Sonia Clarke

Community Leader, Association Member

The immediate success of the Barbados Support Group, (BSG), a group focused on direct assistance to those in need in Barbados, the most recently formed in New York, was largely due to Sonia Clarke. She not only brought great energy and organizational skills, but important connections.

Sonia is leading where more Barbadians need to follow to maintain a Barbados presence in New York and elsewhere, and associations should note to build the necessary connections to survive as members age and the environment changes.

Very active in her community, she is Vice Chair of the 120-year-old Flatbush-Tompkins Congregational Church, a Board Member of the historic Wyckoff House Museum and a member of Community Board 17 Commerce Committee and Blocks Association Committee.

The committees work with City officials to identify areas where the City should spend allocated resources through the participatory budget. Sonia also works with local officials to help carve legislation for her community by educating residents how to let their voices be heard and how to work collectively to have forceful and meaningful impact on legislative items.

She also assists planning and coordinating community fairs (health, housing, etc), symposiums, and other collaborative events that improves the lives within her community and beyond.

Additionally, Sonia has also been a member of the Brooklyn45 team for 15 years. Brookly45 is a community TV organization dedicated to publicizing events and discussing issues affecting communities, with a wider ambit now than its concentration on Brooklyn initially. She is also an Emergency Radio operator of CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) through NYCEM (New York City Emergency Management). CERT works with the City to assist in disasters, managing hurricane shelters, assisting law enforcement with traffic control and such matters. Further, she is on the Executive of the St. George Secondary Old Scholars International, (SGSSI), her alma mater, is a member of the Caribbean American Scientific Association, (CAMSA), and is the go-to for technical assistance for all the Consulate’s online sessions. Sonia’s community service started in Barbados as a teenager, following the example of her mother. Her involvement in Youth Group, Church Girls Brigade, Girl Guides, solidified her sense of community.

This led to a Human Resources and Management degree from the University of the West Indies, (UWI), Cave Hill and Sonia worked at Club Rockley, then a groundbreaking tourism/residential development in Christ Church, as Human Resources Manager from 1982 – 2000, all her working life in Barbados.

She did not continue in the human resources field after immigrating, but even feeling that community service in the USA is much different than in Barbados, she stepped right in, knowing the principle of service is the same everywhere. Sonia is also driven by Hebrews 13:16: And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Now a Broadcast Advertising Manager, Sonia likes to read, play squash and spend time with her family. She is married to Adrian and they are the parents of three children and one granddaughter.