ECCB 40th Anniversary Lecture Series - Antigua and Barbuda

Mrs Yvelle Charles-Jenkins, Pharmacist

Mrs Yvelle Charles-Jenkins graduated from the University of Santa Clara, Cuba as the most integral student and went on to pursue her MBA with merit at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom.  She has completed several Diploma and certificate courses, which include Drug Supply Management with the University of Limpopo, South Africa; Project Management facilitated by the UWI Open Campus, Antigua (graduating as top student); Financial Management with eCornell University, New York, and Blended Learning Design with the Commonwealth of Learning.  Yvelle has worked extensively in the field of Health and Pharmacy within the islands of Cuba, Saint Lucia and Antigua.  Her work has included studying the therapeutic benefits of the Morinda citrifolia (Noni) plant, as well as evaluating strategies for marketing behavioural change in healthcare.

Yvelle is currently employed as a Senior Pharmacist with the Antigua Barbuda Central Medical Procurement Unit, Medical Benefits Scheme (MBS).  She also works part-time as a facilitator at the School of Pharmacy at the Antigua State College, her focus being Pharmacy Management, Dispensing and Pharmaceutical Compounding.  Mrs. Jenkins has always had an interest in Wellness.  To this end, she has been a presenter with the Medical Benefits Scheme’s “Take Charge of Your Diabetes” educational programme and is a contributor to her community newsletter. Yvelle is a member of the Antigua and Barbuda Council on Sustainable Development (ABCoSD), Antigua’s first think tank.  She was also a member of the original planning team that successfully hosted the very first TEDxAntigua.

Mrs Dorothy Graham-Charles, Nutrition Consultant - Sports, Wellness and Diabetes Management

Mrs Dorothy Graham-Charles is the Nutrition Manager at Medical Benefits Scheme and Private Consultant at Eat for Success. She is Antigua and Barbuda’s Country Representative for the International Confederation of Dietetic Associations.  She is also the Immediate Past President (2021 - 2023) of the Caribbean Association of Nutritionists and Dietitians (CANDi) and former Country Representative (2019 - 2022) for the International Affiliate of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (IAAND).

Mrs Charles completed a Diploma and Bachelor of Health Science in Dietetics and Nutrition at the University of Technology, Jamaica, with a focus on Institutional Management and Health Education.  She holds a Master of Science in Nutrition at the University of the West Indies, Mona, and specialised in Sports Nutrition at the National Association of Sports Nutrition, U.S.A.  She is currently pursuing additional studies in Pharmacy, as well as in Public Health with a focus on Epidemiology.

Mrs. Charles is certified in several areas including backyard gardening, where she has initiated various gardening programmes especially in the schools.  She is also a Guide leader and uses this avenue to help girls develop into future leaders of positive social change.

For leisure, Mrs Charles enjoys various activities such as sewing, swimming and dancing. Mrs. Charles toured Spain with the Antigua Dance Academy in 2005 and played the role of Queen in the 2018 Antigua Dance Centre ballet recital of Sleeping Beauty.  In 2010, she was named Antigua and Barbuda's top female cyclist and participated in the 2022 Dolphins Kick for a Cause half-mile swim. 

Mr L. Garfield Burford, Director of News, Sports and Current Affairs, ABS Television/RadioMr. Keith ‘Stone’ Greaves, Programme Manager, Radio Anguilla

Garfield is Director of News, Sports and Current Affairs at ABS Television/Radio, Antigua and Barbuda’s public broadcaster.  He is also one of two representatives of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) on the News Committee of the World Broadcasting Unions. Garfield has also completed the Edward R. Murrow Programme for Journalists, a flagship initiative under the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Programme.  He is a renowned and accomplished regional journalist, with close to two and a half decades of experience across all broadcast media platforms.

Garfield’s life revolves around broadcast news, and his pieces on investigative journalism and key development issues have won critical acclaim including national awards in his native Jamaica, where he won two Journalist of the Year awards in 2005 and 2007, and across the region, with recognition from the CBU.

His stint with ABS TV/Radio follows an illustrious and decorated media career in Jamaica across radio, television and online platforms, placing him amongst the crème de la crème of regional broadcasters. He has reported on all the major happenings across the region over the past 20 years, including the visit of then-U.S. President Barack Obama to Jamaica in 2015, the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, several national elections, as well as high-profile sporting events.

Garfield has spearheaded critically acclaimed coverage of key events in Antigua and Barbuda including the onslaught of Hurricane Irma in 2017, the general elections and referendum in 2018, and the most recent general elections in 2023, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020.  He is immensely pleased that this has contributed to the growing reach and appeal of ABS, with the station now unquestionably the leading broadcaster in the sub-region and among the best in the wider Caribbean.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus and has completed innumerable advanced courses on journalism, including the specific areas of business, finance and development issues.