The Caribbean Community on Friday, 28 November, honoured women and youth who have made sterling contributions to the field of sustainable energy in the Region.
Eight women and two young men received the CARICOM Women in Sustainable Energy (WISE) and the Sustainable Energy Youth (SEY) Awards respectively for 2024 and 2025. The awards ceremony, one of the final activities of the CARICOM Energy Month 2025, was held at the Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown, Guyana.
The 2025 WISE awardees are: Shevon Wood, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Guyana Energy Agency, who was recognised for her contribution to Policy and Regulations; Jayda Overton, Youth Energy Advocate of Guyana, who won the award in the Social Impact, Community and Advocacy category; Carol Lue, Executive Director, CaribShare, Jamaica, who won in the Business, Entrepreneurship and Finance category; and Cheryl Lewis, Deputy Director-General at the Office of Utilities Regulation, Jamaica, who was recognised in the Utilities and Industry category.
The WISE awardees for 2024 are: Sheena Gosine-Singh, Energy International Relations and Affairs Advisor to the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries and Vice Chair Wind Energy Steering Committee of Trinidad and Tobago, won in the Policy and Regulations category; Charmaine Gill-Evans, Sustainable Energy Specialist, Caribbean Development Bank, Barbados, was recognised for her work in Business, Entrepreneurship and Finance; Gabrielle Gay of Barbados, Founder, The Erline Bradshaw Foundation, won in the Social Impact, Community and Advocacy category; and Nikita Mullings, Chief Operating Officer, Grand Bahama Power Company The Bahamas won in the Utilities and Industry category.
Amir Dillawar, Programme Coordinator, Guyana Utility Scale Solar Photovoltaic Programme (GUYSOL), and Damani Thomas, Founder and CEO of the Carbon Neutral Initiative, Jamaica, are the honourees for the SEYA for 2025 and 2024, respectively.
In remarks at the ceremony, Ambassador David Prendergast, Director, Sectoral Programmes at the CARICOM Secretariat, extended congratulations to the awardees, commending them for their role in the transition of CARICOM’s energy sector and encouraging their future endeavours.
He said the clean energy transition that is envisioned in the Region must be inclusive, equitable and forward-looking.
“It must reflect and embrace the vital contributions of women and youth, whether as students, professionals, entrepreneurs, innovators, policymakers, or consumers. Evidence continues to show that gender diversity and meaningful youth engagement significantly strengthen innovation, effectiveness, and long-term success in the energy transition,” he said.
Amb. Prendergast added that the ceremony was more than a celebration, but also a testament to leadership, creativity, determination, and resilience that women and youth bring to sustainable energy development in the Community.
(Listen to Ambassador Prendergast’s speech here)
Dr. Neibert Blair, who represented the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), which partnered with CARICOM on the awards, also made remarks at the ceremony which she said represented excellence, vision, resilience, and leadership. She noted that women and youth were central to the energy transition and innovation.
“Your achievement,” she told the awardees, “reminds us that the energy transition is not simply technical but is profoundly human.
In her remarks, Dr. Blair traced the history of the GIZ’s support to the Region and positioned it within the realm of partnerships that support the enabling environment in which the talents of women and youth can flourish in the CARICOM sustainable energy landscape.
Across the GIZ initiatives, one principal constant remains she said: “The CARICOM energy transition cannot be achieved without women and youth. Women and youth are leading climate adaptation in communities, modernising the energy workforce, building innovation and clean energy enterprise, driving policy development, shaping research and data, and inspiring the next generation of climate and energy leaders. Today’s awardees reflect all these roles.”
(Listen to Dr. Blair’s speech here).
CARICOM Energy Month 2025, which ends today, 30 November, also included a series of webinars, EV exposition, engagement with tertiary-level students, commemoration of No Iron Day and the Regional Energy Kilo Walk, held on Saturday 28 November in Georgetown Guyana.
Caption:
CARICOM officials with 2024 and 2025 CARICOM WISE and SEY honourees. Seated (from left) are Ms Evelyn Wayne, Officer-in-Charge, Directorate for Economic Integration, Innovation and Development, CARICOM Secretariat; Dr Niebert Blair, GIZ representative, and Ms Sandra Britton, Programme Manager, Energy, CARICOM Secretariat. Also in photo are: Amb. David Prendergast, Director, Sectoral Programmes, CARICOM Secretariat (standing, 4th from left) and Ms Angella Prendergast, Director Foreign and Community Relations, (standing,3rd from left).
Click here for additional photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/caricomorg/albums/72177720330623453/
About CARICOM:
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was established on 4 July 1973 with the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, which was revised in 2001 to allow for the establishment of a single market and economy. CARICOM comprises fifteen Member States and six Associate Members and is home to approximately sixteen million citizens, 60% of whom are under 30 years old. CARICOM’s work rests on four main pillars: economic integration; foreign policy coordination; human and social development; and security cooperation.
The members of CARICOM work together to create a Community that is integrated, inclusive and resilient; driven by knowledge, excellence, innovation and productivity; a Community which is a unified and competitive force in the global arena, where every citizen is secure and has the opportunity to realise his or her potential with guaranteed human rights and social justice, and contributes to, and shares in, its economic, social and cultural prosperity.
CARICOM remains one of the best examples of integration in the developing world.
The CARICOM Secretariat, the principal administrative organ of the Community, is headquartered in Georgetown, Guyana.
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