Carla Natalie Barnett PhD CBE has been selected as the 8 Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and she will assume office on August 15, 2021. th Dr. Barnett is an economist who has worked across the English-speaking Caribbean and had broken several barriers along the way. She was the first woman to be appointed as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Belize (1991-1996). She was the first woman, and youngest person to be appointed as Deputy Secretary-General of CARICOM (1997-2002); and the first woman to be appointed as Financial Secretary in Belize (2004-2007). She has also worked at the Caribbean Development Bank, as a Country Economist (1989-1990), and as Vice President, Operations (2012-2014). As a consultant, Dr. Barnett has provided advisory services to a range of multilateral and bilateral agencies working across the CARICOM Region, including the Inter-American Development Bank, Canadian International Development Agency (now Global Affairs Canada), United Kingdom Department for International Development and the United Nations Development Program. Dr. Barnett was a candidate for the United Democratic Party in the Freetown Constituency in 2015 and lost to the then Leader of the Opposition. She was subsequently appointed to the Senate as Vice-President and a Minister of State in the 2015 – 2020 Belize Government. She is a long-time advocate for gender equality, not only because it is the right thing to do to create a more stable and equitable society, but also because gender equality is good economic policy. She is an active member of the Caribbean Institute of Women in Leadership (CIWiL) Belize Chapter. She continues to serve on the Board of the Belize YWCA and is a past president. She has also served on the Board of Haven House, which is a shelter for battered women. Dr. Barnett has received several notable awards, including the Insignia of the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for distinguished public service (2005), the Alumnae Achievement Awards by her schools in Belize, St Catherine Academy (2008) and St John's College (2007); and the UWI Belize Alumnae Association Award for excellence in Economics and Development (2011).
