Rishi Maharaj

Rishi is the holder of a BSc. and MSc. in Government from the University of the West Indies and is a Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM).

He is currently the Executive Director and Senior Consultant of EquiGov Institute a Social Enterprise organisation base in the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, specialising in consultancy, training, research and learning across key themes such as Data Privacy, Data Governance, Information Access, Transparency and Monitoring and Evaluation.

With over 15 years of experience within both the Public and Civil Society Sector he has considerable knowledge and experience of the workings of government both from an operational and policy aspect as well as a unique insight into the challenges faced by civil society organisations trying to impact civic change. During the period 2005 to 2012, he was the Senior Officer in charge of the Freedom of Information Unit. He also provided technical advice in the passage and partial proclamation of the Data Protection Act in 2011 and participated in the drafting of model legislation on Freedom of Information and Data Protection through the International Telecommunications Union HIPCAR Project.

Rishi is a certified member of the Canadian Institute of Access and Privacy Professionals and the International Association of Privacy Professionals.