Dr. Karen Pilgrim becomes first female Chair of Caribbean RADO

Jun 14, 2025 Sports

Caribbean RADO Executive Committee 2025-2028, [L-R] Rheeza Grant (Trinidad and Tobago), Dr. Adrian Lorde (Barbados), Chairperson Dr. Karen Pilgrim (Guyana), Vice-Chair Patrick Werleman (Aruba), Mitchell de Palm (Bonaire)

Outgoing Chair Patrick Werleman (Aruba) passing the gavel to new Chair Dr. Karen Pilgrim (Guyana).

Kaieteur Sports – Guyanese Dr. Karen Pilgrim has made history by becoming the first female Chairperson of the Caribbean Regional Anti-Doping Organization (RADO), following her unopposed election at the organization’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Barbados on June 8.

Representing Guyana, Dr. Pilgrim currently serves as the country’s Member Representative and is a retired veterinarian and former Vice-President of the Guyana Olympic Association.

She previously held the position of Director on the Caribbean RADO Executive Committee.

As she assumes leadership, Dr. Pilgrim emphasized the importance of strategic partnerships and capacity-building across the region.

“Our relationships with our respective governments and National Olympic Committees will be of paramount importance,” Dr Pilgrim.

Calling for the development for more human resources with respect to anti-doping within the Caribbean, Dr Pilgrim added, that while the Caribbean RADO has done a lot as an organization, their goal now is to build greater capacity in each of their 18 Member Countries.

“We would love to see at least one dedicated full-time staffer assigned to anti-doping programmes in each country. Increasing funding will also be a priority for our organization, following the establishment of our marketing committee,” Dr Pilgrim said.

Joining Dr. Pilgrim on the new Executive Committee, all elected unopposed, are outgoing Chairperson Patrick Werleman (Aruba) who now serves as Vice-Chair, former Vice-Chair Adrian Lorde (Barbados), and Rheeza Grant (Trinidad and Tobago), who continue as Directors.

The newest addition is Mitchell de Palm of Bonaire, who also heads the newly formed Marketing Committee.

De Palm outlined sustainability as a central theme for the committee’s upcoming term, pointing out at that “revenue generation will be one of the major things on our agenda. The primary task right now is assessing our previous efforts, building on those efforts, while exploring new approaches to securing funding for future endeavors. These initiatives will then benefit all of our member territories.”

The AGM on June 8 capped a busy weekend that included a Member Country Capacity Building Training Workshop on the Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS), conducted by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on June 6.

On June 7, Member Country Representatives participated in an intensive Strategic Planning Workshop led by Jane Rumble, Chief Executive of UK Anti-Doping, as part of the lead-up to Caribbean RADO’s next strategic cycle (2026–2030).

The weekend concluded with a joint celebratory dinner with the hosts, the National Anti-Doping Commission (NADC) of Barbados, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Caribbean RADO will mark its 20th anniversary on November 12.

The Virgin Islands were confirmed as hosts for the next AGM in 2026, which will take place in St. Thomas.

Caribbean RADO, Dr Karen Pilgrim, first female Chair, Patrick Werleman

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