Women from the West readying to take the lead

Sergeant in the Fire Brigade Caula Brown one of the trainees who works in a male dominated industry, shares that “the training was very inspirational. It has brought a wealth of knowledge and awareness; it opens your eyes to things you should have taken note of or paid attention to.” A teacher for 10 years, Shelly-Ann Marshall, another trainee adds that “it was an excellent well put together programme gearing towards enabling women who are already leaders and those who are not yet leaders; the ones who are already leaders to be stronger and the ones who are getting ready to be leaders to find a very good footing.” 

For her part, lifetime nurse Valerie Bowen believes that the training will also help participants to “take charge and take control of certain situations and leadership positions and roles in our society.” Importantly, she notes that those who participated can now move on to “empower other women to see themselves as integral parts of decision-making in whatever field they find themselves in.”

The Strengthening Women’s Leadership Training Programme was conducted by the Women’s Resource and Outreach Centre in partnership with the United Nations Democracy Fund with additional support from the Canadian International Development Agency. The three-day session in Montego Bay was the fourth in a series of island wide workshops which covered the following topics: Gender and Good Governance, Transformational Leadership & Strategic Communication, Financial Statements for Business Decision-Making and Corporate Governance.  

Successful workshops covering the same topics have also been held in Kingston, Mandeville and Ocho Rios. More than 80 women have so far been trained under the programme. The aim is to create a database of 100 women equipped to take up positions on boards and commissions island wide. It is expected that at least another 20 women will be prepared for leadership following a final workshop in September. Project Administrator Samora Bain is pleased with the outcome of the programme so far noting that participants have “felt stirred to act and not simply leave the training and not do anything. Women definitely want to make a difference in the community where they are from.

The next big move for the leading women is a powerful convention to be held in November where issues concerning women’s leadership in Jamaica, government policy, women’s rights and other matters will be discussed. For more information send your emails to communications@wrocjamaica.org.