The Honourable Minister Quincia Gumbs-Marie
Government of Anguilla
Minister of Sustainability, Innovation and the Environment
Elected to public office in June 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic quickly tested the mettle of the Honourable Quincia Gumbs-Marie. In her immediate capacity as the Parliamentary Secretary of Information Technology, Natural Resources, Economic Development and Tourism, Gumbs-Marie quickly accepted the role as tsar: jumpstarting the economy, hyper communication and changing scenes of a world locked down by the unprecedented times. Balance and ingenuity served as the rudder which she used to pilot Anguilla’s Tourism reopening strategy. Mrs. Gumbs-Marie is an environmentalist at heart whose passion led to the creation of the Blue Anguilla (BANG) Committee, which focuses on expanding new opportunities in the Blue Economy whilst safeguarding the environment. Her delivery of the BANG Paper at COP26 and the subsequent launch of key programs and initiatives post its positioning continues to set benchmarks regionally and internationally. July 2022 saw the creation of a new Ministry within the Government of Anguilla which Mrs. Gumbs-Marie now leads as the Honourable Minster of Sustainability, Innovation and the Environment. Minister Gumbs-Marie’s portfolio includes responsibility for thematic areas such as Conservation, Renewable Energy Development, Climate Change, Food Security and Information and Communications Technology. Her political career has been instrumental in making issues of Sustainable Development and Climate Change household conversations amongst the average Anguillian. The Minister is known and celebrated for her no-nonsense approach and her penchant for sifting through the politics and getting on with progress. In spite of this, she admits to being painfully aware of the limitations placed on women in politics, particularly in roles that are not typically reserved for women such as Agriculture and Fisheries, which also form part of her Ministry. To this, Minister Gumbs Marie simply says, “my work speaks for the women who came before me but were denied and the girl who will succeed me and thrive”.