By Yvonne Grinam Nicholson

As a young girl growing up in Port Antonio, Portland, her days away from school were spent working alongside her parents and two sisters, building the family’s hire-purchase, haberdashery and motor vehicle servicing businesses. She was the youngest of the three girls, but learnt early to grease and spray large vehicles, put together kerosene stoves and to manage the till.

“If it was not a successful week-end, I remember that we did not get any pocket money and so I learnt the discipline of hard work for rewards.”

It would seem then, that it was from these early years that the building blocks leading to Marlene Street Forrest’s rise in the rough and tumble world of business were being laid. Today she is the General Manager of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), one of the main engines of business growth in Jamaica.

Her intense dedication and love of the stock market, along with her support of her Board and staff members, led to the JSE’s rise to the top of the list being named by Bloomberg) as the top performer in the global market in 2015. During that year, under her leadership, the Exchange surged more than 80 percent and twenty-nine of the fifty-seven stocks traded on the main and junior markets in Jamaica saw year-over-year post-tax profits rise of 10 per cent or more. This year also she was honoured by the government of Jamaica with the award of the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander for outstanding leadership in the growth of the JSE.

Bloomberg quoted Carl Bennett, a vice president of investor relations at Bank of New York Mellon as saying that investors should pay attention to the Jamaica Stock Exchange. We sat down to talk about her journey from the sleepy, quiet town of Port Antonio to the Board room of the Jamaican business hub. Marlene is one of a handful of women who have headed stock exchanges worldwide. She has, for example, followed in the footsteps of Dame Clara Frances Furse who was the Chief Executive Officer of the London Stock Exchange between 2001 and 2008 and Chita Ramkrishna, the first woman Managing Director and CEO of the National Stock Exchange in India, which was founded to reform the capital market in India.

Her early education began at the Bethesda Basic School and the Port Antonio Primary School where under the tutelage of teachers like Mrs. Townsend and Mrs. Henry she was sent to pass the Common Entrance and was set to begin her high school career at Titchfield High School. Her school mates included, Donald Rhodd (Optometrist and former Member of Parliament of East Portland. Phillip Henry – Artist)

The memories of her life growing up in Port Antonio include learning memory gems from her mother and working beside a very stern, honest and independent father. “My parents were always working and they were very disciplined. My father manufactured furniture and told all his employees that they should never put any nails in the furniture, they must always be glued. Anyone who used nails was asked not to return.” At Titchfield she pursued technical studies including, commerce, economics, typing and shorthand and completed sixth form in one year. On leaving high school with A level subjects of History and Economics under her belt she taught for one year at the Port Maria High School and then went on to the University of the West Indies for higher studies. It was a chance meeting in the line where students were signing up for subjects in which to complete their degree that led to her pursuing her studies in management studies and not sociology. “I was standing in the line to sign up for sociology and a lady ahead of me turned around, looked and me and asked me why someone so young was signing up to do sociology. She encouraged me to do my degree in management studies instead. I was very obedient at the time and I went into that line. I have no regrets. I never ever saw that lady again through all my years at UWI. “

After completing her three-year degree she worked in the Income Tax Department but quickly moved on to the private sector where she worked at the JPS as the internal auditor for one year and then spent four years at Caribbean Cement company as the cost accountant. She was the Chief Accountant at Xerox before moving on to the same position at JBC TV. Her next move was on to the Jamaica Observer in the very formative years of the newspaper as first Financial Controller and then on to Assistant General Manager. It was here that she learnt the sacrifices of running a start-up and well-remembers the late nights and early mornings of working to ensure that the paper was published.

After her five year stint at Jamaica Observer, fate and a love of plants and animals led her to farming. She, along with a partner invested in tilapia fish ponds and goat rearing in Hill Run, St. Catherine. “I went in bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, very idealistic, but then was hit with the reality of praedial larceny. She made a rapid exit after machete-wielding men went to her farm to reap what they had not planted and chased away workers from the Government Fisheries Department who had come to do legitimate work. Her brief two year farming experience taught her the toughness of Jamaica for farmers.

After packing up her farming tools she headed to South East Regional Health Authority where she was the Parish Manager. “That job taught me to seek the assistance of Corporate Jamaica and to manage on very little, because the health sector is severely underfunded. We learnt to develop good relationships with the Food for the Poor.”

After I left SERHA I headed to the Jamaica Stock Exchange, succeeding Lascelles Morrison as Assistant General; Manager, Finance before moving on to head the organization on Wain Iton’s departure in 2004. “When I came to the stock exchange I saw the many opportunities for growth; to build products and market the exchange.” The organization has grown rapidly over these twelve years and still has a lot of potential”.

Marlene’s tenure has seen the birth of the Registrar Division of the Jamaica Central Securities Depository, the formation and explosion of the Junior Market as well as annual events including the annual regional investment conference; the JSE Best Practices Awards as well as the Broker-Analyst Competition and the Jamaica Stock Market Games for High Schools. The Jamaica Stock Exchange became demutualized and listed first its preference shares and then its ordinary Shares. The JSE was one of the best performing companies in 2015.

Marlene believes that Jamaica has not yet tapped into the full potential of the stock market and sees the need to have fixed income instruments listed on the Exchange as another area for development. She is convinced that the pace of growth in the economy would be greater both government and more corporations were to utilize the platform that is available.

Marlene is a mother of two girls, Francis and Keena, both graduates of Campion College. She is also the proud grandmother of ten year old Elisha. Francia and Keena are both professionals in their own right and she is proud of their achievements.

Outside of work, she tries to give back by serving as a Justice of the Peace, a director of the Good Samaritan Inn and the Women’s Director at the Whitehall Avenue Seventh Day Adventist Church.

“Would I have done anything differently with my life? No, I have had my challenges as everyone else but I learn to take them in my strides. Every milestone has been fulfilling. Living with the feeling of what could have been serves no useful purpose. One should glimpse back only to move forward.”

The secret to her success: “I listen and try to engage and allow people to shine in what they do and I learn from others.”