23 Mar 2023 Embert Charles re-elected as WACC president

The membership of WACC has elected Embert Charles, a communications and media specialist from the West Indies, to a second two-year term as president of the global association for communication rights, for 2023-2027.

Charles has been president of WACC Global since 2019. A native of Saint Lucia, he brings nearly 40 years of active membership in WACC, during which he also has served as president of WACC-Caribe, WACC’s regional association in the Caribbean.

“The re-election of Embert Charles is a sign of confidence in WACC’s leadership and in the new directions it is taking despite the inevitable setbacks of the Covid years,” said WACC General Secretary Philip Lee. “He will help reinvigorate WACC’s membership as well continuing to oversee WACC’s mandate and governance structure.”

Charles is a trained communications specialist and development worker with competencies and experiences in the management of grassroots organizations, and has worked extensively with regional civil society organizations in the Caribbean.

Accepting his nomination for re-election he said, “I am particularly eager to realize my vision and plans for our organization, which should continuously receive guidance and mandates from our members all over the world.”

Charles is the chair and former executive director of the Msgr. Patrick Anthony Folk Research Centre in Saint Lucia. He has held other leadership positions including communications advisor to the Natural Resources Management Unit of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), director of information services for the Government of Saint Lucia and head of the regional body for telecommunications regulation in the Eastern Caribbean.

He is a member of the National Steering Committee of the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme of the UN Development Programme in Saint Lucia. In addition to expertise in communications planning and media production, Charles advises on matters related to electronic communications policy and strategy, cultural administration, and environment issues.