Press Releases 2006

U.S. Embassy Supports Democracy and Civil Society through Program Sponsorship

The United States Embassy in Kingston is pleased to announce Ms. Sharene McKenzie, Civil Society Specialist and Program Director, Management Systems International, has been selected to participate in the prestigious International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on the Role of Civil Society in a Democracy. The U.S. Department of State IVLP sends up- and-coming leaders from all over the world to the United States each year to meet and confer with their professional counterparts and experience the country and its institutions first-hand.

Ms. McKenzie, who has twenty-four years of experience in development, is responsible for advocacy training and coalition building for over twenty civil society organizations island-wide. Her work has included projects with donor organizations, non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations aimed at poverty alleviation, social skills development, conflict management and organizational strengthening.

According to Ms. McKenzie, “my focus is to improve the institutional capacity of the various community based organizations so that they are better able to participate in the governance process. She stated that the IVLP program will provide her with additional tools to utilize in her work and that upon her return, she plans to share her experience with the community based organizations in targeted areas such as Grants Pen in St. Andrew and Flankers, St. James

The multi-city IVLP program, which begins July 20 will take Ms. McKenzie and her 22 counterparts to Washington DC where they will examine democracy in the United States and the significance of citizen participation in the democratic process. They will also observe the activities of citizen action groups that interact with US elected officials at all levels of government to influence political, social and economic change.

Ms. McKenzie will meet with key representatives in Santa Fe, New Mexico including members of Sante Fe City Council, the Northern New Mexico Citizens Advisory Board and the SouthWest Organizing Project. She is also expected to visit Boston, Massachusetts to examine the comprehensive Boston Indicators Project, created by the city to manage, monitor and evaluate city policies and programs which provides mechanisms for citizen involvement.

In Memphis, Tennessee, Ms. McKenzie and her colleagues will meet with officials from the Memphis Renaissance and Hope Project as well as the City of Memphis Division of Housing and Community Development to have discussions on civil rights activism and the role of citizens to effect social change.