After technical issues forced a postponement of the vote last week, the Virgin Islands Board of Career and Technical Education on Tuesday appointed Genevieve Whitaker as the organization’s new executive director.
With a salary of $85,000, Ms. Whitaker’s new role will not be her first effort to advance technical and vocational education in the territory. The former lawmaker was also a CTE board member for over four years, serving as the body’s treasurer among other roles. During her time as a senator in the 34th Legislature of the Virgin Islands, Ms. Whitaker introduced legislation to establish a training fund for CTE students, however she was unable to convince her colleagues to support Bill 34-0378, which did not advance beyond the initial committee stage.
Now that Ms. Whitaker will take the operational helm of CTE, she says she intends to continue advocating for the expansion of career training for Virgin Islands students, particularly “apprenticeship programs where our students can really get an opportunity very early on in their young careers, as they’re making decisions about the curriculum they choose.”
Outgoing CTE Executive Director Anton Döös, who was scheduled to retire this month after five years on the job, is expected to stay on for a short while longer while as Ms. Whitaker transitions into her new role. Board member Susan Darrow-Magras thanked Mr. Döös for his work on behalf of CTE, noting that after years of struggle, “we’re in good shape to move forward because of your leadership.”
British Caribbean News
