By Sue-Ann Wayow
CANDACE Bond has been sworn-in as the new US Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago.
She was ceremoniously sworn-in by US Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday.
Bond was nominated by US President Joe Biden this March to take up the role at the US Embassy in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
She will be the first substantive US ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago since Joseph Mondello, who was appointed on July 2, 2018, under the Donald Trump Administration. Mondello left office on January 13, 2021. He died in August at the age of 84.
The US Embassy since has been headed by chargé d’affaires Shante Moore.
About Bond
According to the US Department of State, Bond currently serves as the President and CEO of AESA Inc., a Los Angeles-based company offering business advisory services in real estate and community development with an emphasis on environmental stability, governance, education, and health equity.
As a committed social entrepreneur and corporate strategist, she has engaged in both the public and private sectors to drive community development and have a meaningful and sustainable social impact.
Presently, she also serves as a Board Member of California Head Start, is the Chair-Elect of the Board of the Greater LA Education Foundation, and Chair of the MLK Health and Wellness Community Development Corporation.
She is a founding member of BioscienceLA, LA County’s Innovation and Catalyst Entrepreneurial Hub to accelerate growth and development of LA County’s bioscience industry. She also served on the Board of the Los Angeles County Office of Education, the nation’s largest regional education agency.
Earlier in her career she was the President and CEO of Infusion Media Partners and VP and General Manager of Essence Entertainment.
She is Chair of the Malibu Foundation and Board Member of Women Founders Network, and member of the Southern California Edison Clean Energy Access Working Group. She also serves on the California State Treasurer’s Housing, Economic Development, Jobs and Opportunity Zone Ad Hoc Committee.
Bond graduated cum laude with her BA from Harvard University and her MBA from Harvard University Business School and is the recipient of a number of leadership and service awards.
“Her wide-ranging business background, her commitment to effecting meaningful and sustained social change, and her experience in addressing issues of health, housing, education and workforce development, make her a well-qualified candidate for Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago,” the website states.
