2025 HARD HEAD AWARD

Women’s Empowerment Activist,
Lucia Cabrera Jones, Wins!
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Women’s empowerment activist, Lucia Cabrera Jones, was adjudged winner of the 5^th Annual Colin Robinson Hard Head Award at a ceremony last Saturday at ThinkArtWorkStudio, Port of Spain. Cabrera Jones, 52, the founder and CEO of Women Owned Media and Education Network (W.O.M.E.N.), and a survivor of domestic violence,was recognised for her work in under-resourced communities, coupled with her use of art, creativity, non-traditional training and storytelling as healing.

Organised by CAISO: Sex and Gender Justice in memory of its late co-founder and Director of Imagination, Colin Robinson, who died after a short battle with cancer in 2022, the event celebrated the work of four other Finalists: Avah Atherton (community archivist and cultural heritage activist), Princess Avianne Charles (climate justice advocate and workers’ rights activist); Jade Trim (feminist activist); and Kenneth Suratt (disability rights activist). Atherton and Suratt were singled out for honourable mention by the Judges.

Inspired by the fearless ways in which Colin Robinson used creative imagination to speak out against injustice, CAISO’s Hard Head Award supports individuals working towards equity and justice for all, whose work connects political advocacy, creativity, and coalition building. This year’s Call for Nominations attracted 10 self-nominations across a broad range of human rights and social justice work, that included Cultural Activism, Health Policy and Advocacy, LGBTQ+ Rights, Social Media Activism, and Visual and Performing Arts-based Activism.

2025 Nominations and Selection Process

CAISO issued the Call for Nominations across various media platforms, from 25^th October to 12^th November 2025. The Award Committee shortlisted five Finalists for adjudication by a Panel of Judges, which submitted its decision on 2^nd December. This year’s Panel of Judges comprised: human rights advocate and political affairs professional, André Blackburn; temporary Independent Senator and gender and development specialist, Dr. Deborah McFee; and CAISO Director, Omar Mohammed.

2025 Hard Head Award – Judges’ Citation

In delivering the Judges’ Citation, Blackburn and McFee applauded the rich, diverse mapping of the ways in which civil society actors, continue to carve out programming and project spaces, always remaining relevant and intrinsic to who we are as a people in Trinidad & Tobago.

The judges noted that Avah Atherton’s hard-headedness stemmed from her commitment to reviving the ancestral tradition of the griot, and her beliefs that memory itself was activism, and that ordinary people can build extraordinary things with the right tools.

Kenneth Surrat was singled out for his hard-headedness in purpose, his broad commitment to a brand of activism that is not about anger, but about action, and his capacity to see opportunity when others only see limitations.

Ultimately, it was Lucia Cabrera Jones’ “unwavering determination to create change even when resources are scarce, systems are resistant and the odds even” that won over the Judges, who noted a hard-headedness that “has grown into a mission to create access, equity and healing and positive transformation for local and migrant women and girls.”

Preceding the Awards Ceremony were:

A presentation of CAISO’s Year in Review, highlighting the organisation’s achievements across three thematic areas of Wholeness, Justice and Inclusion;
An address marking Human Rights Day by Roberta Clarke, Commissioner, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

The event also launched CAISO’s 4th Annual LGBTQI+ Art Exhibition, featuring the work of 17 emerging and established artists. These artists and their work reveal how we build community, envision care, and connect across differences, generations, and identities. The six-day public exhibition was held at ThinkArtWorkStudio on Cipriani Boulevard from December 07-12th.

On Human Rights Day 2025, CAISO celebrates the winner, finalists, and all nominees of the 5th Annual Colin Robinson Hard Head Award, for work that illuminates activism and advocacy across a range of human rights and social justice issues.

CAISO salutes the winner, finalists, and all nominees of the 2025 Colin Robinson Hard Head Award.