Kyana Bowen is a distinguished Caribbean leader in sustainable development, climate
resilience, and inclusive governance. Currently serving as the Executive Director of the United
Nations Global Compact Network Caribbean, Ms. Bowen is recognized across the region for
her unwavering commitment to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through
inclusive partnerships, resilient systems, and people-centered strategies.
Appointed to her current role in May 2024, Ms. Bowen leads the Caribbean network of the UN
Global Compact, which covers 19 countries in the region. Under her leadership, the Network
serves as a catalyst for aligning Caribbean businesses and institutions with the Ten Principles
of the UN Global Compact and the 2030 Agenda.
Before joining the UN Global Compact, Ms. Bowen served as the National Project Coordinator
for the International Labour Organization (ILO) Caribbean Office, where she played a pivotal
role in implementing the SDG Fund Joint Programme, Resilient Caribbean: Engaging and
Training Youth, Strengthening Integrated Social Protection Sector Delivery. Spanning three
Caribbean countries, this initiative focused on empowering youth, enhancing inclusive social
protection delivery, and building regional resilience—principles that are foundational to her
work and advocacy.
Ms. Bowen’s career is equally marked by her impactful contributions at the intersection of
gender, climate action, and disaster resilience. From 2020 to 2022, she was the Programme
Officer for Humanitarian Affairs, Climate Change, and Disaster Risk Resilience at the UN
Women Multi-Country Office for the Caribbean. In this role, she served as the Project Manager
for the landmark Enabling Gender-Responsive Disaster Recovery, Climate, and Environmental
Resilience in the Caribbean (EnGenDER) project. Implemented across nine Caribbean
countries, the EnGenDER project was instrumental in integrating gender perspectives into
climate and disaster risk management systems, amplifying the voices of women and girls in
national development processes, and driving policy reform to reduce systemic vulnerabilities.
Her track record of public service also includes national leadership in comprehensive disaster
management. From 2016 to 2019, Ms. Bowen served as the Senior Programme and Policy
Manager at the Department of Disaster Management and Emergencies in the Government of
the Turks and Caicos Islands. Her contributions at this institution laid the groundwork for more
resilient communities and governance systems, particularly in response to increasing climaterelated disasters.
She was instrumental in coordinating emergency preparedness and shaping
national disaster risk reduction strategies aligned with international frameworks such as the
Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Ms. Bowen’s earlier career experience includes five years with the Government of the Republic
of Trinidad and Tobago. She held the positions of Regional Planner at the Ministry of Local
Government and Rural Development, as well as Planning and Development Assistant at the
Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management. Both roles were central to advancing
national resilience efforts, especially for vulnerable and marginalized communities, and
integrating spatial and social planning into disaster risk reduction strategies.
