Briana Williams is the first and only woman in Belize to hold a masters in Public procurement Law and Policy from the University of Nottingham. She shared with us what sparked this journey and why she decided to pursue a degree in this field as a crown counsel.

Briana Williams, Tax Recovery Unit Manager, Crown Counsel
"Before I transferred to Tax I was originally at the attorney general's ministry in the litigation department and I was assigned a case that was primarily focused on procurement. And while I was working on building the case and working on the witness statements and looking at case law I realized that we really don't have anybody in Belize with that expertise. And we rely on the various international banks to lend us people who guide us along the way. I do believe that we do have some public officers that may be certified in the area but more or less there is no one."

"Specifically with a degree in proficient and realized that it was needed from what transpired in the care."

"When I decided to do the masters I was still at AG ministry but I completed it while I transferred here to tax but it just broadens my skills and my expertise as a crown counsel and as a public servant."

While it may be an uncommon area of specialization, Williams says that more opportunities are on the horizon for those who so wish to venture off into studying procurement practices.

Briana Williams, Tax Recovery Unit Manager, Crown Counsel
"I would definitely encourage more public servants or anybody who is interested in the area of law and wants to specialize in an area I would suggest that they consider it. It's a growing area in law as well as in Belize. I am aware that, I do believe there has been announcements about it that they are drafting a bill to regulate procurement and I believe they are creating a procurement unit so I'm pretty sure they will need more officers who are specialized in the area so I would definitely suggest that more people look into it."