Lou-Anne Gilchrist has been the ambassador to the United States from the Caribbean island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines since October 2016. She succeeds La Celia Prince, who served from May 2008 to July 2016, when she took a job with the Organization of American States.

Born circa 1978, Lou-Anne Gaylene Gilchrist graduated St. Vincent Girls High School in 1984, and completed Sixth Form studies—two years of competitive, college prep courses—at St. Vincent Grammar School in 1986. Gilchrist earned a B.A. in Modern Languages at the University of the West Indies-Cave Hill, in Barbados, in 1990, where she was active in the Language Club and the Cavite Chorale.

An educator by profession, Gilchrist taught French at her alma mater, St. Vincent Grammar School, to students in the Sixth Form from 1993 to 1997. 

Gilchrist worked as a lecturer at St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College from January 1997 to January 2009, where she taught Modern Languages. During this time, Gilchrist earned an M.A. in Translation Studies at the University of Warwick (U.K.) in 2004.

Gilchrist effected a major career change in 2009 by accepting an offer to become an education officer at the Ministry of Education, where she was responsible for the security and administration of all external examinations from January to October 2009. She was soon promoted to chief education officer at the Ministry of Education, where she supervised educational processes in schools from October 2009 to September 2016.

Gilchrist is also the non-resident ambassador to Canada.

-Matt Bewig