Irene Sandiford-Garner (born 4 August 1961) is a Barbadian politician, journalist, businesswoman and activist, who is a member of the Democratic Labour Party and national delegate to the Inter-American Commission of Women.
Sandiford-Garner was born in the United Kingdom and moved to Barbados at the age of eight.[1] She grew up in Saint Andrew Parish,[2] and received her education at St. Andrew's Girls' Primary School, Queen's College, Barbados Community College and the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill Campus. She also received a scholarship by an earlier employer, the Nation Publishing Company, to study in the US at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.[1]
Sandiford-Garner has been cited as the first female Barbadian journalist to land on Grenada after US intervention in 1983.[3] Between 1995 and 2006 Sandiford-Garner served as a marketing manager for Barbados's largest credit union, in which she was responsible for launching them in the US, a year after she became employed with them.[3]
After a career in journalism and marketing, Sandiford-Garner joined the Democratic Labour Party . Since February 2008 she has been a senator and Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Culture and Community Development, and since August 2008, she has been a national delegate to the Inter-American Commission of Women.[4] She has also been involved in the 25th Regional Women of the Church of God Symposium, various UNIFEM workshops across the Caribbean, and was a featured speaker for the 2009 International Women's Day symposium, held by the National Organization for Women (NOW).[1]
Sandiford-Garner is married to Granville Garner and has two sons, Fidel and Malcolm.[3] The couple own a laundry and an entertainment management firm.[2]