Dr. Donna-Mae Knights (PhD)

Dr. Knights holds the position of Policy Coordinator in the Ministry of Sport and Community Development, through which she has been involved in directing the formulation of policies for the Government of Trinidad and Tobago over the last seven years, in areas including culture and sustainable community development. She is a career Public Servant with twenty-seven years of service in areas of social policy, planning and research, as well as the design and implementation of community based poverty eradication strategies.

Dr. Knights interrupted this period of service in 2005 and completed a Masters in Sustainable International Development at Brandeis University, followed by doctoral studies in Social Work at the Washington University in St. Louis. Her dissertation focused on collective efficacy and community based crime prevention, looking at insights into the workings of informal community structures and their impact on the social life and the informal regulation of communities.