Youth in Focus - Youth Director

Marisa Elcock Thongs is a born leader who only discovered her true leadership potential in the latter years of her secondary school life. Since then, she has served as a Youth for Christ School President, Inter-Varsity School Fellowship Executive Member and now functions as a Manager and the Youth Director of the Family-Focus Broadcasting Network.

Marisa is the second daughter of Justice Lloyd Elcock and Founder and C.E.O. of FBN/I.S.A.A.C. Reverend Margaret Elcock. She has been involved in media for half of her life, having begun with hands on experience on air in 1992. She then branched into television, becoming the main host and producer of the now popularly known program Youth in Focus.

Marisa is the holder of a Bachelor of  Science Degree in Sociology with Psychology and has gone on to secure several qualifications in the areas of Counseling, Abstinence Advocacy, HIV/AIDS Awareness, Childhood Parenting, Youth work and Ministerial and Leadership Training. As such she functions in several areas of ministry and leadership within the body of Christ and has represented the Christian community at several national programmes.

Two of her greatest achievements thus far have been her acceptance to attend the highly prestigious international Haggai Leadership Institute in Hawaii in 2006 and the winning of a National Youth Award for positive media service by her youth ministry- Youth in Focus in 2007. She believes however, that public recognition is not the be all of success but rather an impetus to maintain and improve the standard.

Programme Manager

Nicole Larsen is the Programme Manager at I.S.A.A.C 98.1fm The Promise. As a member of the Management team she assumes responsibility for managing the on-air product which demands among other things consistent, quality, sound, ethical advertising and programming that is in keeping with existing company policy criteria and standards.

Nicole also plays an integral role in planning, promoting and hosting the majority of company events. In the studio she performs the role of Chief Announcer which involves implementing the plans, programmes and policies of the station: Those duties include

1. Overseeing the administration of the Announcers Department
2. Preparing the Announcers Duty Schedule
3. Bi Annual Announcers Performance Evaluation
4. Announcer Training
5. Recommending Training Opportunities/Developmental Intervention for Announcers

Additionally, Nicole embodies the professional definition of a two way flow of information. She is the conduit through whom management expresses its vision and projects to the Announcers and the link to communicate their concerns to management.

Nicole’s Christian media personality continues to grow by leaps and bounds with her popular mid-morning segment “Nicole Larsen Live” and “Forever Young” which she co- hosts on Saturday mornings. For the last six years (from 2002) these shows have attracted a growing listernship that can only be described as loyal. Versatility, vitality and added value are the qualities that Ms. Larsen contribute to I.S.A.A.C 98.1fm The Promise and all its broadcast products as well as Family-Focus Broadcasting Network.

Operations Manager

Christopher Peru grew up in the little eastern village of Cumuto in east Trinidad. An early passion Chris had was that of photography. His fascination of wild life had him taking pictures of nature‘s creatures like live caimans that existed around his area.

The love for a camera did not stop there as he was driven to getting involved with video production. This was the beginning of a career the young man never knew would one day land him in the first and only 24hour gospel radio station in Trinidad and Tobago.

Christopher has been in broadcast media for the past twenty two [22] years. His involvement with the Family-Focus Broadcasting Network covers thirteen [13] of those years formerly holding the position of Producer/Manager of the ‘Fresh Fire’ Television programme.

While at a local production facility, Chris came into contact with many top business people within Trinidad and Tobago. When he met them he was encouraged to be more professional in every area of his life. A manager once said to him ‘You don’t sell buildings you sell people’. This has had a profound and lasting impact on his life encouraged him to never give up.

He was also encouraged to continue his second passion for electrical engineering. With an educational background in electrical installation, Chris earned a scholarship to Burlington Canada at the Conway School of Broadcasting and Communications where he earned a Diploma in Television Broadcast Communication.

Production Manager

After taking a broadcasting course with popular TBC Network News broadcaster Eugene Manuel in 1996, Daya Ottley began voicing commercials while working at The National Broadcasting Network (NBN). Being a young entrepreneur, he produced commercials and jingles for some of his clients as another source of income.

In 1999 Daya started working with a recording studio and continued to produce, write and voice ads for many of his clients. It was here his true voicing talent was discovered and with the constructive criticism of his peers and agency producers, he did voice-over’s that can be heard in Trinidad and up the Caribbean.

After gaining some experience at a Trinidad based Advertising Agency (a sister company to international agency McCann Erickson), Daya picked up some additional copyright and creative skills that would be perfect for his next phase of life, being Production / I.T. Support and Web Manager at I.S.A.A.C 98.1 FM.

His career finds him operating in the area of ensuring the smooth running of the production department, administrating the computer network and managing the FBN websites.
Heard on the fourth Saturday of every month, Daya hosts the evening radio show entitled ‘The Saturday Soiree’ along with Co-host Carla Davidson.

Sales Manager

Devan Maharaj is the Sales Manager at the Family-Focus Broadcasting Network (FBN). He brings to Family Focus a wealth of experience in the field of Sales & Marketing having acquired extensive knowledge for over 18 years.

His career started at a young age while working with a weekly newspaper for fifteen years. During this time Devan furthered his studies both in the area of Sales and Marketing and eventually became top Sales Producer. In 1988 he received the company’s award for the most progressive Sales Producer and was promoted to Sales Coordinator in leading, directing and motivating a sales team.

Devan acquired management training from Dale Carnegie. He has also completed two years extensive Marketing studies at the School of Business and Computer Science and one year Marketing Training at University of the West Indies [UWI].

For three (3) years Devan worked in the television media and participated in several in-house training sessions. Devan‘s greatest sense of achievement he says comes when he satisfies the needs of his clients and closes a sale, particularly those clients which may seem to be challenging.

With a pleasant, outgoing personality and his professionalism, Devan is pleased to be a part of the management team of the Family-Focus Broadcasting Network.

Administrator

Norma was born and raised in Barbados and is the second to last of five children. In the 1960s Norma migrated to Montreal, Canada to live and attended People’s Church eventually becoming a member of the choir. After five years in Montreal, Norma moved to Toronto and started working in the Group Insurance industry. Her first position was that of a File clerk and she worked her way up the ladder to being Manager of the most successful Branch office of thirteen operated by the company. After three (3) years of managing the Edmonton Branch Office and having completed a number of courses which aided in developing her Administrative and Human Resource skills, Norma was transferred back to Toronto to head the Administrative Department of the large local office with and an administrative staff numbering some fifty (50) persons.

After twenty-seven years in Canada, Norma and her husband decided to return to the land of her birth, where she continued working in the insurance industry as the Administrative Manager for an offshore company operated by one of the largest insurance companies out of Canada.

In 1990 Norma and her husband relocated to Trinidad where she commenced employment at a large financial services company. Norma has settled into life in Trinidad and has been attending FHL Centre in the Movietowne complex where she is currently a member of the church choir.

Norma joined our company as Administrator/Human Resource Manager in June 2005.

Chief Accountant

Rosemarie Wildman joined the Family-Focus Broadcasting Network in March 2005 coming with a wealth of experience in external auditing up to the post of Audit Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers and much knowledge of computer based accounting and information systems. As Chief Accountant, Rosemarie is making a very valuable contribution to the organization.

Marketing Consultant

She is a strong dynamic young woman, who has a passion and love for what she does. One of the foundation members of the Family-Focus Broadcasting Network, Natasha started out in 1992 as a member of the Bright Side of Midnight, broadcasting live from midnight Sundays to 5am Monday morning. However, she soon realized that being on Radio, though enjoyable, was not the only area of her giftings and talents.

She entered the world of sales and marketing and realized that her strong personality, determination and drive enhanced her work performance. She soon became top Sales Person on the job and was responsible for bringing in the much-needed finance the organization needed.

Today, Natasha is the Marketing Consultant for FBN-I.S.A.A.C 98.1FM, and has been a tremendous asset to the organization. The knowledge and experience she has acquired over the last 15 years, having worked in larger more experienced media houses, have helped to shape the marketing strategy that is being implemented here at I.S.A.A.C 98.1FM.

She is committed, loyal and hardworking and knows her job. She has been used to teach, train and motivate the Marketing Representatives.