Irene Sandiford-Garner

Irene Sandiford-Garner (born 4 August 1961) is a Barbadian politician, journalist, businesswoman and activist, who is a member of the Democratic Labour Party and national delegate to the Inter-American Commission of Women.

Early life and education

Sandiford-Garner was born in the United Kingdom and moved to Barbados at the age of eight.{{cite web|url=http://caribbeanelections.com/bb/bb_elections_2013/candidates_2013/Irene_Sandiford_Garner.asp|title=Profile:Irene Sandiford-Garner|publisher=Caribbeanelections.com|accessdate=10 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304041206/http://caribbeanelections.com/bb/bb_elections_2013/candidates_2013/Irene_Sandiford_Garner.asp|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}

She grew up in Saint Andrew Parish,{{cite web|url=http://www.caribbeanelections.com/bb/bb_elections_2008/candidates_2008/dlp/IreneSandifordGarner.asp|title=Irene Sandiford-Garner|publisher=Caribbeanelections.com|accessdate=10 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025954/http://www.caribbeanelections.com/bb/bb_elections_2008/candidates_2008/dlp/IreneSandifordGarner.asp|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}} and received her education at St. Andrew's Girls' Primary School, Queen's College, Barbados Community College and the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill Campus. She also received a scholarship by an earlier employer, the Nation Publishing Company, to study in the US at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

Career

Sandiford-Garner has been cited as the first female Barbadian journalist to land on Grenada after US intervention in 1983.{{cite web|url=http://www.scm.oas.org/pdfs/2010/CIM02836-1.pdf|title=SENATOR V.IRENE SANDIFORD-GARNER, MBA|publisher=Scm.oas.org|accessdate=10 September 2015}}

Between 1995 and 2006 Sandiford-Garner served as a marketing manager for Barbados's largest credit union, in which she was responsible for launching them in the US, a year after she became employed with them.

After a career in journalism and marketing, Sandiford-Garner joined the Democratic Labour Party . Since February 2008 she has been a senator and Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Culture and Community Development, and since August 2008, she has been a national delegate to the Inter-American Commission of Women.{{cite web|url=http://gisbarbados.gov.bb/index.php?categoryid=15&p153_action=viewlink&profileid=19|title=Senator Irene Sandiford-Garner|publisher=BGIS|accessdate=9 September 2015}} She has also been involved in the 25th Regional Women of the Church of God Symposium, various UNIFEM workshops across the Caribbean, and was a featured speaker for the 2009 International Women's Day symposium, held by the National Organization for Women (NOW).