MAC Board

Executive Board Members

General Board Members

Isabelle Britto, International African American Museum, USA

Kassie Edwards, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, USA

 Kara Roopsingh, Police Service Museum, Trinidad and Tobago

Matthieu Ecrabet Center of Animation and Interpretation of the Amerindian Culture of Vivé, CAP Nord Martinique, Martinique

Nimah Muwakil-Zakuri, Central Bank Museum, Trinidad and Tobago

 Yasmina Annibal, Le Mur Guadeloupe

 Zhwendeline Pieter, Association of Museums and Heritage of Curaçao, Vikto Bartholomeus Museum

Board Biographies

Executive

Shani Roper, PhD, is Curator of the University of the West Indies Museum and former Research Officer and Acting Director of Liberty Hall: The Legacy of Marcus Garvey. Her research and curatorial interests explore themes such as public history and preservation, histories of Caribbean childhood, museums education and community engagement, and pedagogical approaches to the study of history. As chair of the MAC-ICOM Barbados Museum Define Committee, she led the research program which culminated in the publication Accessing Caribbean Definitions of A Museum: Preliminary Assessment (2022). She has also published articles on Afro-Jamaican childhood and social policy in Jamaica.

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Elena Strong is the Executive Director of the National Museum of Bermuda (NMB). Her recent focus has been on shifting how history is shared and taught on the island. Elena and the NMB use participatory and transformative learning approaches to provide multiple entry points for people to better connect with Bermuda’s past; for example, community crowdsourcing projects, digital storytelling, genealogy, contemporary art exhibits, and formal learning programmes such as the award-winning Tracing Our Roots/Routes programme. Through this work, NMB aims to ensure learning Bermuda history is part of every educational journey on the Island. Elena holds a MMSt from University of Toronto and BSc in Anthropology from University College London, England.

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Ana Elizabeth González is the Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Museo del Canal Interoceánico de Panamá, leading its institutional transformation since 2020. In 2024, she spearheaded Panama’s first national pavilion at the Venice Biennale. An archaeologist by training, she previously worked in cultural diplomacy and corporate philanthropy in London. She is president of Panama’s National Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

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Lourdes Ranero is Chief Registrar at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum in Florida, with over twenty years of experience in the museum field. Committed to advancing art, education, conservation, and social justice, she brings extensive expertise in collections management. In 2019, she received a travel fellowship from the Caribbean Museums Association (MAC) to attend its conference in Fort-de-France, Martinique. Since then, she has supported MAC through translations, event assistance, and active service on the newsletter committee.

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Susan Garcia holds a Postgraduate Diploma in French Civilization and Culture from Paris 3-Sorbonne Nouvelle, where she specialized in cultural and heritage tourism, and a certificate in Protocol and Diplomacy from the Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean, University of the West Indies, St Augustine. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Susan has been living and working in the tourism and training sectors in Martinique for a number of years. Susan is a member of the Women Leaders in Athletics of the Americas. She was an Executive Assistant for MAC at its beginnings, and returned several years ago, bringing some of MAC’s history with her.

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General

Isabelle Britto is a researcher and curator whose work highlights the undertold histories of the African Diaspora, with a focus on transatlantic connections across the Black Atlantic. She is the Associate Curator at the International African American Museum in Charleston, SC, in the heart of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. Previously, she worked at Dutch institutions such as The Black Archives, the Wereldmuseum Amsterdam, and CBK Zuidoost on exhibitions about West African and Caribbean folklore and emancipation movements in the Dutch Caribbean and Suriname. She holds degrees in History and American Studies from the University of Amsterdam and Leiden University.

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Kassie M. Edwards is a museum professional of Jamaican heritage and a curatorial Research Assistant at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture, where she advances provenance research and acquisitions for incoming works of art created by African Americans and members of the African diaspora. She has coordinated major scholarly programs including Making African America: Immigration and the Changing Dynamics of Blackness and Washington Adventist University’s First Generation Ambassadors Symposium.

Kassie holds a BA in African American Studies (FSU), an MPA (Washington Adventist University), and studied Interior Design at Seminole State College. A dedicated advocate for survivors of sexual assault, she served ten years on the board of the DC Rape Crisis Center. Her leadership has been recognized with honors including White House Champion of Change and multiple awards for innovation and service.

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Kara Roopsingh is the Curator of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Museum where she oversees strategic planning, exhibition development, collections stewardship, and public engagement, with a focus on modernizing museum practices and expanding community reach. She is also a cultural heritage specialist with experience in strengthening cultural institutions, advancing preservation policy, and leading climate resilience initiatives in the Caribbean. She has successfully managed major international grants, led national cultural heritage programmes, and strengthened governance and resilience planning in collaboration with international organisations. A Fulbright Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow alum, she is one of the three founding Co-Directors of the Trinidad and Tobago Alliance of Museums (TTAM).

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Matthieu Ecrabet holds a Master 2 Research and a Master 2 Professional in Archaeology from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. He has worked for more than ten years as a territorial archaeologist and cultural mediator in Martinique and is currently a Scientific Advisor at the Center of Animation and Interpretation of the Amerindian Culture for CAP Nord, Martinique. Matthieu is working to create a Caribbean park of Amerindian life at the archaeological site of Vivé and is completing his thesis in Caribbean archaeology, studying pre-Columbian decorations from the Cedrosan Saladoïd period at the archaeological sites of Gradis, Dizac, and Fond Laillet in Martinique.

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Nimah Muwakil-Zakuri is an art historian by training. She graduated from the Universidad de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba in 2007 after spending six (6) years in a country that is now a second home to her. Upon her return to Trinidad and Tobago she began working at the National Museum and Art Gallery eventually heading the organization as Curator/Director before leaving in 2013. She is currently the Senior Curator of the Central Bank Museum, Trinidad and Tobago. At the Bank she is responsible for the Museum as well as the Bank’s 60 year old Art Collection, including programming and development. She is an IVLP alumnus in Cultural Heritage Preservation (2014) and a recipient of a Getty Fellowship to attend the American Alliance of Museum’s Annual conference (2015) to be a part of training sessions on Leadership in Museums with other curators from around the world. Nimah holds a Master of Philosophy in Cultural Studies from the University of the West Indies. Nimah served as a member of the Board of the National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad and Tobago from 2019 – 2025 and is a founding member of the Trinidad and Tobago Alliance of Museums.

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Yasmina Annibal originally from Martinique, Yasmina has been living in Guadeloupe for the past fifteen years. She is an Art Project Manager and the Co-founder of Le Mur Guadeloupe, a pioneering artistic and educational space that promotes public art and creative dialogue across the Caribbean.

With a background in business management and cultural project engineering, Yasmina has built a versatile career combining financial expertise, artistic vision, and social commitment. She collaborates with public institutions and private companies to design and implement projects that support social cohesion, inclusion through art, and the visibility of local artists in connection with those from the Greater Antilles and Canada.

Her career path, which includes positions in financial management and project coordination, reflects her strong sense of organization, adaptability, and leadership. Passionate about the transformative power of art, Yasmina is dedicated to developing creative bridges between territories and communities throughout the Caribbean region.

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Zhwendeline Pieter brings a multidisciplinary background in process engineering, art, and project management, grounded in a deep commitment to art, education, culture, and heritage. After completing her studies in Europe, she built international experience living and working in cities including Barcelona, Rotterdam, London, Bogotá, Valledupar, and Cape Town.

Now based on her home island of Curaçao, she serves as Chair of the Association of Museums and Heritage of Curaçao. She is also co-founder and curator of the Vikto Bartholomeus Museum, a family-owned open-air museum located on the former home site of cultural icon Sir Vikto Bartholomeus in Sta. Cruz, Curaçao. As a visual artist and heritage professional, Pieter focuses on preserving Curaçao’s cultural legacy while leading socially engaged and creative initiatives.

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