About Director
Desi Brown, an avid lover of creative arts and culture, has been dancing since the age of 7. With almost 20 years of experience in Dance, Desi has made several strides within the industry home and abroad. At home, besides several appearances on the national stage as a performer, Desi has contributed to the development of many dancers when she became a tutor and choreographer with Nubian Arts Productions, CFBC Dance Ensemble, The Learning Empowerment of the Arts Programme (LEAP) and as a freelance choreographer training individuals and groups for competitive dance and opening numbers.
As a member of LEAP, she received award such as Dancer of the Year for the company and her class on few occasions, 1st place in exams and best solo performance from a student. In an effort to gain more knowledge and experience in dance, Desi attended the Edna Manley College School of Visual and Performing Arts, School of Dance, Summer Programme for Adults and shortly after became a part of the first cultural delegation from St. Kitts to be sent to Taiwan to participate in the Inaugural Latin American and Caribbean Cultural Festival with her main role as a dancer. Desi became the youngest and first Kittitian to choreograph for the prestigious Annual Miss Haynes Smith Caribbean Talented Teen Pageant.
With an undying interest for youth development as she became more aware of challenges youth face in her community and across the region. As a result, Desi became a member of the leading youth organization in St . Kitts , the St . Kitts National Youth Parliament Association (SKNYPA ), a founding and leading member of Young Intellects and established the Teen Spotlight Awards Programme , a peer recognition award system for students who participate in extracurricular activities and maintain a balance with their academia. Her commitment towards youth development earned her her first national award in the inaugural St . Kitts’ Top 25 Most Remarkable Teens in 2011 for Youth Activism. She was elected Chair of the Most Remarkable Teen Council which she led for the year.
During her time at the UWI Mona Campus (2013 – 2016) Desi blazed a trail in the performing arts. She made unforgettable contributions in the realm of pageantry as a pageant coach and even as a competitor in pageantry. She led the reconstruction of the Rex Nettleford Hall Dance Society in 2014 – 2015 academic year as President and Coach. The group was awarded the Most Improved Society on Rex for exceptional performances throughout the year. She was also a member of the University Dance Society and trained with many pre-professional companies throughout her time in Jamaica. Desi performed as a soloist and judged talent competitions and pageants. She received the Rex Nettleford Hall’s Premier Award for Culture for her invaluable contribution through extensive involvement in culture and outstanding leadership in 2014 – 2015 and in 2016 Certificate of Outstanding Performance for invaluable service, commitment and contribution to the spirit, culture and development of the Rex Nettleford Hall.
Along with her love for the arts , Desi is also passionate about global affairs and diplomacy, as a result, she has volunteered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of St . Kitts-Nevis. She also attended the UNESCO Chair and Institute of Comparative Human Rights 8th Annual International Leadership Programme: A Global Intergenerational Training Forum on the University of Connecticut campus, Storrs, Connecticut, USA. There she expanded her knowledge by discussing issues of Human Rights in the international community. Desi was the youngest applicant and attendant of this forum of which 84 persons around the globe attended in August 2012. Following this, she was selected to represent the federation at the 8th UNESCO Youth Forum in Paris of October of 2013 and became the recipient of a funding scholarship by the Canadian Commission for UNESCO for one Caribbean person to attend this prestigious forum. Her outstanding reputation and representation earned her the title of the St. Kitts & Nevis UNESCO Youth Ambassador for 2013-2015 by her country’s National Commission for UNESCO.
Desi worked as a Journalist and Marketing Executive for a local radio station for two years, which have since allowed her to further develop her communication skills. This job opportunity allowed for her to ease into delivering other writing services for local companies in: writing and editing copy for both digital and print, proposal writing, resume writing, business plans, grant writing, proofreading and editing all of which she had been trained or exposed to during many other of her experiences at home or travel . She was first officially published in 2012, in the Serious Ting Magazine after writing an article “Arts: The Potential Gold Mine”. The article shares her passion for and experience within the creative arts industry and how the Caribbean should tap into the enormous revenue generating potential of Caribbean culture to diversify the economy . Since then, she has been making several moves to launch a blog on the culture and creative arts of the English speaking Caribbean islands called Kulcha Blog.
Desi is a holder of a Bsc. Degree in International Relations (Major) Business Management (Minor) from the University of the West Indies, Mona. She is currently in pursuit of becoming the top cultural industries entrepreneur and game changer in the creative arts industry in St. Kitts and Nevis and by extension the Caribbean region. Her main goal is to successfully combine diplomacy with cultural innovation and the promotion of Caribbean culture as an industry and as a tool of international peace and understanding in order to develop a world class Caribbean dance and cultural institute in order to train Caribbean people to world class dance standards and export Caribbean cultural events and products to top cultural capitals of the world.
She is now the founder and Managing Director of Poise SKN, a multi-discipline company offering creative, entertainment and personal services, in areas such as dance, pageantry and promotional marketing. A trained dancer herself, she launched the company when she was 21 years old and it is the manifestation of her passion for the creative arts and her strong belief in entrepreneurship as a vehicle for empowerment. Her efforts as an entrepreneur have continually been recognized, most notably in 2017 by the OECS Commission as one of the OECS’ Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30 years old. She has represented the Federation with distinction on numerous regional and international youth and cultural stages as a performer, youth parliamentarian or outstanding academic. Most recently, she was a speaker at the UNESCO International Council of Dance’s Biennial General Assembly, Co-Founder of Alarm-Clock, a talk show that focuses on expanding the dialogue and changing the landscape of how issues of politics and governance are discussed in her Federation and recently sat on a six person steering committee to establish the Professional Association for Creativity and Entertainment, a non-government organization to advance the entertainment and arts industries in St. Kitts & Nevis.
Ms. Brown continues to make an invaluable contribution to discussions on innovation and sustainable development in the Federation and the World as she is often called to participate in panel discussions to share her knowledge and expertise. Recently she participated in the UN75 E-Dialogue and the UN OECS and Barbados Youth Innovators Panel promoting the prioritization of Dance and the wider creative industry as a way to pursue economic diversification in the Caribbean region. Recently, she cofounded the Regional Organization of Women in Leadership (ROWL) with four other young women from St. Lucia, Dominica and Barbados. The organization was awarded the grant to coordinate the US Embassy’s Women in Politics Leadership Institute (WIPLI) 2021 of which Desi is Team Lead and the Project Co-ordinator in the organization.
Since establishing Poise SKN she continues to assist others in achieving excellence in their pursuit of their personal and professional goals.