Grenada’s New Consul General puts community first

Grenada’s New York Consulate office has a new face: Rosemarie Welsh.

Taking office Nov. 2, 2015, Welsh comes to the Consul General position with a wealth of experience. A career foreign service officer, she has also served in a number of responsible capacities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs including: protocol officer, first secretary at the Permanent Mission of Grenada to the United Nations, and most recently counselor at the Embassy of Grenada in Washington, D.C.

At her new post, Welsh plans to strengthen ties within the community.

Welsh says, “I am assured with the confidence placed in me by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the high regard for our citizens of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique, no effort will be spared to look out for those in need of consular services.”

At her perch, Welsh is responsible for information regarding passports, travel documents, visas, and other appropriate documents to those wishing to travel to Grenada, and deportations.

Her aim is to show those in the diaspora that the office is there to be utilized, whether it is for a question of passports or new ways to strengthen the Grenadian American community in New York.

“We are opened for business and ‘service’ is our watchword, I welcome the cooperation of our nationals,” she said.

Since taking office, working with established community leaders and committees has been on Welsh’s to-do list. She is working with various leaders and organizations to discover what is already available to the community and how it can be improved.

While looking at improvements, Welsh has also been open to any feedback provided through these meetings.

“I had a meeting with some of the heads of the community and it was very successful,” she explained. “I got a lot of feedback from them, structures that need to be put in place that I’m going to work on, and I need to organize a wider meeting with the entire community as well.”

Along with improving structures, Welsh plans to build a community outreach program and boost youth involvement within the diaspora.

“I would also like to have the youths more involved in more activities in the diaspora. If you haven’t noticed, we are an aging population and we need to prepare our youths to take on the leadership role later on,” she said.

The Grenada consulate office is located at 800 2nd Avenue, Suite 400K in Manhattan.

Reach reporter Alley Olivier at (718) 260–8310 or e-mail her at aolivier@cnglocal.com. Follow Alley on Twitter @All3Y_B.