Helping Individuals Achieve Full Potential

Deanna E.C. Ashley

Member of Literacy and Life’s Board of Directors, is the executive director of the Violence Prevention Alliance, Jamaica chapter and is Honorary Research Fellow in the School for Graduate Studies and Research at the University of the West Indies. Ashley holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) and a Doctor of Medicine, with a specialty in pediatrics. She also has a diploma in the area of public health.

Ashley is the former director of health promotion and protection at the Ministry of Health, where she was responsible, at the National level, for policy, programme development and research in the prevention and control of the chronic diseases, injuries, communicable diseases, nutrition, environmental health and health promotion and education. She managed several large public health projects funded by international and local agencies such as USAID, GTZ, UNICEF, the World Bank, and the National Health Fund.

She has also served as medical officer of health; senior medical officer for maternal and child health, and principal medical officer for secondary and tertiary care in the Ministry of Health, all between 1977 and 1998. During this period, Ashley also served as adviser on many international technical working groups and organizations.

Selected Voluntary, Professional and Community Service (current & past)

Ashely has received numerous awards including: