Donna-Mae Knights

(Last updated during their term as a Commissioner - January 2022)

Donna-Mae Knights holds the position of policy coordinator for the Ministry of Community Development, Culture, and the Arts, through which she has been involved in directing the formulation of policies for the Government of Trinidad and Tobago over the last seven years, in areas including culture and sustainable community development. She is a career public servant with twenty-seven years of service in areas of social policy, planning and research, as well as the design and implementation of community-based poverty-eradication strategies. Dr. Knights interrupted this period of service in 2005 and completed a master’s degree in Sustainable International Development at Brandeis University, followed by doctoral studies in Social Work at the Washington University in St. Louis. Her dissertation focused on collective efficacy and community-based crime prevention, looking at insights into the workings of informal community structures and their impact on the social life and informal regulation of communities.