Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar received the People’s Choice Leader Award at the 2025 Caribbean Global Awards, held at the Cumberland Hotel in London on September 27.
The award, determined by public vote, saw Persad-Bissessar top a list that included Barbados’ Mia Mottley, St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Ralph Gonsalves, Jamaica’s Andrew Holness, and Guyana’s Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali. Ralph Gonsalves placed second, Mottley third, and Holness and Ali finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Addressing the ceremony via video from New York, Persad-Bissessar said, “It is indeed a profound honour to accept the Caribbean Global People’s Choice Leader Award 2025. I do regret not being with you in person. However, my duties at the United Nations General Assembly have called me to New York where I carry the voice of Trinidad and Tobago and of our small island nations, speaking for resilience, fairness and the dignity and future of all people, especially our children.”
She stressed that the award reflects collective achievement. “Yet even as I stand on that world stage, my heart is here with you because this award belongs not to me alone but to all of us who believe that unity is our greatest strength.”
Persad-Bissessar reflected on her upbringing and journey into leadership, saying, “I was born in colonial Trinidad into a poor family in the rural village of Siparia. My late mother Rita sold roti to support our family whilst my father Lalraj worked as a bookkeeper. From those humble beginnings to becoming the first woman Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, I learned that leadership is not a privilege but a duty to serve.”
Highlighting her achievements in public service, she said, “Throughout four decades of public service, I have sought to turn compassion and equality into action. As Prime Minister from 2010-2015, my Government created the Children’s Life Fund, we advanced universal secondary education, we formed the SEA and we provided laptops for every student, and we also expanded higher learning.”
On her current term, she added, “I continue that mission, revitalising the economy, modernising energy, advancing digital transformation, and ensuring governance that is transparent, inclusive and centred on people’s lives.”
Persad-Bissessar also emphasised the broader purpose of recognition, saying, “Tonight’s celebration is more than an award; it is a reminder that recognition must serve a purpose. Even when progress feels like two steps forward and one back, we must keep faith, choosing evidence over noise, dignity over cynicism, inclusion over indifference and truth over silence.”
She made a heartfelt call to action for communities and leaders, urging them to “lift up one vulnerable child, show them that they can lead. Open the doors of your classrooms, your workplaces, your creative spaces and let them see what is possible. Share with them the struggles of past generations so they know resilience is our inheritance.”
Persad-Bissessar concluded: “Our ancestors forged democracies from broken colonial fragments, from stolen lives, from stolen dignity and from stolen heritage, and yet still they endured so that we could rise. In lifting the most vulnerable, we transform talent into leadership, hope into history and ensure the promise of our countries and the survival of our generations to come.”
She also congratulated her fellow honorees, noting that their achievements “proved that when courage meets collaboration, together we shine brighter.”
