Who We Are

Governance Bodies

Executive Board

Active Period
October 2019 - September 2021
Honourable Renward Wells
Minister of Health, The Bahamas
Chair
Dr Donald Simeon
Professor of Biostatistics and Research
Deputy Chair
Dr Nicola Skyers
Senior Medical Officer
Jamaica
Dr Keisha Liddie
District Medical Officer
St Kitts and Nevis
Dr Beverley Andrews
Deputy Technical Director
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Ms Twyla Bradshaw-Richardson
Director, National Chronic Disease Unit
Anguilla
Mr Gerard A.J. Granado
General Secretary
Caribbean Conference of Churches (CCC)
Ms Aldora Robinson
National AIDS Programme Manager
National AIDS Programme Managers Representative
Ms Deidre Clarendon
Portfolio Manager
Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)
Sen. the Hon. Mary Isaac
Minister of Health
Organisation of Eastern States Regional Coordinating Mechanism (OECS RCM)
Ms Joan Didier (Alternate)
OECS RCM
Director
Mr Winfield Tannis-Abbott
Chair
Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (CRN+)
Mr Tyrone Ellis
Co-Chair
Caribbean Regional Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (CRN+)
Mr Ivan Cruickshank
Executive Director
Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC)
Mr Cleophas D’Auvergne
Ex-Officio Member
Organisation of Eastern States (OECS)
Ms Carol Ayoung
Immediate Past President
Pan Caribbean Business Coalition (PCBC)
Ms Gwendoline McLaren
Chief Executive Officer
Pan Caribbean Business Coalition (PCBC)
Ms Karin Santi
Programme Specialist HIV, Health, Governance and Inclusive Development
United Nations (UN)
Ms Victoria Nibarger
PEPFAR Coordinator Caribbean Regional Program
US Government
Mr James Guwani
Ex-Officio Member
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
Ms Patricia Smith-Cummings
Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist
CARPHA
Dr Douglas Slater
Assistant Secretary-General, Human and Social Development, CARICOM Secretariat
Ex-Officio Member
Mr Dereck Springer
PANCAP Director
Ex-Officio Member
Mr Lucien Govaard
Co-Chair
Caribbean Forum for Liberation and Acceptance of Genders & Sexualities (CariFLAGS)
Mr Joel Simpson (Alternate)
Managing Director
Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD)
Ms Miriam Edwards
Caribbean Sex Worker Coalition (CSWC)
Co-Chair
Ms Sandra Jones
Advisor HIV/STI, TB and Hepatitis-Caribbean
Office of Eastern Caribbean Coordination, PAHO/WHO

Meet the Chair

Honourable Renward Wells

Renward Ricardo Wells was born on February 23rd, 1970 in Nassau, Bahamas, to Leoma Flowers and William Wells. As an infant he lived with his paternal grandparents in Deadman’s Cay, Long Island, and at age 3 moved to live with maternal grandparents in Driggs Hill, Andros. In 1979 he joined his mother and stepfather in Grand Bahama and six years later relocated to Nassau to reside with his father.

He received his early education in Andros, Grand Bahama and New Providence, and is a 1987 graduate of R.M. Bailey Sr. High School where he served as Head Boy in his senior year. He attended Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma on an athletic scholarship, and was awarded a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1995. Renward undertook two years of study at Regent University’s Law and Divinity Schools in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

An elite athlete, Renward was a member and captain of several Bahamian World Olympic athletic teams. He was the Bahamian record-holder in the 100 meters (1995-2006) and 60 meters (1997-2010) and a member of the record holding 4×100 relay team (1993-2012).

In 2003, Renward was engaged in the Bahamas Public Service as a Mechanical Engineer, a post he held until his resignation to pursue elected office. He was active with colleagues in forming the Bahamas’ Professional Engineers Board.

Renward has a long career as a political activist being a founding member of the National Development Party (NDP) in 2008. He was first elected to Parliament as a Member of the Progressive Liberal Party in 2012, but abandoned that Party for the Free National Movement in late 2015. He was appointed Leader of the Opposition Business in the House of Assembly in 2016. He presently serves as the Minister of Health and Leader of Government business in the House of Assembly.

Renward and wife Sarah (nee Adermann) are the parents of six children.