RISK Manager at the National Export-Import Bank of Jamaica Limited (EXIM Bank) Odean White and administrator at the University of the West Indies Western Campus, Inderia Adjudah are this year’s standard-bearers for professionalism and good work ethic.

White is All-Island Boss of the Year, while Adjudah is All-Island Administrative Professional of the Year. They were selected by the Jamaica Association of Administrative Professionals (JAAP) from a field of 10 and presented at a brunch at the Mandeville Hotel, a week ago.

Guest speaker at the brunch was Reverend Garfield Wilson, senior pastor, Lacovia New Testament Church of God, St Elizabeth.

The JAAP competition is a lead-up to Administrative Professionals Week, being celebrated this week — April 19-25 — under the theme: ‘Administrative Professionals…Empowered to be The One’.

White’s career in banking spans over 12 years in the local financial sector. He is a graduate of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona and holds a master’s degree in economics and a bachelors in actuarial science.

The JAAP said White, who has published three research papers, is known for applying and implementing risk management best practices to effectively inform high-level, corporate strategic decision-making.

The married father of two serves as a deacon and youth leader at Church on the Rock, Kingston.

Adjudah, meanwhile, has worked for the last eight years in a pioneering role at UWI’s Western Campus in Montego Bay, St James.

Biographical data obtained from the JAAP said Adjudah was instrumental in the establishment of the Western Campus and assisted in its growth and sustainable development.

“She has worked alongside the campus director in formalising its organisational structure. Her responsibilities included the oversight and identification of staff needs and developing the required job descriptions for each position. She also developed a human resource strategy which focuses on staff development and retention,” the JAAP said.

Adjudah holds a master of business administration from the Mona School of Business and Management and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Spanish both from UWI, Mona. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration in Higher Education Management at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom.

Inderia serves on various committees of the Western Jamaica Campus. She also serves on the MoBay City Run Committee, a charitable organisation in Montego Bay, and is a member of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Sustainable Development Plan of the Westmoreland Parish Council.

Runner-up All Island Administrative Professional of the Year was Kareen Johnson, a bachelor’s degree student at Northern Caribbean University and secretary to the regional director at the Ministry of Labour, St Ann’s Bay, St Ann. Runner-up All Island Boss of the Year was Miss Rhoma Tomlinson, BSc, MA, highly respected educator, journalist and radio broadcaster, and chair of the Department of Communication Studies at Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville.

The administrative professionals competition has been in existence since 1976 and, up to 2013, was only open to members of the JAAP. On the occasion of the International Year of the Secretary and Administrative Professional, in 2014, the decision was taken to open participation to all administrative professionals.