Renee Cummings is president of Miss Trinidad & Tobago New York, Inc. She has been building New York 's Caribbean community one woman at a time. Miss Trinidad & Tobago New York, Inc. has received great international recognition as a first class developmental and academic achievement program for young women. Renee retired the phrase “beauty contest” and re-conceptualized the word pageantry.

Her mandate is to empower young women with the right tools to lead the way into the future. "Ours is a revolutionary new attitude as we attempt to redefine the thinking behind pageants. We are bold, bright, and beautiful. We believe academic brilliance is more important than beauty," she says. As president of such an extraordinary, essential, and unique non-profit for the advancement of women in the Caribbean-American community, through culture and scholarship, Miss T&T New York has been featured on BET, MTV, NBC, FOX TV, in Caribbean Life, CARIB News, New York Daily News, Black Diaspora, Black Enterprise, Everybody’s Magazine, and other major publications in the U.S. and the Caribbean; including rave reviews in the Trinidad & Tobago press.

A broadcaster, journalist, educator, rehabilitation specialist, substance abuse therapist, and criminal justice specialist, she holds a Masters in Criminal Justice and a Masters Certificate in Terrorism Studies from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, and a Master of Science degree in Education and Rehabilitation Counseling from Hunter College.

She also holds a triple Bachelor’s degree, Magna Cum Laude, with special honors, in Media Studies, Political Science, and Philosophy and a minor in Creative Writing. Renee received her secondary education in Port of Spain, Trinidad, where she attended two of the nation’s most prestigious high schools; Bishop Anstey High School and St. Joseph’s Convent.  

It doesn’t stop there! At 20, she came of age in front the camera as a television anchor in Trinidad. She made history as the Caribbean’s first female television sportscaster. She has also worked as a reporter and feature writer for the Trinidad Express and Trinidad Guardian and as a newscaster on WLIB Radio in New York. She began her journalism career at 18.

Color, craft, creativity and culture explode, annually, on the Miss Trinidad & Tobago New York stage, as the nation’s most treasured natural resource, bold, bright, and beautiful young women, shine in national splendor. A freelance producer, promoter, and publicist, this one-woman-act singled-handedly produced the first ever Trinidad & Tobago Music Awards, a historic event for Caribbean music. This show received international accolades and was awarded Best Produced Show in T&T for 1998.

She also produced the first ever Indo Caribbean Music Awards which launched chutney music as an international sound and popularized other music of East Indian influence. For several years, she stage produced the International Soca Monarch Competition held annually during Trinidad & Tobago’s carnival celebrations. Most recently, she hosted a gala cultural reception at the Trinidad & Tobago Consulate in New York for world renowned Trinidad & Tobago poet and storyteller Pearl Eintou Springer.  

Renee understands the necessity of scholarships. She has won several including one from the Trinidad & Tobago Alliance which remains dearest to her heart. In 1995, she received the prestigious Alicia Patterson Scholarship for Excellence in Journalism presented by New York Newsday and in honor of its founder. She has also received several other international awards, grants, and scholarships. Most recently, she was recognized for her commitment to Caribbean culture with a Community Service Award from ICONJ Islanders Cultural Organization of New Jersey and a Proclamation from the City Council of the City of New York. 

Renee has a vibrant and tenacious future vision for the international Caribbean community; one that combines culture and politics, community service and a dedication to the development of Caribbean people. “I use my voice to inspire others. I encourage people to dream. The imagination is powerful. It is the imagination, the power to create and recreate that we use throughout our lives. The promise of the human mind is that it can always imagine new ways of being and becoming. If you can imagine it, you can be it!”