Water warriors – Candice Santana, Laurayne Lucky

WHEN Candice Santana and Laurayne Lucky stepped into their respective roles as president and executive director of the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA), they made quiet history.

For the first time since the organisation was founded in 1991, both leadership positions are held simultaneously by women. Their partnership signals a shift in how leadership looks, how decisions are shaped and how the region might navigate its urgent water and sanitation challenges.

At the highest levels, the gender imbalance is obvious. Santana pointed out at the CWWA’s High-level Forum, a space for ministers and heads of utilities of the region, that there are only two women in the group.

But neither woman is interested in being celebrated simply for being “first.” Both Santana, 39, and Lucky, 44, have spent decades preparing themselves, academically and professionally, for the work they now lead. And both are adamant that they are not interested in being tokens.

Santana wants women to be able to earn their positions, not be given them to meet some diversity, equity and inclusion quota. She herself spent a lot of time, energy and money gaining education and experience.

“Do not put me in the ring to just tick a box, especially if you don’t really want to hear what I have to say. And that is something, as a young woman, that I have been very conscious of.

“Over the last decade, I have seen where, because you’re a certain age and you’re a woman, they use you to tick two boxes. They use you to tick the youth box, and they use you to tick the woman box. Don’t tokenise me.”

Another issue she faces is that as a young woman in leadership, she said, people often want to give her unnecessary advice.

“Sometimes you need to sit back from all the advice and use your discernment and hear your voice through the noise. You have to sit and analyse the situation, and really bring your innovation to the table and understand the best direction, the next best step, for the organisation or for the sector.”

Lucky, who leads the CWWA’s secretariat, is equally familiar with the challenges of being a woman in a demanding STEM-based science, technology, engineering and maths) sector.

She said water and sanitation is a challenging field for everyone, but even more so for women.

Santana joined the CWWA board in 2016, serving a total of six years before being elected president in 2024. Her term ends in October 2026, after which she plans to serve a year as immediate past president, then join the Past Presidents’ Council to continue contributing to the organisation and the region.