A career in banking may well be among the options for a group of teenagers, head girls at five Kingston schools, following a day of shadowing at CIBC FirstCaribbean’s head office, Knutsford Boulevard, on International Women’s Day, March 8.

The students enjoyed a full day of presentations from various department heads on their portfolios, including Managing Director Nigel Holness, who shared nuggets of his 35-year career.

Noting that the “once male-dominated field of banking now boasts many women in top management roles”, Holness encouraged the young ladies, noting, “At this bank we have lawyers, accountants, human resources specialists, marketers— all of whom play a critical role in the bank’s success”.

Also presenting to the students were Jerome Griffiths, head of human resources; Monique French, chief credit officer; Claudia Forbes, manager, corporate credit risk; Angene James, senior manager, special loans; Allison Rattray, senior counsel; Sheridan McDonald, senior manager, deals management; Annique Dawkins, head of corporate; Donna Gibson, manager, finance; Lancelot Leslie, director, business & infrastructure support; Stacy Belnavis, director, digital banking; Rosemarie Hemmings-Davis, district manager — retail & business banking; and Judith Najair, associate director, payments operations.

The well-assured students declared themselves amazed at the range of skill sets accommodated in the banking sector including those that might be a fit for their academic specialisations. Already streamed towards careers in medicine, law, entrepreneurship and engineering, the head girls declared themselves appreciative of the “eye-opener about other options for employment in banking even with varied qualifications”.

The students included Abby-Gayle Myers, The Queen’s School; Ana Roman Rodriguez, Ardenne High; Ruth Bakare, St Hugh’s High; Shyann Davis, Merl Grove High; Fafanice McKie, Denham Town High; and Melissa Randolph, Immaculate Conception High.