The Institute of Caribbean Studies (ICS)
Sunday, May 29, 2022
National Caribbean American Heritage Month Celebrations will open with an Official Ceremony on June 1st at 10:00 am EDT. The event will be hosted virtually on the Zoom platform and will feature keynote speaker, Barbara Feinstein, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.
Barbara A. Feinstein, a career member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Caribbean Affairs and Haiti. Ms. Feinstein most recently served as Deputy Assistant Administrator for Caribbean Affairs, Haiti, Cuba, Mexico, and Central America with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). She has held various leadership positions with USAID, including as Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for Legislative Affairs; Deputy Chief of Staff to Administrator Rajiv Shah, Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor to Acting Administrator Alonzo Fulgham; and Special Assistant to Administrator Henrietta Fore. Other assignments include service with the U.S. Departments of State and Defense.
Ms. Feinstein has served on the professional staff of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations and the House International Relations Committee of the United States Congress. She holds a Master’s degree in International and Public Affairs from Princeton University and a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies, Spanish and Portuguese from the University of California-Berkeley. Ms. Feinstein speaks Spanish and Portuguese.
Other invited speakers include: H.E. Lynn Young, Ambassador of Belize to the USA and Chair of the CARICOM Diplomatic Caucus; Ambassador Donna Forde, Assistant Secretary General of CARICOM; Dr. Didacus Jules, Director-General of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States.
