Dr Kris Rampersad is an award-winning journalist & multimedia consultant, educator, facilitator, outreach & advocacy specialist, publisher & producer engaged in cross-disciplinary, intersectoral and multistakeholder integration of gender, culture & eco-sensitive approaches to education and lifelong learning for sustainable development.
Community Driven Global Reach
Sr Kris Rampersd is an Ambassador for Global Woman Techmakers’, Google Digital Skills, Small Island Innovators and Worldpulse.
She is a UNESCO-trained heritage facilitator and National Geographic Educator, with a PhD and BA First Class Honours University of the West Indies, and the highest Patrika Award from the Indian Institute of Mass Communications.
A Blogging Pioneer, she was an early winner of the BBC/UNESCO Communications Initiative for Development Policy Blogging for New Media. She has also enhanced professional qualifications with a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship; Nuffield Foundation Fellowship to Cambridge University; and Foreign Press Centre of Japan.
Seamless Continuum – research to implementation
Her work includes the seamless continuum from agenda-setting to development of strategies, policies and action planning for re-envisioning development agendas and programme actions, multisectoral partnerships and institutional strengthening, as well as development and delivery of knowledge programmes and actions for social transformation and socio cultural behavioural change, outreach and advocacy.
She synergies traditional & popular cultural & multimedia forms, perspectives & approaches in agenda setting, policy development & critique, outreach and education. She devises her own models, modules and materials for education to engage multisectoral interests across disciplines to break development silos, across generations and formal and non formal sectors.
Global Development Think Tanks
She has participated in global think tanks for more than 20 years, particularly in mainstreaming Gender Equality & Culture Sensitivity in multilateral global to local systems of UN, Commonwealth, EU, InterAmerican, Caribbean & Latin American, CARICOM & National systems. She has been involved in implementation of the UN 50-50 gender equality mandate and recommendations of the CEDAW Convention since the Beijing Platform for Women as a journalist and as a development specialist.
Engaging the Digital Culture
She is currently harnessing such knowledge and experience into developing an online global to local knowledge facility and resource (GloCal Knowledge Pot (www.krisrampersad.com). It involves consolidating, developing and animating for multimedia education and outreach, interactive engagement and mapping of the thirty-plus- years since the Beijing Platform for Gender and Development.
This includes original research, articles, presentations, advocacy campaigns, interviews in print, tv, radio and multimedia. She was one of the international pioneers of the field of new media communications for development and was named one of the first winners of the UNESCO BBC Development Policy Blogging Communications Initiative.
Among other journalism accolades, she holds a Trinidad and Tobago National Award, Gold for Development of Women/Journalism. See Youtube: https://youtu.be/u5scj8E8Ljk
Synopsis of Experience
Agenda Setting
Preparation, Lobby & Successful Negotiation of Resolutions, Diplomatic Texts for mainstreaming Gender Equality & Culture Sensitivity in multilateral systems: UN Agencies, UNESCO, UNDP, UNIFEM/UNWomen, WIPO, WSIS; Commonwealth, European Union, CARICOM, InterAmerican Systems. President UNESCO Education Commission; Vice President Programme & External Relations Commission, & Vice President Consultative Body of InterGovernmental Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage; Commonwealth Foundation & Summits of the Americas Media & Outreach Specialist;
- Local to Regional Gender sensitive policy & legislation-making, Institutional Strengthening: & Action Planning: Strengthen the capacity of institutions in addressing gender inequalities: Reform to the child marriage act, gender sensitive budgeting and engendered political processes.
- Education & MultiStakeholder Capacity Development: Conceptualise, Develop & Deliver Curriculum, Courses, Course Materials, Matriculation, Evaluation & Assessments
- Multimedia Technical & Creative Content Development – Conceptualisation, Creation, Publishing & Production Production: writing, design print & online
Communications for Development Outreach & Advocacy:
Spokesperson on women’s issues and gender parity, shaping and supporting the work of local and international Networks for gender equity and the advancement of Women National to International Networks
- UN 50/50 Campaign, UNESCO Priority Gender Equality & CEDAW
- Journalist Investigations & Advocate to removal of discriminatory practices and revisiting entrenched notions of gender roles within social systems and cultural practices through her work with traditional and grass roots comm unities across the Caribbean.
- Led follow-up action in the provisions and recommendations that informed the Summit of the Americas for gender mainstreaming in governance
- Coordinated Outreach for Commonwealth Women Affairs Ministers’ Meetings/Commonwealth Women’s Network/Commonwealth Foundation: Campaign slogan Where is the Money for Gender Equality?
Integration of Inclusive, Culture Centred-Development
- Gender Mainstreaming in Governance
- Articulated to build awareness as the Outreach and International Relations Director of the Network of NGOs for Women Put A Woman Campaign Slogan, A Woman’s Place is in the House – Of Parliament, that saw the drive for fulfilment of the quota of women in Parliament along with women in the positions of Speaker of the House and President of the Senate; Awareness raising led to ascension into office of the First Female Prime Ministers in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago & Barbados and first Female President of Trinidad and Tobago, in one decade
Incentives & Awards initiated
- Initiated and developed incentive awards mainstreaming women achievers.
- Conceptualized and piloted to national and international acceptance the Commonwealth Caribbean ‘Women Agents of Change’ Award, which was the forerunner to introduction of the Medals for Women in Trinidad and Tobago.
- Identified women to be recognized among others for the Trinidad and Tobago Publishers’ and Broadcasting Association Awards for Media Excellence.
- As editor, partnered with the United Nations, corporate community, NGOs and others to spearhead the Woman of the Year Award.
Researcher
Develop questionnaire, survey techniques, survey sample, numerous articles & gender equality analyses in policy planning, finance & budgeting.
Spearheaded, developed and piloted the resolution for reform of global statistical classifications of Caribbean and developing countries through UNESCO Executive Board
Coordinated Spearheaded the Commonwealth Foundation Global Campaign Where Is the Money for Gender Equality with Commonwealth CSOs, Private Sector Partners’ Forum
Developed awareness campaigns on culture and gender sensitive planning and budgeting for gender equality. Input into Trinidad and Tobago national annual budget planning meetings for gender mainstreaming in budgets.
Pioneering Policy & Development Research
Have conducted pioneering research on gender mainstreaming & sensitization in development policy & governance agendas.
Caribbean CSO representative on EU-CARIFORUM Negotiation of EPA trade agreements for mainstreaming gender and culture centred development in trade partnerships.
Developed report and recommendations for UNDP Caribbean Corporate Social Responsibility Seminar and Framed Critique for Development of First UNDP Environment Knowledge Fair.
Gender-Sensitive Journalism
Supported the global mandate for equality of women that came out of the Beijing Platform for Women, and has a substantial portfolio of articles, columns as Woman to Woman, interviews, investigations, that tell women’s personal stories of trials and triumphs, revealing discrepancies and imbalances from data, highlighting the plight of the underprivileged, unearthing inequalities in national life, in the homes and in the work place, and the campaign against domestic violence. Impact on gender equality in the workplace – equity in treatment, promotions and remunerations; representation of women at higher levels of administration and decision making.
Coordinated Media Outreach for UN Women of the Year Awards.
Blazed a trail for women in the media -being the first sitting editor to have completed a PhD & in actions in supporting women journalists.
Education & Capacity Development
Trained women other partner in gender sensitive approaches to policy making, understanding and engaging with media i across the Caribbean in Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia, Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.
- Conceptualise, design, deliver and assess Courses in Public Education, Awareness, Outreach, Use of Media, Computer Literacy, ICTs and New Media
- Developed and devise the Education & Training, Outreach and Advocacy initiatives of the Network of NGOs for the Advancement of Women and deliver on its core strategic agenda of gender empowerment women and children’s health and mortality issues, increase access to education and training opportunities , encourage self-development, and facilitate communication and disseminate information
- Drive regional and international vision and networking initiatives through Caribbean, Americas, Commonwealth, UN agencies and international NGOs.
- Modules for Professional Development of Women and other Network Stakeholders in Gender Sensitivity, Gender Mainstreaming, Education initiatives for International Women’s Day activities, Gender Media Monitoring (Develop national inputs into the GEMM Report inputs) to advance media sensitivity on reporting gender issues and coordinate media watch, UN 50/50 Campaign/Put A Woman Campaign.
- Professional Development and Public educational initiatives and media outreach on the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW)
- Professional upgrade initiatives with women leaders to reorient on bridging the gap between conventional and new media to empower users to take advantage of the opportunities offered by New Media.
- Strengthen networks among women groups and female entrepreneurs and professionals
- Educate women on use of ICTs, conventional television and radio and print and new media to reach women in rural and remote districts., promote cooperation and economic empowerment, to access broader local to global markets and inclusion through ICTs.
AI’ s Assessment
AI’s assessment of this post reads as follows: The content provides a comprehensive overview of Dr Kris Rampersad’s expertise and achievements in the fields of journalism, education, and advocacy for gender equality and cultural sensitivity. It showcases her extensive experience in agenda setting, policy-making, capacity development, multimedia content development, and communications for development outreach and advocacy.
The content effectively highlights her significant contributions to global development think tanks and her instrumental role in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Overall, the content effectively highlights the breadth and depth of Dr Kris Rampersad’s expertise and contributions in various fields. Well what do you know?
