Develop Database of Women for Positions on Boards

Country Operating Officer COO for RBTT Jamaica Ltd Roxann Linton wants companies and organizations to widen the search for talent by looking beyond the traditional pool of executives and “bring new potential to light.” Lamenting that “many times what we have is a recycling of the same talent,” the COO applauded recent efforts to form a database of professional women willing and equipped to sit on public and private sector boards. 

The effort being spearheaded by the Women’s Resource and Outreach Centre WROC in partnership with the United Nations Democracy Fund UNDEF is geared at developing a database of 100 women leaders for positions on boards; the first batch of 25 women were trained at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel recently during a three-day workshop titled “Strengthening Women’s Leadership in Jamaica.” Trainers included notable women leaders such as Sandra Glasgow, chief executive officer of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica; Beverley Manley, media personality and trainer in transformational leadership; Linnette Vassell, gender and community development specialist; Cecile Watson, financial expert and consultant; Dr. Nsombi Jaja, quality management and spiritual intelligence expert and Hermione McKenzie, former UWI lecturer and gender expert. The next three-day training session is scheduled for professional women in Mandeville. 

As guest speaker at the Kingston launch, Miss Linton commended the project and the development of a database of professional women leaders, noting that it is “a step in the right direction toward advancing the agenda of women in corporate governance.” She points out that “in New Zealand there is a practice of maintaining a transparent and accessible range of available databases maintained by pubic, private and voluntary sector organizations to hold the details of aspiring directors.” She added that the “business of attracting and retaining the best talent on boards should be important to all businesses/government organizations in Jamaica.  And with 51% of the Jamaican population being women, we would expect to see greater women’s representation on these boards.”  Currently female representation on private sector boards stands at 16 percent and 33 percent on public sector boards, according to the ‘Gender and Governance: Implications for the Participation of Women on Boards on Commissions in Jamaica’ study published recently.

From a business point of view, the banker further advanced that with increased women’s leadership at the board level, there is a greater potential to meet consumer needs.  “As long as women continue to make the majority of consumer purchasing decisions, increasing female representation in company boardrooms is a ‘no-brainer’,” she emphasized. 

On the same issue, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the Jamaica Money Market Brokers Donna Duncan Scott noted that while women's participation in leadership at the executive level was significant, it didn’t transcend to the levels of public and private sector boards where the real influence lies. In an interview on RJR recently, she encouraged women to embrace their unique female nurturing qualities and use them to effect successful client relations policies in business. This notwithstanding, she stressed that culture change is necessary in society in order for gender equity in corporate leadership to be realized. 

  She admitted that JMMB does have a challenge finding women willing to assume certain leadership positions and pointed to a strategic policy that will be implemented within the medium term to address this problem. Certainly the development of a pool of trained female leaders will assist in this effort.

Gender Advocate and Chairperson of WROC Linnette Vassell emphasizes that women in leadership is a not only a gender issue but a human rights issue, noting that “fifty one percent of the Jamaican population are women and they therefore should have proportional representation in our democracy.”  Continuing she stressed that “women and men have different interests and perspectives in important areas, and it is important that these varying experiences be utilised to tackle the tremendous challenges we face at all levels and in all areas of our lives….it is really  a matter of deepening our democracy and strengthening our nation”. 

On a global scale, gender equality and women’s empowerment is increasingly a pivotal goal that is receiving increased attention. Among the United Nation’s ten Millennium Development Goals MDGs, gender equity is listed at number three. The UN has also entered into force the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which has been ratified by 185 countries, including Jamaica. The Convention at its core calls for the equal or proportional participation of women in all spheres of life.

For more information on the WROC/UNDEF project and the mandate to raise national awareness of women’s rights in leadership and democracy send your emails to communications@wrocjamaica.org.