Genevieve Whitaker Elected To Serve On U.S. Executive Board Of Election Assistance Commission

ST. CROIX — Deputy Elections System Supervisor Genevieve Whitaker, who serves as the local elections official member for the Virgin Islands as a Standard board member with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, was elected to serve on the commission’s Executive Board for the Standards Board, which is an advisory board, during the E.A.C.’s most recent Standards Board meeting, held in Carlsbad, California from April 14-15, according to a press release issued on Thursday.

Executive Board election results are in! New members are: Genevieve Whitaker (VI) & Sally Williams (MI). Congratulations! #beready16

— Election Asst. Comm. (@EACgov) April 14, 2016

The Standards Board is one of the two advisory boards of the E.A.C. as established by the Help America Vote Act (H.A.V.A) of 2002, and is made up of 110 members of state and local elections officials from all of the states and territories, according to the release. The other advisory board is the Board of Advisors, a 37-member board made up of federal, state and local government entities officials and election entities such as the National Association of State Election Directors.

“It’s a humbling experience to have been elected to this prestigious body, and in representing the Virgin Islands as the local elections official,” Ms. Whitaker told The Consortium.

Ms. Whitaker will join her fellow Executive Board members in leading the Standards Board mandate to carryout H.A.V.A. in assisting with the development of the voluntary voting system guidelines. Additionally, Ms. Whitaker, as part of her election to the Executive Board, was appointed to chair the Clearinghouse Committee, a H.A.V.A.-mandated entity (Section 202) which is the centralized resource hub of resources and information for the administration of federal and local elections.

Elsewhere, Ms. Whitaker was recently appointed to serve as an International Election Observer (one of the 23 international observers from 17 countries, representing the U.S. Virgin Islands) with the Organization of American States for the February 25, 2016 Jamaican Parliamentary elections. Info here.

By way of background, Ms. Whitaker is the president & co-founder of the Virgin Islands Youth Advocacy Coalition, Inc., a non-profit established to promote the political and civic engagement of young people in the Virgin Islands. She was the 2009 Business and Professional Women Young Careerist and formerly served on several local non-profit boards: Board member and St. Croix Unit Leader of the League of Women Voters of the USVI; and first vice-president of the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Network. On the national level, Ms. Whitaker is a former board member of the United Nations Association of the USA, Tampa Bay Chapter and Chair of the UNA-USA’s Young Professional for International Cooperation Tampa Bay Chapter, and former board member of the DC-based non-profit, Partners for Freedom & Democracy.

Ms. Whitaker received her law degree from Stetson University College of Law, serving as a Public Service Fellow and received the Public Service Recognition Award from Stetson’s Advocacy Board for her exemplary service locally and worldwide. She was also recognized there as an outstanding graduate.

Recently, Ms. Whitaker obtained certificates in women’s leadership and received an Executive Education Program Certificate as a 2014 participant of Harvard University Kennedy School of Government’s “Women and Power: Leadership in a New World” program. In 2013, she participated in the first cohort of Oxford University Said School of Business’ “Women Transforming Leadership” program for which she received an Executive Education certificate. Ms. Whitaker also received certificates in International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law from the University of Oxford/George Washington University School of Law and Santa Clara University Law School, respectively. Ms. Whitaker received her bachelor of arts degree in government and world affairs from the University of Tampa with Honors Program Distinction.