Protecting the environment and development do not have to be in opposition, says the new Cropper Foundation CEO Cherisse Braithwaite-Joseph.

And development needs to benefit the people in the communities involved, not just the businesses capitalising on the various resources therein.

Braithwaite-Joseph studied environmental science, policy and management, and, as The Cropper Foundation is a prominent name in the field, she often followed its work. She found it was a “cool and creative organisation” that was doing good work.

“What I was interested in was not so much environment for environment's sake, but that place where environment meets community and people, and I found Cropper very squarely fitted into that area.”

According to its website, the foundation was “dedicated to advancing informed and inclusive decision-making for sustainable development.” Its aim is to ensure decision-makers and communities consider nature and the environment in any approach to development.

“I think when you say people are passionate about the environment, there's an image that comes to your mind of somebody who's like a tree-hugger, who doesn’t want trees cut down ever in life and doesn’t want drilling.

“The way I was raised is much more balanced. Development is necessary, but it has to be done responsibly, and it has to be done in a way that benefits those who are in the community.”

She said her late father Richard Braithwaite worked in the marketing department at Petrotrin and the family lived on the refinery compound in Pointe-a-Pierre until she was 20 and he retired. She had early memories of oil spills, clean-up campaigns and practice drills to prevent future occurrences.

“I guess that kind of stuck with me, that we can somehow remediate what we’ve been doing and there’s a way to do it responsibly. In my childhood brain I never saw the two things (development and the environment) as opposite, and that stuck with me.

[caption id="attachment_1127983" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Cherisse Braithwaite-Joseph, CEO of the The Cropper Foundation says development is necessary, but it has to be done responsibly, and it has to be done in a way that benefits those who are in the community.[/caption]

“How do you not take care of the environment when it sustains us? There is a way to do it that allows people to make money and improve economic status, but also take care of what we have been given.”

So when the former CEO left, she applied for the position and started her new job on October 28.

Braithwaite-Joseph, 38, said she had “stumbled” onto leadership teams before, as she did not anticipate being in those positions, but soon realised it was where she was supposed to be.

On being accepted for the CEO position, however, she briefly doubted her abilities even though her beliefs aligned with the organisation. But after she got feedback from her interview, she felt less like an imposter and believed she could handle all the job entailed.

Some of her responsibilities are to guide the team in its initiatives and