SOLIDARITY, SISTERS!
Powerful and influential women play a key role in elevating other women to the boardroom, asserted publisher and chief executive officer of the Nation Publishing Company, Vivian-Anne Gittens.
“Sometimes [women] are struggling to hold onto the little bit of power [they] have . . . and don’t realise there is a little bit that can be shared with somebody else. We are so conscious of what more we can grab and how [much] further we can go, that we forget that we can help persons coming along.”
She was addressing a lunchtime lecture, under the theme Corporate Equity: Women In The Boardroom, held at the Grande Salle of the Tom Adams Financial Centre by the University of the West Indies Open Campus in conjunction with the Central Bank of Barbados on Wednesday.
Further, she said she believed women should compliment the good work being done by existing female leaders, adding: “Not only recommend them but commend them when they are already there. Have something good to say about what they are doing . . . and encourage businesses to support female talent.”
Gittens also urged those in attendance to support policy positions and self-regulated targets on the issue.
Men were also seen as important to the cause, and could even mentor women with promise, the media head continued.
“I was recommended for my board positions by males and I feel sometimes it has to be so. They are the ones who are on the boards . . . and to some extent they have to recommend you. So for those people like me who do take that step, they need to identify, recommend and commend other women.”
