Duane Howell
Duane Howell is an eighth-generation Crucian who has worked in adolescent primary prevention and pediatric respiratory care for more than twenty years. Duane has extensive executive management experience. Duane served as the Territorial Assistant Commissioner and Acting Commissioner of the Virgin Islands Department of Health overseeing 270+ employees and a 42 million budget which included local and federal funds. Duane also served as Deputy Commissioner of Grants Administration for the Virgin Islands Department of Human Services, setting up the department’s first Grants Management Office and being responsible for the oversight of 70 million in federal grant funding. Duane also served our military families as Senior Family Readiness Support Assistant and a Lead Child & Youth Program Coordinator, both roles of which were prevention focused.
Duane joined ARCH Institute in it’s early days serving as a member of the advisory council and as one of three primary facilitators for the CAYA Project. Duane now serves as Executive Director of ARCH Institute overseeing programs and ensuring ARCH remains viable, sustainable and relevant to the mission and vision of it’s founder Dr. Averette Mhoon Parker. Duane also works diligently to engage adolescents and young adults involved in ARCH Institute instilling principals of leadership and empowerment.
Duane’s work with adolescents and young adults goes beyond public health. For more than 13 years, Duane has been coordinating Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Collaboration Project between students in the Virgin Islands, Denmark and Ghana. More than 60 Virgin Islands youths have participated in this triangular trade with a cohort of 10 creating a permanent exhibit entitled “Breaking the Silence” which was turned into a travel exhibit and displayed in Europe and Africa.
Duane is an avid genealogist, finding his African ancestors including Elin who was brought to St. Croix on October 5, 1796 aboard the Danish Ship Anna Maria from the Osu Castle in present-day Ghana. Duane is the current Vice-Chair of the St. Croix Landmarks Society. He first served as a Landmarks trustee from 2008 to 2014 and was elected to a new term in 2016. He is a member of the Ancestry Discovery Group, library patrons who support activities to engage researchers. He has also served on the board of the Virgin Islands Community AIDS Resource and Education, Inc., working to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Duane is a Registered Respiratory Therapist and a Certified Asthma Educator and holds graduate degrees in Public Health and Community Health Education.