A Year of Outreach: Collaborations, Mentorships & Youth Spotlights in Data Science & AI
Message from the WIDS TT Ambassador
Yours in service,
Letetia Addison (PhD, SFHEA)
WiDS TT Ambassador
September 2026
2026 WiDS TT Event Highlights
- Spotlight Talks
- Seeing Data Differently: Making Insights Meaningful with Online Tools
- Beyond Risk Scores with Agentic AI for Caribbean Health
- Cari-Agri: A Unified Farming Ecosystem
- May 2026: NextWave – A Youth Climate Data Challenge Mentorship
- Aug 2026: Mentor Meetup
- Jul-Aug 2026: Climate Change AI Virtual Summer School 2026
- WiDS TT Virtual Community Meetup
- Youth Spotlight: – Mr. Marlon Mc Carthy
SPOTLIGHT TALKS
Seeing Data Differently: Making Insights Meaningful with Online Tools (October 2025)
Ms. Toni-Marie Noel, Data Quality Analyst and Blogger
From Trinidadian Doubles Data Creation to ChatGPT Prompt Engineering, Toni-Marie showed how curiosity and creativity can turn local experiences into powerful data projects. She also highlighted ethical data use, API management, and storytelling with data, encouraging attendees to ‘see beyond the numbers’.
Beyond Risk Scores with Agentic AI for Caribbean Health (March 2026)
Ms. Tamika Ramkissoon, Senior Product Manager, AI Engineer and WiDS TT Mentor
Tamika presented the EquiHeart Framework: a forward-looking approach designed to move healthcare beyond traditional risk scores towards adaptive, transparent and equitable systems. She also underscored why governance and equity can’t be afterthoughts in health AI, emphasizing focus on the people behind the scores.
Cari-Agri: A Unified Farming Ecosystem (June 2026)
Mr. Mithra Ramoutar, Agri-Tech Innovator, AI Developer and Founder of Cari-Agri
Mithra shared the story behind Cari-Agri, an agriculture-tech solution designed to support Caribbean farmers through AI, market access, digital tools, and a more connected farming ecosystem. Food security in the Caribbean was also a point of discussion.
MENTORSHIP & OUTREACH
UNFPA NextWave: A Youth Climate Data Challenge Mentorship (from May 2026, ongoing)
WiDS TT partnered with the UNFPA Caribbean for mentorship of participants in the NextWave: A Youth Climate Data Challenge competition. Mentorship took different forms across the different phases of the competition.
In the training and innovation development phases, participants were required to submit a proposal for a data-driven climate solution. To aid in proposal development, participants attended several training modules. TTLAB and WiDS TT hosted the second of these modules, ‘Designing Data Driven Solutions – Finding, Cleaning & Visualising Open Source Data’, delivered by Dr. Letetia Addison, Ms. Lesley-Ann Jurawan, Mr. Nicholas Smith and Ms. Kavita Jattansingh. Mentors also produced a detailed YouTube playlist covering similar topics to aid participants.
Eight finalists were selected and were required to pitch their tools in July. In preparation for this, mentors from TTLAB and WiDS TT offered office hour sessions to the finalists. Following this, three winners were selected. These winners are currently developing their tools, with extensive advice available from mentors.
Mentor Meetup (August 2026)
Mentors from WiDS TT and TTLAB who provided support for participants in the NextWave competition met up for lunch. Tokens of appreciation from WiDS TT and UNFPA Caribbean were distributed to mentors.
Pictured from left: Gregory Ollivierre, Denelle Mohammed, Lesley-Ann Jurawan, Daria Hypolite, Letetia Addison, Sophie O’Donoghue (UNFPA) and Abdullah Ali.
Climate Change AI Virtual Summer School 2026
WiDS TT served as an ambassador for Climate Change AI Virtual Summer School 2026. This programme focused on introducing students to various applications of AI for climate action. Modules included machine learning, weather, biodiversity, ethics and sustainability, and more. It ran from July 20 to August 22, 2026, with the opportunity to attain the certification until September 20.
WiDS TT hosted a study group comprising existing members and external persons, involving 26 participants in total. Several WiDS TT members have completed the requirements for the certification.
COMMUNITY & YOUTH SPOTLIGHT
WiDS TT Virtual Community Meetup (April 2026)
In April 2026, Dr. Letetia Addison, a member of the WiDS Global Leaders Committee, hosted a quarterly WiDS Community Meetup that brought together community members from across the global network.
The open session provided an opportunity for participants to share local updates, discuss challenges and emerging trends in AI, data science and education, and explore opportunities for future collaboration. Key concerns included adapting to rapid technological change, navigating the growing number of AI platforms, selecting appropriate tools and addressing ethical considerations.
Participants proposed several practical initiatives, including short video series on AI ethics, fundamentals and security; micro-credentials; networking activities; and educational content for working professionals and secondary school students. These ideas will be developed further at the next quarterly community meeting in September 2026.
Youth Spotlight - Mr. Marlon Mc Carthy
Through his youth-led YCSIPT (Youth Cyber Security Incidence Prevention Team) initiative, Mr. Marlon Mc Carthy is helping young people become more digitally resilient, cyber-aware and prepared to navigate an increasingly AI-driven world. His vision is a powerful example of youth leadership in action.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to our mentors, volunteers and partners for their invaluable support throughout 2026. Your time and expertise made every session, mentorship and outreach possible.
Contributing Mentors / Volunteers
Abdullah Ali
Daria Hypolite
Denelle Mohammed
Faith Persad
Fazeeia Mohammed
Gregory Ollivierre
Haddiyah Ali
Johnny Tiu
Julie Koon Koon
Kavita Jattansingh
Kayla Boyce
Lesley-Ann Jurawan
Malini Ramberran
Nicholas Smith
Priya Ramdial
Tamika Ramkissoon
Vidya Ramnarine
Special Thanks to Our Sponsors
UNFPA Caribbean
TTLAB