Barbara is an urban planner with a Diploma in Physical Planning Technology from CAST (now UTECH), Jamaica, WI and a B.Sc. degree from Ball State University, IN, USA where she majored in Environmental Planning and Urban Design.
For most of her career, Barbara worked in the service of the Government of Belize, as the Physical Planner in the Lands and Surveys Department, assisting the Principal Planner and Land Utilization Authority with applications for subdivision of land, and on occasions, supervising the design of subdivision plans for the government of Belize;
As a Senior Planner with the Housing and Planning Department, she was responsible for the approval of development applications and in the review and preparation of comprehensive development plans and representing the department on the Housing and Planning Authority, the Environmental Appraisal Committee, and NEMO subcommittees.
Barbara also worked for a short time as a consultant with the ESTAP project in southern Belize, assisting in the preparation of economic plans for the communities of Independence and Punta Gorda, then later with the Central Statistical Office as a Statistical Officer during the 2000 Census.