The Cropper Foundation is a non-profit organisation based in Trinidad and Tobago, dedicated to advancing informed and inclusive decision-making for sustainable development. For almost 25 years, the foundation has been at the forefront of efforts to ensure that nature and the environment are integral to how development is understood and approached by decision-makers and communities alike.
About us
About The Cropper Foundation
Our Mission
The foundation’s work is driven by the belief that sustainable development must include everyone and everything—from policymakers to private citizens, and from academia to the private sector. At the heart of its mission is the idea that nature is everyone’s business, and its stewardship is essential for a thriving future.
What We Do
The Cropper Foundation bridges gaps between sectors to foster collaboration and create sustainable solutions. Over the years, the foundation has:
- Partnered with policymakers to integrate environmental considerations into decision-making.
- Engaged with academia and civil society to foster research and advocacy for sustainability.
- Recently expanded to include the private sector as a vital partner, recognising that the trajectory of sustainability requires participation from all.
By providing technical expertise, fostering partnerships, and guiding processes, the foundation ensures that development is informed by a holistic understanding of nature, equity, and community resilience.
Why It Matters
We all exist within nature, and sustainable development cannot happen without recognising this interdependence. The Cropper Foundation’s work emphasises that sustainable decisions benefit everyone—individuals, organisations, and the environment.
Through nearly a quarter-century of innovation, collaboration, and impact, the Cropper Foundation remains committed to creating a future where development respects and preserves the natural world, ensuring a better quality of life for all.
Our Philosophy
Human development is about creating an environment in which people are provided the opportunity to develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accordance with their needs and interests. It also has to do with providing the space and opportunity for people to enlarge their choices.
Since 2000, this understanding has driven the Foundation to network with likeminded individuals and organizations to influence development policy and practice locally, regionally and globally so that issues like socio-economic development, equity, concern for the environment, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation are addressed not as disconnected activities, but in a holistic manner within the framework of sustainable development.
As our co-founder Angela Cropper says “Our idea was to create a space, a mechanism, that could facilitate others as well to “give something back”. When we see ourselves just as individuals, we feel a little impotent or unequal to the scale of the challenges that are presented to us. But working together creates confidence. There is mutual support, energizing and synergizing. Citizen groups often feel hesitant about commenting on the nature and content of development, and governments may feel it is presumptuous for them to do so.
We come from a society that is still trying to evolve constructive mechanisms for ongoing citizen opinion and input not predicated on partisan politics or political cycles. That’s the role and the road The Cropper Foundation has chosen in seeking to influence the course of our development.”
We are pro-development, but, moreso, we are for responsible development. The core of our activities has to do with the application of research and analysis to provide the evidence for informed decision and action. We are also committed to advocacy and action in helping to remove barriers that inhibit dialogue and partnership across people and institutions: the several agencies of the state; the central and local government authorities; and between the public and private sectors and civil society.
We know that coordination, cooperation, collaboration and not compartmentalization are the keys to unlock the potential of small island developing states, like those in the Caribbean.
How we work
Our Themes
Human Well-Being is impacted by a multitude of drivers which inform themes that the work of the Foundation explores through its work. Individual themes may form the basis of projects as the need arises, or a theme(s) can be addressed within the design and implementation of projects under the core programme areas.
Natural Capital
Data for Development
Education for Sustainable Development
Civil Society Leadership
Sustainability Financing
We’ve got an amazing team
Our Staff
Omar recently re-joined the Foundation as its Chief Executive Officer in October 2018, after being the Foundation’s Programme Officer in Education for Sustainable Development from 2009 – 2014. During his original tenure at the Foundation, he also coordinated the first Latin American/Caribbean Hub of the Sub-Global Assessment Network, the follow up global programme of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
He brings significant experience in the field of development and sustainability education and management, having served as the National Coordinator of the UNESCO Schools Network, leading national and regional efforts at sustainability and diversity in education. As an education programme consultant, facilitator and invited expert, he has contributed to key initiatives such as UNESCO’s global programme on bullying and school violence and UNESCO’s Caribbean climate change education agenda; Curriculum development for countering extremism in the Americas; and national whole school approaches on mainstreaming the Sustainable Development Goals.
Omar is deeply interested on how and why people work together and communicate, especially towards common goals and particularly in civil society. Chasing these interests, he has worked on development communication and development management projects as a consultant with the University of the West Indies, various United Nations Agencies and other National Civil Society Organisations. In addition, he has sought to enrich his own experience and others through his tenure as a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Commission on Education and Communication; Advisory Board member of the Youth of the UN Group of Trinidad and Tobago; Fellow of the International Professors Project; and a Director of CAISO: Sex & Gender Justice.
He has a BSc in Environmental and Natural Resource Management (U.W.I.) and a Masters - Business Administration (Innovation) with professional certification in Project Management, Environmental Human Rights and Climate Change Communication. He is also currently a student of the 10th cohort of the Master of Studies (MSt) in Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge.
Caterina is a Cultural Anthropologist with experience working across Europe, Africa and in the Caribbean. She has worked extensively in civil society in Trinidad and Tobago in human rights and development programming, community engagement and capacity development, and now coordinates the EU-funded project 'CSOs for Good Environmental Governance' being implemented by The Cropper Foundation.
Born in Italy and growing up in the Netherlands, her approach is culturally conscious and includes gap- and power dynamics analysis to promote inclusive sustainable development
Caterina has a Master of Arts M.A. /Doctoraal diploma in Cultural Anthropology & Development Sociology from the University of Leiden and is fluent in English, Italian, Dutch, Spanish and French.
Alyssa was first introduced to the works of the Foundation in 2015 as a volunteer, after completing her BSc in Environmental and Natural Resource Management and Geography. Among her responsibilities, she developed a feasibility study towards the implementation of a composting facility for food waste in Trinidad. She also earned a Project Management Associate certificate designed for civil society groups by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). She went on to gain proficiency in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), applying this to her work at the Environmental Management Authority as an Environmental Programme Assistant. Four years later she is pleased to be back at The Cropper Foundation as a Project Officer. Soon she hopes to purse a Masters Degree in Development Studies to further understand the socio-economic challenges and solutions for development in the Caribbean. “Change is inevitable, personal growth is always a personal decision.” – Bob Proctor
Abbeygail brings over two decades of administrative and operations experience to The Foundation. As the officer in charge of office and administrative functions, as well as accounting management, Abbeygail runs a tight ship. She is especially skilled at events planning and management, as well as media relations and outreach, serving as an indispensable asset to The Foundation's expansion. She also believes strongly in continuous development, having completed her Project Associate Certificate from the Inter-American Development Bank in Project Management and will be undertaking professional qualifications in accounting.
Marcus Waldron is a Caribbean theatre director who is passionate about the captivating power of culture and its inherent humanity. Directing titles such as Sophocles’s, Oedipus Rex, Francisco Arrivi’s Vejigantes, Dario Fo’s “Accidental Death of an Anarchist”, and an adaptation of Simone Schwarz-Bart's Haitian play, “Your handsome Captain.” While demonstrating a clear interest in reimagining the classics, Waldron has built new plays such as Simeon Moodoo’s ``Under the Mango Trees” and Tony Hall’s, “One from Ten Leaves Naught”. These works have extended the directorial sensibilities developing from his education at the University of the West Indies where he gained a BA in Theatre Arts
In 2015 he was the recipient of a prestigious Yale Research Fellowship in directing and in 2016 co-founded Tout Moun Productions, a theatre company that focuses on assisting literature and theatre students through the dramatization and clarification of circular material through educative theatre.
In 2019 Waldron, alongside practitioner Albert Smith introduced the Micro Theatre format to Trinidad and Tobago stemming the Venezuelan Migrant Crisis and co-founded the organization Micro-theatre Festival of Trinidad and Tobago (MTFTT).
Notwithstanding these interests, Marcus is also a senior contributor to the Traditional Mas Archive: a free online resource in the preservation, personalization and performance of traditional culture founded by Broadway actor Dylan Paul.
Neala is a Trinidadian painter and writer. In the last three years, through her business, The Ladybird Picnic, she has curated ten solo and collective art exhibitions in Port of Spain and San Fernando. Neala is a fellow of The Cropper Foundation Caribbean Writers’ Residential Workshop (Trinidad, 2014 & 2019), and The Drawing Room Project’s Writers’ Retreat (Jamaica, 2017), and is the founder of Write Club, a peer-review writing group established in February 2014. In 2019, she co-coordinated The Cropper Foundation Caribbean Writers’ Residential Workshop in Balandra.
Board of Trustees
The Cropper Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees, appointed at Annual General Meetings. The Trustees are responsible for oversight of the policy, programmatic and management operations of The Foundation. The Board of Trustees comprise persons selected due to their reputation, expertise and commitment to the ideals of TCF.
Kelvin Mootoo is Chairman of The Cropper Foundation and is a Member of both the Chartered Institute of Cost and Management Accountants UK (ACMA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Trinidad and Tobago (CA). He has worked as a management consultant to a range of companies in several industry groupings and in both the public and private sectors in Trinidad and Tobago and the Eastern Caribbean. His areas of expertise include project development and evaluation; financial analysis and planning; organizational restructuring; operational audits; and design and implementation of cost and financial-management information systems. With over thirty years of line experience in the manufacturing, construction and oil production industries, he was Executive Chairman of the Industrial Gases Group and Executive Director of the Neal and Massy conglomerate until retirement in December 2008. Since retirement, Mr. Mootoo has been a management consultant, and continues to serve as Non-Executive Director of several private sector organizations.
Ingrid White-Wilson is Secretary of The Cropper Foundation, formerly the Corporate Secretary of the Deposit Insurance Company (DIC) of Trinidad and Tobago. She has been an Attorney-at-Law for over two decades. Mrs. White-Wilson was a Senior State Attorney in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for ten years before entering the corporate sector—where she was a Manager of the Chaguaramas Development Authority, a Legal Advisor to several corporations (including the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission), and Senior Facilities and Services Consultant with the British Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago. She is an Associate of Concordis MCCG (an international management group, headquartered in New York, that offers project facilities management and property development consulting services), was a Board Member of the Family Planning Association of Trinidad and Tobago, and is a certified yoga instructor (and a Director of the Sangha yoga studio in Port of Spain).
Ashton Brereton is a Human Resource Management Specialist with over thirty years’ experience as a Consultant in Trinidad and Tobago and the Eastern Caribbean. His activities are focused on Institutional Strengthening through strategic interventions in all areas of Human Resource Management. His first degree is from The University of the West Indies (Jamaica), and his MA is from the University of Toronto. He has worked as a Consultant with multinational Professional Firms and was a Director of four companies in Trinidad before establishing his own business. He published his first book of photographs, “Introducing the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago”, in June 2012.
Roberta Clarke is a Visiting Fellow of the Institute of International Relations of The University of the West Indies (St. Augustine), and has management and leadership experience at a senior level within the United Nations system, including being Director of UN Women’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Programme Director of UN Women’s Caribbean Office, and Social Affairs Officer (Gender and Development Work Programme) of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean Sub-regional Headquarters. Ms. Clarke holds a Distinction-level Master of Studies in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford, a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) degree from The University of the West Indies (Cave Hill), and a Master of Arts in Sociology from York University (Canada).
Danielle Lyndersay was born in Australia but lives in Trinidad, where she is Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of Theatre Arts in the Department of Creative and Festival Arts at The University of the West Indies. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Arts-in-Action, a public education programme that extends the work of The UWI into communities across Trinidad and Tobago. Dr. Lyndersay heads The Cropper Foundation’s Support of Caribbean Writers programme, and is a puppeteer, mask-maker, actress and poet who has worked in many parts of the world (including Israel, Nigeria and Europe).
Professor Kenneth Ramchand was awarded a Trinidad and Tobago Chaconia Medal Gold (1996) for his work in Literature, Education and Culture, and is widely respected as the most prominent living critic of Caribbean fiction, having written extensively on many West Indian authors, including V. S. Naipaul, Earl Lovelace and Sam Selvon. His seminal text, The West Indian Novel and Its Background (1970), had a transformational effect on the internationalization of West Indian literature as an academic discipline. Ramchand is Professor Emeritus of English at the St. Augustine campus of The University of the West Indies (UWI). Until he resigned in June 2009, he was Associate Provost at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). He was for some years an independent Senator in the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago. Ramchand is also an Emeritus Professor at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York.
Lorraine Rostant is Chairman and co-founder of Rostant DDB and Tribal Caribbean, which was, respectively, among the region’s leading advertising and digital marketing agencies. With a BA (Hons.) in English Literature, and with Certification in Journalism and Creative Writing,, and over 30 years leading brand development within the Caribbean, her proficiencies include strategic marketing and media planning, as well as the conceptualisation and production of creative and promotional material. She was the Director of the Advertising Agencies Association of Trinidad and Tobago, a Former Director of the Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute, and a Member of the Dyslexia Association of Trinidad and Tobago Fundraising Committee.
Winston Rudder is currently the Chairman of the Cocoa Research Advisory Board (of The University of the West Indies’ Cocoa Research Unit), and the Chairman of the Agricultural Development Bank. He has approximately forty years’ experience in development policy, programming and operations at national, regional and international levels. At the local, regional and international levels, his responsibilities and assignments over that period include developing and directing agricultural planning systems, and advising on agricultural development policy. His work also involves providing strategic leadership, guidance and management to selected government ministries, and negotiating with and undertaking international development-oriented assignments for multilateral institutions. He has served as Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in South Asia and the Caribbean.
Cletus Springer is a national of Saint Lucia, and is the Director of Sustainable Development at the Organization of American States (OAS)—where he oversees the design and implementation of sustainable development cooperation programmes in Caribbean OAS Member States. Mr. Springer is a graduate of The University of the West Indies, Oxford Brooks University, and the Centre for Environmental Management and Planning of Aberdeen University. He holds degrees in public administration, mass communications, urban planning, and environmental management. He has served the Government of St. Lucia as Permanent Secretary in the Ministries of Tourism, Public Utilities, Civil Aviation and National Mobilization (1992-94), and Planning, Development, Environment and Housing (1994-97). He was an Adviser in Policy and Strategy Development at the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States’ Secretariat (1998-2001), and has represented St. Lucia as Alternate Governor of both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Alexander is an Environmental Economist and Environmental Scientist with extensive experience in communicating novel economic solutions to environmental problems in the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), Academic, Diplomatic, and community contexts in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), the Caribbean Region and Globally. His belief is that economic thinking and tools are essential to change human behaviour and national policy, for improved environmental outcomes, and this is reflected in his experience.
He worked as an Environmental Economist with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the University of the West Indies (UWI) and The Cropper Foundation under the UNEP Global flagship Project ProEcoServ (The Project for Ecosystem Services) between the years 2011-2014. Under this project, he evaluated the economic contribution of ecosystem services, such as flood prevention, pollination and water provision, in terms of valuable dollars and cents to T&T’s bottom line. He has presented his research and work under this project at the annual TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystem and Biodiversity, a UN initiative), at the United Nations Forum for Forest SIDS conference, at the Eco-Balance Conference and to multiple ministers, stakeholders, academics and communities. Between 2015-2019 Alexander Served as the Programme Coordinator of the Caribbean Sea Commission (CSC) of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS).
Currently he is working with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States to develop a Green-Blue Economy Strategy and Action Plan. He also works with the UNEP WCMC on Grenada’s National ecosystem assessment, by building the capacity of communities to conduct basic valuation of ecosystem services to improve communication on Ecosystem value and support advocacy for environmental protection.
