The Affiliation of Feminine Executives of Trinidad and Tobago (AFETT) is an organisation that celebrates girls.
Based in 2002, this non-profit organisation is a medium by way of which skilled girls are linked and introduced with networking alternatives, management coaching and enterprise concepts.
The imaginative and prescient of the organisation is to be the main community for skilled girls in Trinidad and Tobago.
In step with its mandate, AFETT hosted its annual Ladies of Affect Awards and Mentorship Celebration final Thursday, March, 9, recognizing a number of girls for his or her contribution to their respective fields.
Amongst these awarded have been:
- Kathryn Nurse- Enterprise Pioneer Award
- Sian Cuffy-Younger- Social Entrepreneur
- Lieutenant Colonel Jozette McLean- Nationwide Spirit Award
- Dawsher Charles- Younger Feminine Chief Award
- Charlene Pedro- Spirit of AFETT Award
Throughout her speech AFETT president, Melena Simon-O’neil mentioned:
“I believe AFETT is uniquely certified and properly positioned to empower and rework the lives of scores of girls by way of our advocacy, our mentorship and our schooling programme bettering entry, which is our objective. Over the past 20 years, this organisation has persistently used our platform to advocate for a good, simply and equitable place for ladies and women in Trinidad and Tobago.”
Keynote speaker, Greer Quan, famous a transparent shift in roles as girls have transitioned from conventional roles and joined the workforce.
Even so, she mentioned the mindsets and expectations of girls stay the identical.
“In 2022, the variety of feminine Fortune 500 CEOs had risen to 9% (up from just below 4% a decade earlier). Even with the rise in feminine leads, a whopping 91% of these Fortune 500 firms are, as we speak, nonetheless led by males. The query price repeating is within the midst of the framework of societal and, at time self-imposed expectations which were constructed up round girls within the office – how will we, as girls, transcend the odd to the realm of the extraordinary and the way does self-determination energy our capacity to raise our success to turn into Ladies of Affect?”
Quan inspired everybody current to lean into and leap by way of the home windows of alternative.
“I entered the Pan-American Life Insurance coverage Group nearly 9 years in the past with out an iota of insurance coverage expertise,” she shared.
What I had was a really clear understanding of operational processes – particularly the way to determine and shut gaps, sturdy important pondering expertise and a penchant for a problem! And I set about systematically reviewing and, the place essential, disrupting norms. I used to be not afraid to simply accept assignments that have been outdoors of the remit of Operations, and I leveraged my insurance coverage inexperience to create home windows of alternative for service enhancements e.g. the organising of the Consumer Relations Unit, which is now closely replicated amongst numerous our opponents. The fact is all executives are required to have demonstrable experience. Ladies, much more so, should construct credibility, present indeniable outcomes and set up a repute of success to earn the respect of their friends and leaders. It’s laborious to disregard measurable outcomes when choices surrounding alternatives and developments are made – outcomes converse for themselves. As soon as you’re at your required function – don’t relaxation in your laurels. Proceed to shine and reveal your price by way of measurable outcomes.
In keeping with the AFETT president, there are nonetheless too many ladies who lack entry to obtainable alternatives due to their circumstances.
To realize fairness, she mentioned we should every do our half to make sure that all girls profit from equitable access- access to the decision-making desk, entry to help techniques, entry to funding, entry to high quality healthcare, entry to superior schooling, and entry to funding.
Embracing fairness should due to this fact transcend equal alternative however have to be pushed entry, realizing that all of us begin at completely different locations and might have completely different ranges of help and sources to entry schooling, profession, and financial alternatives essential to attain monetary freedom, optimum well being, educational success, profession development and reside a significant, profitable and glad life.
She mentioned AFETT continues to work to shut these gaps by offering mentorship alternatives for each younger skilled girls coming into or advancing on this planet of labor and women 13-18 from weak communities who’re in want of life expertise coaching, and profession teaching as they put together for the transition from the classroom to the boardroom.
“Investing in marginalized and neglected communities by way of our REACH Mentorship. AFETT will enhance entry by way of the creation of mentorship alternatives for each younger Skilled girls coming into or advancing on this planet of labor and women 13-18 who’re in want of life expertise coaching, and profession teaching as they put together for the transition from the classroom to the boardroom.”
