Marlene S. Charles is the Project Director for Democracy International (DI) for Women Exercising Leadership for Cohesion and Meaningful Empowerment (WELCOME) project under the USAID Catalyst program in Trinidad and Tobago. Ms Charles has over twenty-seven years’ combined experience in the fields of Education, Training & Development and Project Management. This includes expertise in Policy Creation and Implementation, Programme Design and Implementation, Curriculum Development, Programme Monitoring and Evaluation, Report and Grant Writing and Team Leadership for governmental, non-profit and corporate bodies. She also has experience in Job Design, Organisational Development and Mentoring.
Marlene has worked to design, implement and manage several large scale projects aimed at community development for a range of stakeholders. A strong believer in volunteerism and advocacy, Marlene has also been at the helm of three key NGOs in Trinidad - The Adult Literacy Tutors Association (ALTA); the Association of Female Executives of Trinidad and Tobago (AFETT) and the YWCA of Trinidad and Tobago (YWCATT). Prior to joining DI, Marlene provided consultancy services and development training support geared at identifying work-force skills gaps, designing appropriate programmes and facilitating training as required, with the objective of strengthening institutional work-force capabilities.
Marlene earned a BSc from The University of the West Indies and holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Framingham State University. She has also completed training in Coaching, Management and Leadership, Project Management, and Mediation. She has basic competence in three languages besides her native English, namely, Spanish, Yoruba and Arabic. Ever an avid language lover, she is currently learning Korean.