RENOWNED Jamaican philanthropist Pat Ramsay is among 10 women who will be honoured at the annual World Leadership Conference of the International Women’s Forum (IWF) next week in San Francisco, USA.

The Women Who Make A Difference Awards will be presented on October 26, the final night of the three-day conference being held under the theme ‘Ideas Remaking the World’.

Introduced by Beth Brooke, global vice-chair, public policy, Ernst & Young, the awards are conveyed each year by the IWF in recognition of women around the world who, by way of their example, contributions and exceptional leadership, have removed barriers for women’s advancement.

The other recipients are: Kay Kelley Arnold, vice-president of public affairs for Entergy Corporation (Arkansas, USA); Lila Cockrell, mayor emeritus of the City of San Antonio and the first female mayor of a major Texas City (USA); Paula A Cox, JP, MP, premier of Bermuda; Pilar Jurado, soprano and opera composer (Spain); Nana Magomola, deputy chair of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Trust (South Africa); Denise Morrison, president & CEO of Campbell Soup Company (New Jersey, USA); Dr Glenda Price, president emeritus of Marygrove College (Michigan, USA); Nyamko Sabuni, minister for gender equality and deputy minister for education in the Ministry of Education and Research of the Government of Sweden; and Dr Amal Zureikat Sharaiha, founding chair of Operation Smile, Jordan and president of The Jordanian Periodontal Society.

Ramsay is a national arts leader, past founding director of the Culture, Health, Arts, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund and chair emeritus for the Women’s Leadership Initiative of United Way Jamaica.

In addition to being the founding president of IWF Jamaica, Ramsay is one of the country’s outstanding visionaries and volunteers. Her contribution to community development and the arts has earned her numerous awards, including the Order of Distinction, conferred upon her in August 2008; Woman of the Year (Business and Professional Women’s Organisation); and the Caribbean Academy of Arts and Culture Award.

She serves on a number of boards of national and community interest and is also honorary co-chair of the Museum of Modern Art’s Education Fund-raising Gala.

Ramsay was recently selected to serve on IWF’s global board and will chair the organisation’s Cornerstone Conference when it is hosted in Jamaica next May 29-31.

The IWF advances leadership across careers, cultures, and continents by connecting the world’s most pre-eminent women of significant and diverse achievement.

The organisation brings together an unprecedented global membership to exchange ideas, learn, inspire, and to promote better leadership for a changing world.

More than 5,000 women leaders from 26 nations on five continents make up the IWF membership.