In the tick-tock of yesteryear, one would have been hard-pressed to swallow the exploits of Trinidadian-born Jennifer Carroll. Carroll had to overcome worrisome hurdles-being a woman and born black. She transcended both, in the US military and politics, where she could have been reduced to subservient status or have become a dissident. But, as a Navy veteran, a legislator and now Lieutenant Governor of Florida, a torchbearer identity has emerged. Carroll is a rather worldly character, imbued with a deep passion for politics, her every decision reaching for a dramatic crescendo. Indeed, this Arouca woman is living her dream in America. An immaculate résumé stands up for her meteoric rise and astronomic achievements of a storied career. Carroll, 52, is the first female elected Lieutenant Governor in Florida and the first black elected statewide. (Mervyn Dymally, born in Cedros, was the first Trinidadian to serve as Lieutenant Governor of California (1975-79).) Carroll enlisted in the Navy in 1979, after graduating from high school in Hempstead, New York, making the leap from jet mechanic to Lieutenant Commander in her 20 years of service. There, she was introduced to Nolan Carroll, a senior master sergeant in the Air Force. The two married and had three children.
Jennifer Carroll would run for political office following her retirement from the Navy. Everyone who knew Carroll knew the same Carroll, a woman with an almost mythic esprit de corps that lingers beyond ordinary decency. One who stood by basic principles with a hint of steel. It was her way of life. Her starting point rested on fundamental values from her parents. Their attachment to the worth of character was absolute.
Carroll integrates remarkable wit and an occasional laugh with intelligent discourse and storytelling. Jean Johnson, a great aunt from Tobago, and her husband, Carl, reared her since she was three. It was they who forged the way. Her father deceased, her mother, Yvonne Thomas, lives in Tampa, about 200 miles from the Carrolls' home in Fleming Island near Jacksonville. "I got all my values from my adoptive parents," she recalls. "I couldn't have had better people to raise me, instill good work ethic and moral values. Or I wouldn't have been able to be in this position today. "My mom was a role model. A good mother, good wife, she showed me how to iron, cook, clean-I was cooking since I was six. It was just the three of us, so I had to pitch in. I think she did this purposely because all my time would be filled up doing something and not being able to get into trouble. "I was a latchkey kid growing up in Brooklyn. She timed me from leaving school to coming home. And I had to call to let her know that I was home. Besides homework, I made sure the stray dogs my dad would pick up were cleaned up, the table was set and dinner was either prepared or completed. I was busy."
Carroll's advice to young people growing up in impoverished or disenfranchised areas of Trinidad and Tobago runs the gamut from education to determination. "Education is one of the keys to getting out of poverty," she says. "Also, determination-what are you going to do with it to get to the next level?" Holding an MBA degree, her own perseverance has paid off. Family unity and hard work were such accepted tenets at home that an eventual seamless transition from a military career to political pursuits proved inevitable. As a state legislator Carroll worked to pass legislation that built up economic development and created thousands of jobs. "I had over 29 bills which is almost unheard of for any legislator that's not in leadership," Carroll says. "To work a bill is very difficult." She takes great pride in bringing up her first bill. It must have been facets of her character that helped her pull it off. The legislature had tried three times to pass a bill honouring Martin Luther King with his image on a licence plate. It died on the House floor. Proceeds would have helped with birth defects, infant mortality, homelessness, sickle cell research and education. But Carroll worked to push it through. "We passed it in my first year." In 2010, Carroll was elected Florida's 18th Lieutenant Governor. Dr Anil Ramnanan calls her affable. He should know. Ramnanan has been liaising with Carroll since he took office 14 months ago as Consul General at the Trinidad and Tobago Consulate in Miami.
Her conversation captures the essence of a busy office, rife with life, where goals happen. As chairperson of Space Florida, the State won a ten-year contract to manage the International Space Station National Laboratory, bringing in US$15 million a year to the state for life science research and development. Carroll also helped to land national contracts for the operations of Boeing's Orion spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center and Lockheed Martin Automated Underwater Vehicle testing and manufacturing. Last October, Carroll led a Space Florida Trade Mission to Europe where she signed Memoranda of Understanding with the UK and Spain. In November of 2011, Carroll led an Enterprise Florida Trade Mission to South Africa. The 39-person delegation led to $40 million in new trade between Florida and South Africa."That was huge for a start," Carroll says. "And I hope to have the same sort of relationship with Trinidad and Tobago." On her trade mission to Trinidad August 5-8, Carroll will be accompanied by several business owners "to see how we can increase trade opportunities between Florida and Trinidad and Tobago. "I know Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar wants to diversify the economy, and we have an arm here called Enterprise Florida which works with the component in Trinidad-whether it's the Chamber and the government as well as the Consul General-to find out what are some of these industries that they'd like to see increase and evolve. Then we match them up with businesses in Florida that have a good synergy to create a win-win situation." Carroll operates in such colliding worlds-how does she maneuver the shoals of politics or juggle high-profile responsibilities or handle the pressure?"I'm a Trini," she says. And true to form she visits family and friends regularly, never holding back on playing mas with Tribe or Legends.