Island Secretary Joane Dovale-Meit 

Joane Dovale-Meit, Island Secretary of the Island Territory of St. Maarten was born on Dutch St. Maarten. One of two children she spent her childhood on St. Maarten before leaving to further her education in the United States of America in the early 1980's.  There Joane obtained her B.A. in Psychology in 1985 and her B.B.A. in Management & Marketing in 1988 at the University of Texas; she also received her M.A. in Organization & Industrial Psychology at the St. Mary's University in 1988.

Returning home after her studies in 1989, Joane Dovale-Meit worked as an Associate Consultant for two years for a local business consultancy firm. In 1991, she entered the government service as the first Executive Assistant to the then Commissioner of Finance.

In August of 2005, Joane Dovale-Meit was appointed as the Island Secretary of the Island Territory of St. Maarten; making history as the first female to hold this function. Before her appointment in this function she held various positions within the government organization among which Head of the Department of Strategy, Policy and Development, Director of the project bureau for reconstruction after hurricane Luis as well as Director of Management Support Services. In addition, Mrs. Dovale-Meit served on various boards of Limited Liability companies such as the Princess Juliana International Airport Operating Company NV, the Economic Development Corporation N.V. and the Princess Juliana International Airport Financing Company.

From 1993 Dovale-Meit has been actively involved in constitutional affairs and remains a member of the Workgroup for Constitutional Affairs. She served as one of the representatives from St. Maarten in the Central Government Commission for the preparation of the Round Table Conference (RTC) held on December 15 2008. She currently continues to represent the Island Territory as a member of the Kingdom Preparatory Committee.

In addition to her professional and educational accomplishments, Joane Dovale-Meit, is a licensed commercial pilot. She enjoys flying, traveling, reading and technology.