CLAIRE ALICIA NELSON, Ph.D.
Dr. Claire Nelson has been actively engaged in the business of international development for over twenty years, working in the area of project development and management, with a particular focus on private sector development.
The first Jamaican woman to hold a Doctorate degree in an engineering discipline, Dr. Nelson holds Industrial Engineering Degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo, Purdue University, and a Doctorate in Engineering Management from the George Washington University. She has served on numerous Boards and Committees including: US Department of Commerce US/Caribbean Business Development Council; Advisory Board; DC Caribbean Carnival Association; International Think Tank, Commission on Pan-African Affairs, Office of the Prime Minister of Barbados; Task Force on International Finance, Constituency for Africa; National Democratic Institute/Carter Center Election Observer Mission to the Dominican Republic; Board of Directors, Caribbean Heritage Group; International Committee, National Society of Black Engineers-Alumni Extension; Quality Management Consultants. Her past affiliations include: Executive Committee, Organization of Caribbean Businesspersons; and Montgomery County Committee on Ethnic Affairs.
Dr. Nelson is sought after as a speaker on issues pertaining to economic development, globalization, and issues concerning the Caribbean and its peoples. She is a frequent guest on the television talk show CARIBNATION seen on cable TV in the Washington D.C. area, as well as CARIBBEAN EXCHANGE on WEAA, Morgan University Radio. Her speaking engagements have included: National Association of Security Professionals; Congressional Black Caucus Conference; Harvard University Black MBA Association Conference; Women & Micro-enterprise Conference, African Development Bank; Florida International University; US Black Engineer of the Year Annual Conference; Howard University; Sacramento State University; National Council of Negro Women; and National Congress of Black Women.
Dr. Nelson has been a frontrunner in the challenge of placing the topic of social exclusion on the agenda of the multilateral development assistance institutions. As a result of her pioneering work, she was invited to the Salzburg Seminar as a Fellow in 1997 and 1999 of the Seminars on Race and Ethnicity, in 2000 and 2003 to the Fetzer Institute Advisory Group on Moral, Ethical and Spiritual Leadership; and as Faculty at the Seminar on Leadership Across Geographic Borders and Cultural Boundaries. Dr. Nelson was also a participant in the Bellagio Consultation on the UN World Conference on Racism (WCAR) organized by the International Human Rights Law Group, and was active on the Working Groups on Globalization and Transnational Corporations. An award-winning writer, Dr. Nelson's OpEd pieces have appeared in media outlets such as the Jamaica Weekly Gleaner, the Jamaica Observer, the Caribbean Week, Panache Magazine, the Black World Today E-zine, a WEAA FM Radio and National Public Radio. |
