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The Eastern Caribbean Collective Organisation for Music Rights (ECCO) Inc. announced today that the board of Directors has appointed Ms. Vernalderine Francis from St. Kitts & Nevis as the Chair of the Organisation.

Ms. Francis is the first female to serve at the head of the organization and she has been serving on the board of the Eastern Caribbean Collective Organization for Music Rights (ECCO) since September 2016 and is the first Director on the board for St. Kitts & Nevis.

Vernalderine A O Francis was born in the Parish of St. George, Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis. She is the co-owner of ROOCOO, a multimedia solutions and music publishing company registered in St. Kitts & Nevis. She prides herself as being a woman in ICT (Information & Communications Technology) and has over 18 years experience in the field. She is known by her peers for her graphic designing, 2D animation, web development, music production and vocal skills. Over the years she has been summoned on occasions to provide live backups for artistes/groups such as, Chi-Lites, Christopher Martin and Edwin Yearwood to name a few.

As a songwriter and singer she is part of the duo Jade Orchid and has produced original works on the albums Pelau and Fraco. As a creative professional, Vernalderine is on a mission to integrate more Caribbean creations in commercial products such as online game applications, animation and marketing in the OECS and beyond. Over the past 5 years, Vernalderine has been advocating for the rights of songwriters, producers and the performing arts and out of that advocacy she became one of the founding members of the St. Kitts Nevis Association for the Performing Arts. Since the Association was founded, she has been instrumental in the organizing and success of a Music Business Workshop and Music Production Workshop conducted in St. Kitts in June 2018.

“We are pleased to welcome Ms. Francis as the new Chair of the board of directors. We look forward to her contributions in fostering ECCO’s mission to support and promote the growth of the organization and its members” said Davis Joseph, CEO of ECCO.

Current ECCO board of directors are: Chair, Vernalderine Francis (St. Kitts & Nevis); Vice Chair, Ian Sanchez (St. Lucia); Secretary, Linda “Chocolate” Berthier (St. Lucia); Krishna Lawrence (Dominica), Lancelot Chapman (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), Wayne Green (Grenada), Crispin D’Auvergne (St. Lucia), Melissa Moses (St. Lucia), Buffalo Odlum (St. Lucia), Hugh James (St. Lucia), Courtney Louis (St. Lucia) and Gilroy Hall (St. Lucia).

The Eastern Caribbean Collective Organisation for Music Rights (ECCO) Inc. (formerly HMS) is a non-profit company incorporated under the Company laws of Saint Lucia. We are responsible for the collection of royalties on behalf of our members and affiliates by agreement: the composers, authors, publishers of music. 

public use of music in the Eastern Caribbean, irrespective of which country the songwriter is from.