Elizabeth Riley
Elizabeth Riley
Ms. Elizabeth Riley is the first female Executive Director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and was appointed to that position on July 1, 2021. She is a committed regionalist with over 22 years of experience in the areas of disaster risk management at the regional and international levels and in environmental management. She is passionate about people and sees her role as one of creating spaces and facilitating connections to advance the resilience agenda. At the operational level, Ms. Riley has played a leadership role in the coordination of regional responses to all major hazards impacting the region from Hurricane Ivan in 2004 to Hurricane Dorian in 2019 and is currently playing a leadership role in supporting the Health Sector in the coordination of the region’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her field experience includes the leadership of CDEMA deployment teams in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma (2017) and Dorian (2019).She has written, presented, and published technical papers in disaster management and environmental management whilst attached to CDEMA and prior to that during her tenure at the University of the West Indies and the Ministry of Physical Development and Environment in Barbados. At the international level, she has contributed to a range of technical advisory committees and is currently Vice-Chair of the ICG/Caribe Early Warning Systems Group of Experts on Coastal Hazards. She also sits on the Regional Advisory Group leading the implementation of the Regional Strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean on Disaster Risk Management in the Agriculture and Food and Nutrition Sectors. Ms. Riley has also lectured in Disaster Management at the University of the West Indies, Mona and Cave Hill. She holds a M.A(Econ) in Environment and Development from University of Manchester, United Kingdom, BSc.(Hons) in Geography from the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica and a Masters Certificate in Results Based Monitoring and Evaluation and Information Systems from the University of Laval, Quebec.