Meet our Team!
Our team includes the Board of Directors,
Staff, Consultants, and Volunteers.
Angelique Nixon (she/her)
Director
Angelique is a Bahamas-born, Trinidad-based writer, activist, scholar with over two decades of experience and social justice leadership. She is a senior lecturer & researcher at The UWI’s Institute for Gender and Development Studies. As a Director of CAISO, Angelique leads operations, resource mobilisation, media & communications, education & research, and works on various projects & programmes.
Omar Mohammed (he/him)
Director
Omar is the Chief Executive Officer of the Cropper Foundation, a leading Caribbean nonprofit organisation and has significant experience in the field of development management. He firmly believes that intersectional perspectives are central to truly sustainable development. As Director of CAISO, Omar leads operations, resource mobilisation, and works on various projects & programmes.
Cathy Shepherd (she/her)
Director
A feminist activist since 1981, Cathy has 34 years of professional experience in information services and management, and practical experience in NGO administration with the Lions Club of Port of Spain Central, Rape Crisis Society, and the Trinidad and Tobago HIV/AIDS Alliance. As Director of CAISO, she leads operations, media & communications, education & research, and works on various projects & programmes.
Alessandra Hereman (she/her)
Director
Alessandra is a Trinidad-based, Guyanese trans woman, feminist, and community-based researcher. She works with NGOs and civil society organisations across the region to advocate for LGBTQI+ rights. Alessandra is pursuing an MPhil in Gender and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies.
Josh Drayton (he/him)
Director
Josh has served as a Temporary Independent Senator in Trinidad and Tobago since 2018. He is a researcher in anti-corruption, governance, open government and public policy. Josh is also the first Open Government Independent Researcher for the English-speaking Caribbean.
Elron Elahie (he/him)
Advisor, Wholeness & Justice
Elron’s work and experience are situated in the fields of access to justice, procedural fairness, sex and gender, and addressing inequalities. Elron works closely with CAISO’s community-building efforts and systems management. He also serves on the admin and legal team of the Wholeness and Justice programme.
Johannah-Rae Reyes (she/her)
Project & Community Outreach
Johannah is an activist, organiser, and sign language interpreter. She currently works with CAISO as the Project & Community Outreach Associate, where she coordinates a number of projects, including Sign Together. Johannah is also leading community engagement across CAISO’s projects and programmes.
Kellog Nkemakolam (he/they)
Programme & Research Officer
Kellog’s primary interest is human rights work that takes a socio-legal approach and prioritises expanding rights awareness, justice-seeking and access to redress for all. Kellog has experience in social justice advocacy and has completed training on diverse sexualities and gender. They co-manage the programme’s operations.
Rae Alibey (she/her)
Community Caseworker
Wholeness & Justice
Rae has several years of experience partnering with LGBTQI+ organisations to deliver psycho-social care to community members, develop their potential for self-advocacy, and advocate for gender equality. Rae holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and is pursuing a Master’s in Applied Psychology at The University of the West Indies.
Donielle Jones (she/her)
Community Lawyer
Wholeness & Justice
Donielle was called to the bar of attorneys of Trinidad and Tobago in 2008. She has a well-rounded practice and specialises in Criminal Law, Family Law and Civil Litigation. She believes in volunteerism and offers services to several civil society groups. Donielle is passionate about obtaining equality of treatment for all persons despite creed, race, class or nationality.
Akilah Riley-Richardson (she/her)
Community Therapist
Wholeness & Justice
Akilah is a Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. Her past work with LGBTQI+ communities includes direct clinical interventions, clinical supervision as part of projects aimed at serving the needs of the population, and the provision of training to local and regional organisations that serve sexual minorities.
Psyche Gonzales (she/her)
Financial Manager
Psyche has over 20 years of experience working with SMEs and NGOs as an accountant and/or business consultant. She also holds a Master’s degree in Gender and Development Studies from the University of the West Indies. Her research is centred on Caribbean and Postcolonial Studies and Gender, Race and Ethnicity, with a particular focus on Indigenous Ethnology.
Jo Johnson (she/her)
Content & Social Media
Jo is a Caribbean womanist who believes in leading and living with her heart. It is this passion and sincerity that guides her work and efforts in the areas of youth and gender development and climate justice. With degrees in Communication Studies and International Relations, she routinely lends her talents to various projects and initiatives that centre marginalised communities.
Chinyere Brown (she/they)
Research & Admin
Chinyere believes in community, education and art as powerful decolonial tools. Her experience primarily includes research that informs work on gender, race, and class justice. Chinyere is deeply committed to the Caribbean and the Black diaspora. She holds an MSc in Gender and Development Studies from the University of the West Indies, St Augustine.
Nikoli Attai (he/him)
Volunteer, Queer Archives Project
Nikoli is a Professor of Ethnic Studies with a focus on Black queer and feminist studies. He is the author of Defiant Bodies: Making Queer Community in the Anglophone Caribbean, which explores queer politics in Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Toronto. He is currently building the Cyrus Sylvester Digital Archive of Queer Trinidad and Tobago.
Dominique Absalom (she/her)
Volunteer, Project Research
Dominique is a passionate Population Health graduate student with experience in designing and implementing awareness programmes. She is committed to identifying and improving upon a health-based system, with a focus on gender, sexuality, and health. Dominique worked with CAISO to create and launch the HIV Toolkit.
Taylor Lutchman (she/her)
Volunteer, Project Research
Taylor is a trans person of colour and her identity drives her to promote a vision of equity and protection of all. She has a BSc in Psychology from the UWI and aims to further her academic knowledge in the pursuit of irrefutable evidence-based research into the human experience as it relates to gender, sex and sexuality.
Chandelle O’Neil (they/them)
Volunteer
Chandelle is an LGBTQI+ activist who works with CAISO to foster a greater understanding of our community.
Shaden Alexander
(they/them)
Volunteer
Shaden is a queer non-binary artist and designer who works with CAISO on Community Engagement and Outreach.
Maiah Cooper (she/they)
Volunteer
Maiah is a Social Media Marketing Specialist. She worked with CAISO to develop its content and social media strategy.