Meet the membes of the CaPRI Team

John Rapley

Member's Bio:

John Rapley is President of CaPRI (the Caribbean Policy Research Institute), an independent think tank affiliated with the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. Born and raised in Canada, Dr. Rapley was educated at Carleton University and Queen's University. He then went on to a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Oxford, and from there, to the University of the West Indies, Mona. Once at Mona, he spent thirteen years in the Department of Government before leaving to found CaPRI. In the interim, he was a visiting lecturer at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques of Aix-en-Provence (France), and a visiting fellow at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. The author of three books and numerous academic papers, he has also served as the Gleaner's foreign affairs columnist since 1995, providing analysis on world affairs for the paper. A regular guest on local media, and a speaker at conferences here and abroad, Dr. Rapley has in recent years turned his attention to the impact of globalisation on developing countries.

Damien King

Member's Bio:

Damien King is the Executive Director of CaPRI. In addition, he is Head of Department of Economics at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Macroeconomic Theory and International Trade and Finance. He earned his B.A. from York University in Toronto, Canada, an M.Sc. from the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, and a Ph.D. from New York University – all in economics. Damien’s academic work has appeared in the Journal of Development Studies, World Development, and Social and Economic Studies, and also in edited collections. His current research is on computable general equilibrium modeling, particularly in respect of the effect of macroeconomic policy on poverty and income distribution in Jamaica. He is currently a member of the board of directors of Desnoes & Geddes Ltd. and has previously served on the boards of Dyoll Group, Dyoll Insurance Company, the National Export-Import Bank of Jamaica, The University Hospital of the West Indies, and The Jamaica Mutual Life Assurance Society.

Kim-Marie Spence

Member's Bio:

Kim-Marie Spence is presently the Communications/Business Development Consultant of the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI). Kim-Marie is responsible for the regional branding and communications of CaPRI. She is committed to Jamaica's development through better policymaking and a greater attention to the needs of the less fortunate in the society. Kim-Marie was previously the Social Development Manager of the Inner City Housing Project, the premier national urban development project of the National Housing Trust. She has also worked with Edward Seaga as his researcher on Jamaican culture. Kim-Marie has also worked in Paris with UNESCO. As a Rhodes Scholar, she is a graduate of Oxford University, where she specialized in Development Studies (particularly the anthropology component). She has lived in a number of different locales - India, Japan and Israel – and worked as a consultant on the Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage program in Jamaica for UNESCO. Her other activities include being co-host and club member of the Breakfast Club; and on the executive of the Jamdammers Running Club. She is also part of the team planning Jamaica’s only marathon, the Reggae Marathon. She is also a member of the board of the National Land Agency and the development councils of two inner-city development communities.

Laura Levy

Member's Bio:

Laura Levy is the CaPRI Programme Manager, with responsibility for managing the daily operations of the Institute and supporting the Institute's policy research programme.

Prior to this, Ms. Levy was a Senior Research Project Manager with a top Caribbean research consultancy where she gained nearly 10 years experience in social and market research, using both primary qualitative and quantitative methods.

She earned her B.Sc. in Management Studies from the University of the West Indies, Mona and a M.Sc. in Research Method for Business and Management from Middlesex University, London and a post-graduate diploma in Project Management from the Management Institute for National Development (M.I.N.D.), Kingston.

Latoya Richards

Avinash Persaud

Member's Bio:

Avinash D. Persaud is a Senior Fellow at CaPRI heading up the Barbados Office. His career spans finance, public policy advisory and academia. Avinash is also Chairman of Intelligence Capital Limited, a financial advisory boutique. He was previously Investment Director, Julius Bar GAM; Managing Director, State Street Bank & Trust; Global Head of Currency and Commodity Research, J. P. Morgan; and Director, Fixed- Income, UBS. He was ranked in the top 3 of currency analysts in global investor surveys for ten years. Persaud is a Member of the UN Commission of Experts on International Financial Reform. He is Chairman, Warwick Commission and a Member of the Pew Charity Task Force to Congress. He is an Independent Member of the UK Government's Treasury Group Resource Audit Committee and previously the Economic Expert Member of the UK Governments Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information. He is co-Chair of the OECD Emerging Market Network and was formerly Visiting Scholar at the IMF (2000). Persaud won the Jacques de Larosiere Award in Global Finance in 2000 from the IIF. He is an Emeritus Professor of Gresham College and Governor and former Member of Council of the London School of Economics and Member of Council of the Royal Economic Society.