The Tribune

TEONYA Takahra Knowles, a graduate of St George’s High School, has become the latest recipient of an academic scholarship from the Grand Bahama Chapter of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA).

Miss Knowles, who obtained seven BGCSE passes at grade ‘C’ and above, this week received an award of $2,000 a year for two years of study at the College of The Bahamas (COB), where she will be pursuing an Associates of Arts Degree in Law and Criminal Justice. Her goal is to enter the field of Law.

The award is open to Bahamian citizens and Grand Bahama residents who are recent graduates from a high school on Grand Bahama island. They must have at least five BGCSEs at grade ‘C’ or above, including Mathematics and English, and a minimum Grade Point Average of 3.0 from high school.

Since 2006, FIDA has awarded eight scholarships - to Patrick Lamar Russell for Electrical Engineering; Kishmere Rolle for the field of Pharmacology; Destiny McKinney for Law; Pedro Neely for Biology with a minor in Chemistry; Abigail Wallace for Biology with a minor in Chemistry; Jessica Bain for Physics with a minor in Mathematics; and Angelique Smith for Biology with a minor in Chemistry. In 2009 FIDA introduced a book grant for $500 for a student or students attending COB in recognition of their outstanding academic achievement. One grant is given in memory of Nekcarla Grant, a FIDA member who died at 36. This year FIDA has announced the award of three book grants to Tamarind Johnson, a graduate of St George’s High School and presently enrolled at COB’s Oakes Field Campus; Tominitra King, a graduate of Grand Bahama Catholic High School who is pursuing a degree in Banking and Finance; and Shavanya Roberts, also a graduate of Grand Bahama Catholic High School, who is pursuing an Associates Degree in Law and Criminal Justice. Miss King is the recipient of the Nekcarla Grant Book Grant.

The FIDA Scholarship Committee is comprised of a representative from COB, Dr Coralee Kelly; Petra Hanna-Weekes, FIDA member and partner at Graham, Thompson & Co; Aisha Stuart-Smith, FIDA Vice President and associate at Graham, Thompson & Co; Jethlyn Burrows, FIDA Regional Vice President for North America and the Caribbean and partner at Meridian Law Chambers; and Charisse Brown, Senior Legal Counsel of the Grand Bahama Development Company Limited, who chairs the committee.

FIDA is an international non-governmental organisation first organised in Mexico City in 1944 to promote the principles and aims of the United Nations in their legal and social aspects. Members and affiliates from 80 countries meet every second year in the country of the current president, in rotation among five areas of the world. Individual membership is open to male and female law graduates admitted to practice in their respective countries or eligible to be admitted.

FIDA New Providence was re-established as a chapter in March.