Colleen Davis, is a third generation member of a family epitomized by its service in the public and private spheres. Daughter of Dr. Winthrop Wiltshire, former  UNESCO representative (Southern Caribbean) and Caribbean Science and Technology Adviser and the late Faith Wiltshire, former Director of Functional Corporation, CARICOM, and Granddaughter of Andrew Jackson the co-founder, first vice-president and subsequently president of the Post Office Workers’ Union of Guyana,  Colleen Davis is no stranger to the passion, vision, integrity and personal commitment required to fuel one’s participation in collective efforts to enhance others’ quality of life.

 

Holder of an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Spanish from the University of Waterloo, and a Masters of Arts degree in Community Psychology from Wilfrid Laurier University, both in Waterloo, Ontario Canada, Ms. Davis’ service spans   a cross section of non-governmental organizations and faith based organizations both in Canada and in Trinidad and Tobago. They include, in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, as President of the Sand Hills Community Development Inc, and the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group, as Popular Education Coordinator, where she served refugee and tertiary level student populations, respectively. At Sand Hills she was involved in a Canada Employment and Immigration Commission funded programme housing ten refugee families in transitional housing within a multicultural housing cooperative; a project for which she also conducted a qualitative evaluation, in her capacity as Participant-Researcher. She played a key role in initiating and supervising the spin-off employment support group programme for refugees and immigrants.

 

During her nine year tenure at the Family Planning Association of Trinidad and Tobago (FPATT), where she was honoured as Employee of the year in 2003, Mrs. Davis served initially as the Head Information, Education and Communication and subsequently as the Programme and Evaluation Officer with responsibility for successful coordination and development of the organization’s Corporate Strategic Direction, Work Programme Budgets and Annual Reports. She served as co-facilitator, along with FPATT’s Executive Director, of the organization’s Quality of Care (QOC) Programme; FPATT having been chosen by the International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR) as the first English Speaking member association to participate in this region wide initiative.  The groundwork contributed to  the organization’s achievement of accreditation status within the International Planned Parenthood Federation/ Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF/WHR).