with governments, NGOs and scientific agencies in Latin America and the Caribbean to identify critical entry points and opportunities for overcoming hazardous geographies and managing risk in line with development priorities. Emily has published over 50 articles, reports and book chapters on disasters and climate change.

CAPITAL PROJECTS
Senior Capital Projects Manager
Glen Laville (Dominica)

Glen is a Civil Engineer/Project Manager with over 30 years experience managing Government and donor funded projects in The Bahamas. He has managed projects funded by the IDB, CDB, EIB and GEF. He coordinated projects for infrastructure, institutional strengthening, legislative reform, and organisational restructuring including introduction of a employee performance management system.

He has led the initiation, procurement, and execution of the highly successful PPP for water loss reduction in New Providence (Bahamas) which has saved, on average, more than one Billion gallons of water annually since 2013.

CAPITAL PROJECTS
Senior Engineer
Dr. Genora Joseph (Dominica)

Dr. Joseph is a Civil and Environmental Engineer who was most recently the Chief Physical Planner of the Commonwealth of Dominica. She is currently the President of the Dominica Association of Professional Engineers and has previously served the Government of Dominica as a Civil Engineer and Senior Engineer in the Technical Services Division of the Ministry of Public Works from 2004 to 2011. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, as well as Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Environmental Engineering from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom. She has worked on innovative projects in Industry and Academia in the United Kingdom where she has accrued expertise in fluid dynamics, wind engineering, and air quality modeling. Her research has been presented internationally and published in peer-reviewed Journals.

Her previous roles included working as a Computational Fluid Dynamics Engineer on an Innovate UK funded air quality modelling industrial research project jointly undertaken by the University of Nottingham and A1 Flue Systems, UK. She has also been employed by the University of Birmingham as an Aerodynamics Research Fellow on two research projects aimed at understanding and mitigating wind-related crop losses in the UK and Developing Countries. Dr. Joseph is looking forward to contributing her expertise and experience as a specialist Civil Engineer to the Major Capital Projects Unit.

CAPITAL PROJECTS
Capital Projects Manager
Naomi Cherry (St. Lucia)

Naomi is a Civil Engineer by profession. Naomi has over 16 years in the construction industry both in civil and structural works. Her previous engagement was with the Government of St Lucia as a Senior Projects Manager on major capital projects.

She is a registered Civil Engineer in St Lucia and hold a master’s degree in civil engineering. She is presently pursuing a master’s degree in Project Management.

Her mission at CREAD is ensuring climate resilience and sustainability is an integral part of Dominica’s project implementation, capacity building by providing high value engineering management, supervision and guidance.

Agriculture Growth Specialist
Anthony Cyrille (Dominica)

As Agriculture Growth Specialist at CREAD, Anthony is responsible for providing guidance to policy and developmental plans to the agriculture sector and agri-business subsector. Additionally, he also provides strategic and technical leadership on the development of critical agriculture sector opportunities and to optimize Dominica’s natural resources towards sustainable development.

His previous experience in the public service spans over 20 years in the agricultural sector, where he served in various capacities. Most recently he was the national focal point for the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) funded development of the National Agriculture Policy for the Ministry of the Blue and Green Economy, Agriculture and National Food Security.

He was also instrumental in the development of the livestock subsector and held team leader roles within the Extension Unit of the Division of Agriculture, as well as, serving at the Plant Protection and Quarantine Unit on projects such as the successful eradication of the Pink Hibiscus Mealybug.

Anthony holds a MSc and BSc in Animal Science from Massey University and Cameron University, respectively.

SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH
MSME Business Advisor
Elijah Leblanc (Dominica)

Elijah is an accounting professional with over 20 years’ experience in the accounting field.  Prior to joining CREAD, Elijah was employed as the Manager, Purchasing and Inventory at Ross University School of Medicine.  During his combined 13 years of experience with RUSM he held various leadership positions in the field of accounting and supply chain management.

He was also part of the Ross University transition team from Dominica to Barbados where he was responsible for Supply Chain logistics and asset management.

Elijah is a Certified Accounting Technician and a graduated of the DeVry University with a B.Sc. in Accounting and is currently pursuing ACCA accreditation.