February 15, 2025 — For PEF member Keith Browne, leading the Caribbean-American Committee means more than just business as usual. It is a chance to show members of the union what it means to be Caribbean-American and a state worker. A chance to give members of the committee a voice, a role and a duty to one another.
“My father is from Barbados. There is a very different culture there than in the United States,” said Browne. “Here, we can face the discrimination of being Black while also facing the discrimination of being from a foreign land.”
It is with that discrimination in mind that Browne is grateful and excited to lead the Caribbean-American Committee.
Browne has been a PEF member for 36 years. He works for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and has held shop steward and chief shop steward positions at the Mid-Hudson Valley DEC office, is a Division Leader for Division 169 and is a member of the PEF Executive Board.
He is a strong advocate for the union and the members he represents as a leader. However, when he was asked by PEF President Wayne Spence to lead the Committee in November 2024, he said that he knew it would be a challenge, but that he was happy to take up the position.
“Right now, I am working on getting the committee back up and running. I would really like to have an accountable group of chair and co-chairs and to form a very tight knit committee,” Browne said. “It’s really important to me to make sure that we are communicating often and avoiding miscommunication so we can keep moving forward with our plans.”
Since November, there have been two meetings, both of which were well-attended, and that Browne said were promising. Since the committee is statewide, it can be a challenge to make sure that everyone is on the same page, but he has kept his spirits up as interest in working with the committee grows. The committee hopes to have one chair and up to three co-chairs spread across the downstate area, Albany and Western New York.
“As of our second meeting, we have drafted bylaws. We have plans to create presentations and visit schools to talk about Caribbean culture and state service. We want to contribute to the community and set up a scholarship for students,” said Browne. “And I have encouraged everyone in the committee to come to the PEF Convention. It can be hard for us all to meet in-person, but meeting at convention would give us a chance to get some familiarity with one another.”
Browne wants to revisit the Multicultural Awareness Showcase event at Convention that brings together multiple cultural committees, including the Caribbean-American Committee, to make it a bolder presentation—and bring more food to the celebration.
Ultimately, Browne said that this committee is a chance to show all of PEF and the entire state the fantastic culture and hard work that Caribbean-Americans bring to New York.
“Our community makes strong bonds and pushes for education and prosperity, which often leads us to move from our countries to America,” said Browne. “It is important to me to be able to showcase that to everyone inside and outside of PEF. We are here, we are in your communities, and we work hard.”