By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 27, 2019 — My Facebook reminder this morning is an advertisement promoting an upcoming event at the Bahamas Embassy in Washington, D.C. that I posted on October 27, 2015, when I was Press, Cultural Affairs and Information Manager at the Embassy for four-plus years until the change of government in May of 2017.
“The Young Bahamians Conversation Series” was the brainchild or Mikhail Bullard, who at the time was Third Secretary at the Embassy, and it was introduced on Friday, June 12, 2015, with Aisha Bowe, an aerospace engineer, who had worked as a researcher at the NASA Ames Research Center before becoming co-founder and CEO of STEMBoard, a technology services company.
With strong support from His Excellency Dr. Eugene Newry, the then Bahamas Ambassador to the United States, The Young Bahamians Conversation Series was aimed at providing a forum for young Bahamians in the diaspora in the Washington, D.C. area “to present and dialogue on their research or work and cultivate ideas for the betterment of The Bahamas.”
Held at the Embassy, 2220 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., it was always very well attended and presented on Friday nights so that Bahamians in the diaspora and friends of The Bahamas could socialize during a reception that followed.
When she was the featured speaker on November 6, 2015, Khandra Sears, PhD, discussed the various aspects of science in general and its importance as a research discipline.
She was at the time a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and during her presentation she used PowerPoint “to simplify her more-than-one-hour highly technical remarks,” according to a report posted on the Embassy’s website
According to the report on the website, Dr. Sears was introduced by Third Secretary Bullard, who noted that she graduated from St. Anne’s High School in Nassau in 1998 and subsequently earned Ontario Academic Credits at a small school in Toronto before heading to the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill campus in Barbados, adding that she gives credit to her high school science teachers for helping cultivate her interest in science by letting students do small experiments outside of class time.
Beyond regular courses at Cave Hill, Dr. Sears took project options in Analytical Chemistry, Microbial Ecology and Microbiology that afforded a wide variety of research experiences. In the summer between her third and fourth year and after she graduated, she took a year off and volunteered in a research lab at the American Red Cross Holland labs in Rockville, Maryland, where she was mentored by another Bahamian, Dr. Gregory Carey.
Dr. Sears is the daughter of former Bahamas Ambassador to Washington, D.C., Joshua Sears (2000 to 2006) and Michelle Sears. As Mr. Bullard noted, “many Bahamians in the D.C-area diaspora can very well remember her dedication and passion in promoting the Bahamian cultural expression of Junkanoo during the annual D.C. Carnival parade.”
Former Ambassador Joshua Sears currently is Senior Policy Adviser to Prime Minister the Most Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis, and given his excellent record during is tenure as the country’s top diplomat in Washington, D.C., I am certain that he would agree with my conclusion that The Young Bahamians Conversation Series should be reinstated as a regular feature at the Embassy in D.C., not because of the stellar contributions of his daughter, but rather because it is a excellent initiative.
This past summer, Mikhail Bullard, who introduced the event at the Embassy, graduated with a Master’s of Science degree in Finance from Georgetown University. I am not sure he is still attached to the Embassy, but he supposedly is still working in the Washington, D.C. area in some governmental capacity.
Indeed, he regularly is very much involved in events organized by the Bahamian-American Association of the Washington Metropolitan Area (BAAWMAR), as was the case with the “Boo & Booze! A Hurricane Dorian Relief Fundraiser” event held on Friday evening, October 25, 2019 on the rooftop of Woodland Building, 733 15th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.
Surely, Mr. Bullard should be encouraged by the current Bahamas Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Sidney Collie, to revive The Young Bahamians Conversation Series.
