For many Caribbean professionals building careers in the United States, Canada, and across the wider diaspora, navigating the workplace often comes with a familiar tension: balancing cultural identity with the pressure to perform, adapt and excel. As burnout rises across industries and professionals grapple with shifting workplace expectations, one Jamaican-born leadership strategist is sounding the alarm—and offering a new way forward.
Dr. Kerriann Peart, founder of Peart Consulting and a respected international leadership strategist, is leading a movement to help Caribbean and Caribbean American professionals reclaim their voice, cultural power and sense of self at work. The urgency of her work reflects broader trends: a 2023 Gallup report found that 44% of employees experience burnout “very often” or “somewhat often,” underscoring the strain facing workers, particularly women and professionals of color.
A Jamaica-Rooted Journey Into Leadership Transformation
Born and raised in Jamaica before migrating to the United States in 2001 for college, Dr. Peart’s career has spanned nonprofit HIV/AIDS advocacy, healthcare, education and corporate leadership. Yet at each stage, she encountered a recurring internal conflict familiar to many Caribbean-born professionals abroad: how to succeed in environments that often misunderstand directness, discipline and the work ethic shaped by Caribbean upbringing.
By 2020, burnout forced a reckoning. “My body made the decision before my mind could come to terms with what was going on,” she has shared publicly. That experience became the catalyst for Peart Consulting LLC, an organization dedicated to supporting professionals of color—particularly Caribbean women—through the emotional and cultural complexities of leadership.
Today, her firm helps clients unpack identity, pressure, and performance expectations, while also guiding organizations to create work environments rooted in cultural intelligence and well-being.
Centering EQ, CQ and Caribbean Identity
A cornerstone of Dr. Peart’s work is helping leaders strengthen both emotional intelligence (EQ) and cultural intelligence (CQ). For Caribbean professionals, often raised with messages such as “work hard” or “don’t make trouble,” these skills are critical for navigating predominantly white or culturally unfamiliar workplaces.
“EQ is understanding how we show up in the world,” she explains. “CQ is understanding how culture shapes that experience—ours and others’.”
Her approach resonates deeply with Caribbean and Caribbean American women who arrive at her coaching programs exhausted, overextended and unsure how to lead without compromising their integrity. That experience mirrors wider research: a 2022 McKinsey & Company report found that women leaders face burnout at rates up to 32% higher than men, reflecting the disproportionate emotional burden they carry.
Dr. Peart works to disrupt that cycle by helping women establish boundaries, reconnect with their authentic voice and develop leadership strategies that are culturally grounded rather than culturally suppressed.
“Many of us were taught to outwork everyone in the room,” she says, reflecting on the reality of Black women in corporate spaces. “But those same survival techniques often culminate in burnout as we climb the leadership ladder. It’s time to redefine what success looks like for Caribbean women.”
A Regional Vision With Global Reach
After spending just over two decades building her career in the United States, Dr. Peart has returned to the region and now lives in Barbados. From there, she splits her time between part-time teaching at the University of the West Indies, consulting for local and regional organizations, and supporting global clients through Peart Consulting.
Her work spans public health, education, corporate leadership and organizational strategy, with a strong emphasis on equity and human well-being. She has advised multinational companies, Caribbean institutions and U.S.-based nonprofits, consistently centering cultural nuance in leadership development.
Her regional efforts also include initiatives focused on chronic illness, mental health and workforce resilience—issues that continue to shape Caribbean public health and economic development.
A New Model of Leadership for the Caribbean Diaspora
At the heart of Dr. Peart’s message is an invitation for Caribbean professionals to lead from a place of grounded authenticity.
“Take a deep breath. Come back to your body. Ask yourself what you really need,” she tells clients. “When you lead from that place, you make better decisions and protect your well-being.”
For Caribbean Americans and diaspora professionals navigating multiple identities, Dr. Peart’s leadership philosophy is both affirming and liberating. It challenges traditional expectations and creates space for new leadership models—ones where cultural identity is treated as an asset, not a liability.
Her work reflects a broader shift among Caribbean professionals at home and abroad who are calling for workplaces where they can lead boldly, rest meaningfully and thrive without abandoning who they are.
In Dr. Peart’s words: “Leadership isn’t about fitting in. It’s about showing up fully as yourself—grounded, confident and aligned.”
