Vindel L. Kerr

VINDEL L. KERR, DBA (Univ. of Manchester), MBA (Rutgers), BSc (UWI)
(Board and Corporate Secretary Education, Business Process Improvement, Strategic Planning and Public Sector Management)
Founder & Chairman, GovStrat Limited, since 2004

 Education:

  • Doctor of Business Admin., (DBA) (Corporate Governance & Public Policy), 2010
    University of Manchester, Manchester Business School, UK
  • Master of Business Admin. (MBA) (Intl. Strategic Management & Marketing), 1997
    Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Rutgers Business School, USA
  • Bachelor of Science (BSc) (Agriculture, Agronomy & Agri-econ), 1991
    The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago
  • Associate of Science Degree (ASc.), in Agriculture, 1989
    College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE)
  • Grade One (1) Certificate, Vocational and Technical Agriculture, 1985
    Knockalva Agricultural High School, Ramble, Eastern Hanover, 1985

Expertise:

  • Board Effectiveness through training, Advisory and Development
  • Corporate Secretaryship Education, Advisory and Recruitment
  • Corporate Governance Assessments, Frameworks and Codes
  • Business Ethics
  • Strategic Planning
  • Business Process Re-engineering, Process Improvement & Performance Evaluation
  • Public Sector Reform, Policy Advisement, Analysis, Development and Implementation
  • Board’s Role in Enterprise Risk Management & Implementation

Dr. Vindel Kerr is Founder and Current Chairman of GovStrat Limited, an executive learning and management consulting firm he founded in 2003. Dr. Kerr is a pioneering Board Education Facilitator and Author, an internationally recognized scholar, expert practitioner and public policy analyst and advisor in the field of corporate governance. For more than a decade, Dr. Kerr has been focusing on improving the effectiveness of corporate boards and organizational performance through learning facilitation, management consulting and public policy advisement. He has served more than 350 clients in 24 Countries through GovStrat Limited. Since January 2014, Dr. Kerr has joined The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Management Studies Department, Faculty of Social Sciences, where he is serving concurrently as an Assistant Professor of Business Ethics and teaches and supervises undergraduate and graduate students.

Dr Kerr has managed major corporate turnarounds, strategic management and corporate governance assessments across industries throughout the Caribbean, The Americas and Southern Africa and has presented his work (research) in Asia, Europe, Africa, The Americas and the Caribbean. He has single-handedly conducted more than 300 training sessions and facilitated training for more than 5000 Directors of Corporate Boards, senior and middle-level private sector executives, senior Civil Servants and Government Ministers on four continents. Dr. Kerr is particularly keen on developing, analyzing and implementing public policies that can be implemented at low cost, rapidly and to the benefit of a significant number of persons. In addition, Dr. Kerr is an agricultural economist and agronomist by training and practice and has worked the international Agribusiness Value Chain – from the farms and rural agrarian systems of the Caribbean to the food distribution channels (fresh and processed produce) of the UK. Prior to becoming an international learning facilitator and management consultant, Dr. Kerr obtained his early grounding with the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, served internationally with the Jamaica Producers Group Limited and at the Capital & Credit Merchant Bank Limited. Dr. Kerr has published extensively and is a 2010 Scholar of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN). Dr. Kerr obtained a Doctorate in Business Administration (Corporate Governance and Public Policy) from the University of Manchester, Manchester Business School, England; MBA from Rutgers Business School (USA) and BSc and ASc degrees in Agriculture from The University of the West Indies (UWI) and College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE), Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, respectively.

Recent clients/assignments:

Public Sector Advisory and Consulting:
Role: Sole Consultant/Advisor – Governance
Project: Clarifying the Corporate Governance Framework for Public Bodies of Jamaica
Client Organisation: Cabinet Office of Jamaica
Outcome: Develop the Countries first and only Corporate Governance Framework for Public Bodies(Passed by both houses of Parliament by 2011/Sept), Funded by IDB.

Lead Consultant/Advisor – Corporate Governance
Project: Strengthening the Corporate Governance Framework for Public Bodies, (2010) (Funded by IDB)
Client Organisation: Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Jamaica
Outcomes:

  • Draft Corporate Governance Code of Conduct for Directors
  • Draft National Code of Conduct for Auditors
  • Framework for Selections and Appointments of Directors of State-Owned Enterprises and Public Bodies
  • Framework Protocol delineating Communication and Relationship between Permanent Secretaries and Public Bodies under their Ministry (Responsible Ministry)
  • Framework for Enterprise Risk Management Implementation throughout the Government and specifically for State-owned Enterprise

Project Manager/Consultant
Project: Trafficking in Persons (TIP) – 2006-2007) (Funded by IDB)
Client Organisations: Ministry of National Security and Ministry of Justice, Jamaica (Funded by Government of Jamaica and IDB)
Role: Supervised five (5) sub-components/Consultants, Secretary for Steering Committee chaired by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice; produced monthly report for Meetings; produced draft Cabinet Briefs and Notes for the PS.

Served as the first reviewer of consultant reports.

Key Outcomes:

  • Draft Trafficking in Persons Legislation (Trafficking in Persons Act) which was fast track into law
  • Educational Training/Awareness on TIP for Judges and National Security Personnel etc.
  • Comprehensive Report delineating the Extent and Nature of Trafficking in Persons throughout Jamaica

Consultant Advisor (2009)

Project: “Investigation into and Evaluation of Permanent Secretaries Interferences (Meddling) in the day-to-day affairs of Public Bodies and State-Enterprises under their watch”

Client Organisation:  Tourism Enhancement Fund/Ministry of Tourism Jamaica

Critical Finding: Actions and Practices of a select few PSs were pervasive and inappropriate

Critical Result:  Prime Minister on receipt of my Report via the Minister of Tourism, as effected an executive order via Cabinet banning all Permanent Secretaries from sitting on State Boards under their watch as well as the execution of corporate governance training for PSs.

Strategic Planning Advisor/Facilitator/Consultant

Advised on, Developed Strategic Plans for and Provided Strategic Planning Training to the following selected Governmental Bodies:

  • TECU Cooperative Credit Union Limited, Trinidad and Tobago
  • Forestry Department, Jamaica (2012)
  • Ministry of Tourism Jamaica/Tourism Development Company Limited (2010)
  • Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Jamaica (2010)
  • Fiscal Services, Jamaica (2010)
  • Coffee Industry Board, Jamaica (2007)
  • National Insurance Board, The Turks and Caicos Islands (2004)

Corporate Governance Training:

  1. Designed and delivered training in Effective Corporate Governance for The Government of Barbados top 25 most Senior Civil Servants who serve as members of State-owned Boards, March 2017
  2. Conducted Effective Corporate Governance and Corporate Secretaryship training for a mixed group of Private and Public Sector clients drawn from across the Caribbean, March 2017
  3. Designed and facilitated training for Massy Group (Trinidad) Board of Directors, May 2016
  4. Designed and trained top (20 +) Senior Executives of ATL Automotive Group (Jamaica) in Management Development, June 2016
  5. Designed and delivered two-day Effective Corporate Governance, Accountability & Board Leadership Workshop for Directors and Senior Managers, National Entrepreneurship Development Company Ltd (NEDCO), Trinidad and Tobago, 2015
  6. Designed and delivered two-day Effective Corporate Governance, Accountability & Board Leadership Workshop for Directors and Senior Managers, Williams Group Barbados, 2015
  7. Designed and delivered two-day Effective Corporate Governance & Business Ethics Workshop for Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TTAT), 2014
  8. Designed and delivered one-day Effective Corporate Governance, Accountability and Board Leadership Workshop for Eastern Port of Spain Development Company Ltd. (Trinidad), 2013
  9. Designed and delivered two-day Effective Corporate Governance Workshop for National Information and Communications Company Ltd. (i-GovTT), (Trinidad), 2012
  10. Designed and delivered one-day Effective Corporate Governance Workshop for Directors and Senior Managers, National Water Commission, Jamaica, 2011
  11. Designed and delivered one-day Effective Corporate Governance Workshop for Eastern Port of Spain Development Company Ltd. (Trinidad), 2010
  12. Designed and delivered two-day training workshop in Effective Corporate Governance to all senior managers and Board of Directors of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Jamaica, 2010
  13. Designed and delivered two-day Effective Corporate Governance Workshop for Public Bodies-Parastatals, SOEs, and governance agencies in Mauritius on behalf of Jessinanome & Associates (South Africa), April 2009
  14. Designed and delivered one-day Effective Corporate Governance Workshop for National Health Fund Board of Directors and Senior Management, March 2009, Jamaica
  15. Designed and delivered two-day Corporate Governance Workshop for Caribbean Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ), including 12 Standard Bureaus from across CARICOM, held in Trinidad and Tobago, September 2008.
  16. Trinidad & Tobago Postal Corporation (TT POST), separate facilitation held for managers, 2007
  17. Designed and delivered two-day Corporate Governance Workshop for Government Ministers, Board of Directors, and senior executives of Social Security Organisations drawn from 12 CARICOM states, held in the Republic of Dominica and hosted by Dominica Social Security, April 9-11, 2006.
  18. Designed and delivered one-day Effective Corporate Governance Workshop for Water and Sewerage Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (WASA), 2006
  19. Designed and delivered one-day Effective Corporate Governance Workshop for Coffee Industry Board (Jamaica), December 2005
  20. Central Information Technology Office (CITO), Jamaica , 2005
  21. Designed and delivered the first Institutionalised Programme in Effective Corporate Governance for the Caribbean at the Management Institute for National Development (MIND), and trained 22 Senior Government Officials, including several Deputy Financial Secretaries, June 2004.