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PEOPLE BEHIND UTEB

Executive Committee

Daniel Thompson

President

Daniel Thompson presently serves as the President of the Union of Tertiary Educators of The Bahamas (UTEB), since May 2019, and is an Assistant Professor of Business Management at the University of The Bahamas in the School of Business and Hospitality Management. At UB, he has been Head of the Department for Management and Marketing twice and served twice as chair for his school. He received an Associate degree in Biology with Agriculture from the College of The Bahamas, a Bachelor's degree in General Agriculture with an emphasis in agricultural economics and farm management from  the University of The West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago and a Master's degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Reading (UK). He has worked at The Bahamas Department of Agriculture as an Assistant Marketing officer;  the Bahamas Development Bank as a Projects Officer; the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation as a Business Development Officer; and the College of The Bahamas, Centre for Entrepreneurship as a Project Development Officer and Acting Director. Currently, he plans on contributing to the insight and knowledge regarding trade unionism in The Bahamas. He is also the proud father of 3 sons, a member of Grace Communion Church in Lumumba Road, Nassau, and has served as the Pastor of the Church of God (Seventh Day) from 1985 - 2011.

Anastasia Brown

1st Vice President

Anastasia Brown has served as an executive of Union of Tertiary Educators of the Bahamas (UTEB) since November 2020, first as a Trustee, then as 2nd Vice President, and currently as 1st Vice President. She is a Director of Testing and Adjunct Faculty in the School of Business and Hospitality Management at the University of The Bahamas. She also served as 2nd Vice-President and Assistant Secretary-General of the Public Managers Union. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia in Business Education and a master’s degree in Learning and Reading Disability from the University of Miami. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in Educational Leadership with a concentration in Organizational Development at Grand Canyon University. She has worked at St. Augustine College as a Business and Computer Teacher, Bahama Technical and Vocational Institute as a Business Instructor, Head of the Department, and Divisional Head for Service Trades. She lectured part-time at Bahamas Baptist Community College, BahamaHost, and Public Service Training Department. As the newly elected 2nd Vice-President, she plans to contribute to the continued support of faculty development, involvement, and interaction and increase the spirit of family amongst the members.

Tanya Simms

2nd Vice President

Tanya M. Simms is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of the Bahamas (UB) in the School of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, a post she served in since 2019 when she returned to the Bahamas after serving as Biology Laboratory Coordinator at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Dr. Simms has a Masters degree in Biomedical Sciences from Barry University and a Ph. D. in Biology from Florida International University. She has authored 12 publications in multiple peer-reviewed journals, two of which were published during her tenure at UB. In her role as 2nd Vice President, she aims to assist UTEB in being the voice for all of its members.

Felicia Armbrister

Secretary

Felicia Armbrister has worked at the University of The Bahamas since 2002 and currently holds the position of Access Services Librarian in University Libraries. She holds a Bachelor's degree (with Honors) in Public Policy and Management from University of Bedfordshire (formerly Luton) and a Master's degree in Library and Information Services from Robert Gordon University (Aberdeen). She has served as UTEB Secretary since 2017, is active in her church and is motivated to assist in uplifting and empowering everyone she comes in contact with, especially the UB community.

Ernesto Williams

Assistant Secretary

As a young Bahamian male & Top 48 Millennial, Ernesto G. Williams is a 2015 English Education Graduate of The College of The Bahamas, the 2012-2013 President of The College of The Bahamas Union of Students, an English & Public Speaking Tertiary Instructor & Assessment Coordinator, and a writer of short stories.

He's successfully served in all Executive Board Positions in Toastmasters, served in numerous Club Advisory, District Executive Council, and Committee Lead roles of Toastmasters international, and now as Assistant Secretary of the Union of Tertiary Educators in The Bahamas.

He's also spent 11 years in education at 5 Bahamian high school institutions, and now presently leads at The Bahamas Technical & Vocational Institute.

One of his favorite ideologies of life is from the Late Sir Martin Luther King Jr. which states, “if a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

Williamson Gustave

Treasurer

Dr. Williamson Gustave is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of the Bahamas in the School of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences. He is biogeochemist and is fascinated by microbes and their role in the fate and transport of toxic heavy metals in agricultural soils. He has been teaching general microbiology and soil biogeochemistry for about five years both locally and abroad. He is an active researcher, with interests across the field of Environmental Sciences and Food Safety. He works primarily on wetland biota interact with the soil minerals, organic matter, and inorganic pollutants in the soil-water interface.

Randy Forbes

Assistant Treasurer

Dr. Randy Forbes,  Assistant Professor at the University of the Bahamas in the School of Business and Hospitality Management, has a keen interest in entrepreneurship and economics.  He obtained his DBA from St. Leo University in Florida and an MBA from Tennessee State University. He serves as an education advisor at The Nassau Institute and as a facilitator at The Bahamas Department of Correctional Services, focusing on life skills and entrepreneurship. His hobbies include fishing, racquetball, and technical and vocational activities. He aims to assist UTEB in the maintenance and acquisition of funds.

Anastacia Forbes

Trustee

Anastacia Sanfra Forbes is the Director of Counselling Services Department at the University of The Bahamas (UB). She holds a Bachelor's degree in Art Therapy from St. Thomas Aquinas College and a Master's degree in Education with a specialization in School Counselling from Kent State University and Post Graduate Certificate in Art Therapy from Edna Manley College of Visual and Performing Arts. She has also served as the Coordinator of First Year Seminar and Learning Support Services and Disability Support Services and regularly teaches the First Year Seminars and hosts several workshops throughout the academic year at UB. Mrs. Forbes is co-author of “A Facilitator’s Guide To Tutoring and Mentoring” (2008), published by OAS/FEMCIDI and The College Of The Bahamas, Counselling & Health Services Department. Her interests include pottery/ceramics, art making, reading and finding meaningful ways to engage her daughters in wholesome activities.


Kerima Smith

Trustee

Kerima A. Smith presently serves as Head of Department for Business Studies and Entrepreneurship at the Bahamas Technical & Vocational Institute since January 2017 and has been a lecturer at the Bahamas Technical & Vocational Institute since August 2005. She received an Associate degree in English Language and Literature and another Associate degree in Accounts from the College of The Bahamas, a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Sojourner Douglass College and a Master’s degree in Management with distinction from the University of the West Indies. Her early career began in the offshore banking sector where she developed her keen sense of being very organized, the ability to work under pressure, excellent communication skills and the ability to meet deadlines. She is passionate about labour relations and how it translates positively to great return on investments for the employer once executed well. Therefore, it is her goal to contribute significantly to the improvement of trade unionism in the Bahamas and to transform the working conditions and terms of employment for faculty at the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute. She is a proud Muslim woman, wife and mother of two sons and is a member of the Muslim Women’s Association of the Bahamas.

Ashley Culmer

Trustee

Mr. Ashley Culmer is an HVAC Instructor at the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (“BTVI”) in the Construction Department. He is an HVAC Engineer that is intrigued by heating and ventilation and their role in the delivery of transforming hot air into cold air. He has been instructing students in the field of HVAC for approximately 10 (ten) years. In his quest for enhancing/developing his craft and the like, he has embarked on obtaining numerous certifications both in and out of his discipline, with interests across the field of HVAC and Solar Energy. He loves a challenge and is not afraid to learn new things, which he conquers when he puts his mind to it. One example of this is the fact that he took on the learning of the virtual learning environment (VLE), which was abruptly trusted on all faculty in the face of COVID-19. This necessary tool equipped him to switch to the online modality delivery. Passionate about mentorship, he also serves as a Member of the International Men’s Day Committee and is active in reaching out to young men in the inner city with a view to mentoring and training them at B.T.V.I. His mantra is, “If I can help somebody, as I travel along, then my living shall not be in vain.” This is his reason for wanting to become an instructor. He is amicable, loves meeting and conversing with new people, and is an avid boater that enjoys taking to the high seas with his family on holidays. 

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