As a former member of parliament and justice of the peace Rolfe Commissiong has worked in both the private and public sectors in Bermuda for three decades. He has had extensive experience at the local level in the areas of communications, advertising and telecommunications in the private sector as founder and president of Black Star Communications Ltd. (1996-2007). Moreover, over the last eight years he was an elected member of parliament’s lower house, in the house of assembly for the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party government up until 2020.

The most notable achievements while a government legislator was his advocacy around the threat posed by increasing levels of income inequality in the country and related labour market issues. Growing levels of Income inequality and its intersection with pre-existing racial disparities has been a key issue in Bermuda. Mr. Commissiong was also instrumental in the PLP government ‘s decision to implement a living wage in Bermuda by way of his advocacy and leadership as chairman of the joint parliamentary committee in the parliament charged with producing a final report on the implementation of a living wage for Bermuda which was successfully carried by way of a unanimous vote in both houses of the parliament.

He has also served as a consultant and advisor to two Premier’s of Bermuda from 2005 to 2012 primarily in the areas of policy formulation including social and racial equity issues. He was successful in convincing the government to secure the services of Columbia University’s Professor Ronald L. Mincy to conduct a comparative study of Bermuda’s young black males and their same age peers which was published in 2010 as incidences of gang formation and deadly gang related violence began to emerge on island. Prior to this period, he was a well-known social and political activist and public intellectual frequently featured in the 1990’s and beyond as a columnist in most of Bermuda’s newspapers
on a consistent basis.

Mr. Rolfe Commissiong would also before entering elected politics serve as a delegate for the Pan African movement at the United Nations sponsored World Conference against Racism and Xenophobia in Durban South Africa (2001). Additionally, upon the invitation of the Premier of Bermuda in 2005 he would join the Bermuda Independence Commission charged with exploring the relevant issues as it relates to Bermuda’s self-determination as an independent nation. He would go on to lead the commission’s delegation in discussions with the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. Subsequently, he received the “Queens Honour” from Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom for his service to the commission.  Mr. Rolfe Commissiong has also worked on two winning election campaign committees and has extensive links to the Caribbean through family and other networks particularly in Barbados
and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.