Sue Courtenay (born c.1966) is a

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

an architect who was selected as the first female president of the Federation of Caribbean Associations of Architects and served from 2012 to 2014. She is an advocate of regional building standards and

mutual recognition agreement Mutual recognition occurs when two or more countries or other institutions recognize one another's decisions or policies, for example in the field of conformity assessment, professional qualifications or in relation to criminal matters. A mutual ...

s for architects of the CARICOM alliance.

Biography

Courtenay was born in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and grew up

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. She earned a degree in architecture from the

Southern California Institute of Architecture Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is a private architecture school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1972, SCI-Arc was initially regarded as both institutionally and artistically avant-garde and more adventurous than t ...

in Los Angeles and then went on to obtain a Master's degree in Business Administration at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus,

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

. Courtenay is a registered architect in

who has designed more than 70 buildings. Predominantly her designs are residential, but she has designed several commercial spaces for both public and private use. Her largest project was the Fort Point Pedestrian Walk in Belize City. In 2007, Courtenay pressed for Belize to join in the Federation of Caribbean Association of Architects, in part to facilitate better cooperation among Caribbean architects. Varying standards among Caribbean nations make regional collaboration difficult and she has been an advocate of adopting a Mutual Recognition Agreement, which would acknowledge the qualification of CARICOM architects among all other member states. In 2009 Courtenay took part in an evaluation of Belize's Building Standards to prepare for meetings on designing and implementing regional building standards. In a historic selection, Courtenay was made the first female head of the Federation of Caribbean Association of Architects in 2012 and had hopes that she could continue to push forward regional collaboration. She has served on the board of the Association of Professional Architects of Belize in various capacities and in 2015 was serving as the Director of International Affairs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Courtenay, Sue Living people 20th-century Belizean architects Belizean women architects Southern California Institute of Architecture alumni 21st-century architects University of the West Indies alumni 21st-century Belizean women 21st-century Belizean people 20th-century Belizean women 20th-century Belizean people Year of birth missing (living people)