SEVEN Jamaicans are among 120 people chosen from Canada, Bermuda, and the Caribbean to participate in a two-week leadership development conference focused on broadening perspectives and improving decision-making practices.

Participants in the Caribbean-Canada Emerging Leaders’ Dialogue (CCELD) will travel in groups of 12 to visit selected locations in Canada, Bermuda, and the Caribbean “to dialogue with community leaders, workers and volunteers from a variety of sectors to engage, listen, inquire, share ideas and learn what it means to be a leader in an increasingly inter-dependent and complex world,” organisers say.

The CCELD has Princess Anne, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, as its president and is organised by the Duke of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Study Conferences’ alumni. Princess Anne will make an official visit to Jamaica from June 5 to 6.

The dialogue opens in Ottawa, Canada on May 29 with all participants engaging in two days of presentations, discussion and networking. Participants will then divide into smaller study groups and travel first in Canada and then in a Caribbean country to visit communities and workplaces from the public and private sectors and civil society.

Finally, the full dialogue will reconvene for four days in Barbados, ending on June 11, where each study group will prepare a presentation on what they have observed and learned for the plenary, the conference president and invited guests.

At a reception for the local participants and planning committee at Devon House on May 13, Omar Sweeney, general manager of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund said the conference will improve his knowledge as an advocate for communities of underserved people.

“I expect to widen my experience from speaking with others who have worked in similar environments and sharing our successes and challenges, in order to bring back innovative techniques to Jamaica. The dialogue is important because it involves persons in different fields in government, NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and the private sector, and will help me to come up with ways to help people in a speedier and more sustainable way,” he said.

Trade unionist Oneil Grant said he expected to learn and share ideas and insights into how others in the Caribbean and Canada approach employer-worker relationships.

“I hope to broaden my knowledge of the best practices in how we dialogue on behalf of the worker. I look forward to learning how workers and employers can speak with one voice to achieve harmony and development,” said Grant, who is senior director of finance at the Rural Agricultural Development Authority and president-elect of the Jamaica Civil Service Association.

Co-chair for the group that will meet in Jamaica, Vicky Marshall of Barbados expressed excitement at being selected to participate in the conference.

“I looking forward to looking at the challenges we deal with every day, and building relationships between Canada and the Caribbean,” she said.

“It’s going to be two weeks packed with activities, so I am looking to embrace and enjoy everything that will be on offer, as well as deliver on behalf of my employers who selected me,” Marshall added.

President and CEO of Scotiabank Bruce Bowen described the dialogue as an amazing opportunity for young leaders to get together to look at problems affecting the countries. He said similar conferences had proven very rewarding for those who had participated in the past.

According to its official website, the Commonwealth Study Conferences started in 1956 as an experiment to provide an opportunity for people from all over the Commonwealth to leave behind their usual roles and, “with a diverse group of people, examine the relationship between industry and the community around it”.

The conferences are expected to challenge the participants’ assumptions and prejudices and to “give them the chance to examine real situations and the issues arising from the interaction of businesses, their employees and the communities in which they operate.”

Pull quote:

The dialogue opens in Ottawa, Canada on May 29 with all participants engaging in two days of presentations, discussion and networking. Participants will then divide into smaller study groups and travel first in Canada and then in a Caribbean country to visit communities and workplaces from the public and private sectors and civil society