KINGSTON, Jamaica — Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, Carol Palmer, is encouraging more Jamaican women to aspire towards leadership.

According to Palmer, this is imperative in the multi-stakeholder approach to creating a more balanced society with men occupying those positions.

The permanent secretary further encouraged women to take steps to empower themselves to this end and accommodate their male counterparts in the process.

She was addressing women at the National Integrity Action’s (NIA) International Women’s Day Leadership Roundtable Forum at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in New Kingston yesterday.

Meanwhile, Palmer, who represented Portfolio Minister Fayvaal Williams, beseeched the society’s youth to be determined and hardworking in pursuit of their goals.

“Determine in your heart what you want people to think of you. You must not do it because somebody is watching… you must do it because it is right,” she emphasised.

The forum featured roundtable discussions, led by National Religious Media Commission Chair, Reverend Dr Patricia Holness.

Other participants included: Inter-American Development Bank Caribbean Country General Manager, Therese Turner-Jones; Chief Country Marketing Officer, Jamaica Money Market Brokers Group, Lisa-Maria Alexander; and Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions President, Helene Davis Whyte.