Biography
A life aimed at the place she is from
Bryana Fortune-John is the kind of public figure Point Fortin recognises on sight: poised, prepared, and genuinely glad to be among her own people. Formally she is Alderman Bryana Fortune-John, BA (Hons.), MBA. On Facebook, in the borough, and in the rooms where young people are finding their voice, she is Bryana Fortune.
- 2008–2011 BA (Hons.), Business Management, Anglia Ruskin University.
- 2013 onward Marketing and corporate communications with Lake Asphalt of Trinidad and Tobago.
- 2015 onward Tutor, The University of the West Indies Open Campus, Point Fortin.
- 2016–2023 Councillor for Cap-de-Ville / Fanny Village on the Tenth and Eleventh Councils.
- 2017–2018 MBA, Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Her major project studied community enterprise in Cap-de-Ville and Fanny Village.
- 2023 onward Alderman on the Twelfth Council, and Chairman of the Community and Local Economic Development Committee.
Since 2016 she has represented Cap-de-Ville / Fanny Village as Councillor through the Tenth and Eleventh Councils of the Point Fortin Borough Corporation. In 2023 she was sworn onto the Twelfth Council as Alderman. She chairs the Community and Local Economic Development Committee, after earlier service as Chairman of the Personnel Committee and of Physical Infrastructure.
The through-line is local and deliberate. Her MBA major project at Anglia Ruskin University studied community-based entrepreneurship as a strategy for local economic development, using Cap-de-Ville and Fanny Village as the case. She did not leave that research in a library. She carried it back into the borough: a Food Hub, a Fish Fry, support for small businesses, and a standing invitation for neighbours to shape the plan.
Alongside the Council she has taught at The University of the West Indies Open Campus in Point Fortin since 2015, and she has worked in marketing and corporate communications at Lake Asphalt of Trinidad and Tobago. The Point Fortin Public Library, in its Positive People from Point series, described her as an inspirational leader and a critical thinker who builds networks so that the impact is felt in the socio-economic life of the country.
That description shows up in the rooms she keeps. She has presented the inaugural Kobe Nathan Sandy Award for Perseverance, spoken as feature speaker at Tornadoes Steel Orchestra’s Pan Camp graduation, hosted Flats to Heels for the young women of the borough, gathered seniors for a pre-Christmas dinner and karaoke, and offered a word of encouragement at a Sisterhood evening for single mothers.
In the library’s words
Many hats, one borough
The Point Fortin Public Library introduced her as councillor, administrative professional, educator, entrepreneur, and social activist: an inspirational leader, committed to networks, and intent on work whose impact can be felt in the socio-economic life of the country.
She has held the chair of Personnel and of Physical Infrastructure, sat with Lake Asphalt’s Bedrock All Inclusive Committee, and kept a public calendar that runs from statutory meetings to storytime.
Invite her to speakPoint Fortin is a close-knit town where neighbours support one another.
Our community deserves the resources and support necessary to realize its full potential and achieve the dreams of its people.
I am always deeply humbled by the opportunity to share words of inspiration.