Chris Ashton was a young adult when WAND (Women and Development Unit, UWI, Barbados) launched the Integrated Rural Development Project in Rose Hall, St. Vincent. She became a member of the Rose Hall Community Working Group, a decision which influenced her career and much of her politics. Chris, for several decades has worked as an independent consultant in the field of social policy and programmes. She was the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) Resilient Livelihoods Project coordinator in Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.