Shacara Ordia Lightbourne has studied Agriculture and Animal & Poultry Science at the College of the Bahamas and the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon Canada respectively. During her tenure at college she gained practical experience in her field assisting graduate students with feeding trials of tilapia and pigs. Ms. Lightbourne began her agricultural career at the age of 15 at the Ministry of Agriculture’s Gladstone Road Agriculture Centre (GRAC) where she worked for six summers thereafter. Ms. Lightbourne assisted in livestock management and production, farm record keeping as well as minor veterinary duties. She received the Farm Animal Council of Saskatchewan’s Animal Care award for her article entitled “The Little Pig’s House” which took a closer look at gestation stalls for sows. Upon returning home Ms. Lightbourne established of a micro business called GoLight Mobile Markets which offered door to door delivery of all Bahamian grown mixed fruits and vegetable boxes. As a part of her business she produced a variety of vegetable crops that she uses as inputs. Ms. Lightbourne has also worked at Dolphin Encounters Ltd as a Dolphin Trainer, Ardastra Gardens Zoo and Conservation Centre as a zookeeper and the Bahamas National Trust as an Environmental Education Officer. Ms. Lightbourne is currently the National Technical Specialist at the Inter-American Institute for the Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). As the National Technical Specialist, she has conducted and assisted in facilitating workshops in grant writing, aquaponics, backyard farming, PVS assessment, various craft workshops for women and HACCP. She has traveled to China for a 35 day Aquaculture Extension Training sponsored by the Chinese Embassy. She has written projects proposals/applications for IICA and its stakeholders and has co-managed a United Nations Women's project (Exuma Woman Project). She is an advisor for the Bahamas Agricultural Forum for Youth (BAFY) and has written and obtained grants for BAFY in addition to organizing agriculture camps. She regularly facilitates Think Tanks and information sessions for the public and private sector. Ms. Lightbourne is a strong liaison with the public and private sector and encourages regular collaborations between IICA and its stakeholder organizations regularly. Ms. Lightbourne strengths include logistics, workshop facilitation, animal science, agricultural marketing in the Bahamas, crop production, excellent command of the English language (spoken and written), project proposals and project management, networking. Ms. Lightbourne's particular interest includes integrated and sustainable agriculture, resource management, agricultural marketing, agro-tourism and entrepreneurship.