KINGSTON, Jamaica — As small businesses continue to regroup after the passage of Hurricane Melissa, the Women Entrepreneurs Network of the Caribbean (WENC) Jamaica Chapter has announced its board of directors for the 2025–2027 term.

WENC, which launched regionally in 2012 and formally began operations in Jamaica in 2014, focuses on issues that affect women-led micro and small enterprises, including limited access to finance, mentorship, networks and markets. The new board will oversee the organisation’s activities over the next two years.

The new board comprises Ethnie Miller Simpson (president), Dianne Edwards (vice president, governance), Narda Ventura (vice president, technology), Nicole Henry Dewar (vice president, strategic partnerships), Nicolette Armstrong (vice president, marketing, public relations and sponsorship), Marcia Skervin (vice president, advocacy), Karen Tomlinson (vice president, membership), and Nkechi Rhoden (vice president, finance and treasurer). The secretary role remains vacant.

WENC says its focus for the upcoming term includes technology adoption, policy advocacy and supporting women-owned small businesses in the aftermath of the hurricane.

The organisation has also started working with Pioneering Greatness, led by Chief Executive Officer David Archer Jr, after discussions that began when the storm interrupted a planned conference. Several companies, including Doorway Express, Ajairu Training Solutions, Aquaworx Jamaica, Blake & Brown Consultancy, ND Communications, KT Training Solutions and Connect Your Dots Ltd have pledged support for continuing relief activities.

WENC is calling for a national recovery plan that considers the needs of women and children in shelters and the rebuilding of small businesses operated by women, such as food stalls, bars, Airbnb rentals, poker machine outlets, retail shops and farms.

The organisation has launched a social media campaign, #womenfornationalrecoveryplan, and plans to hold town hall meetings, business re-start seminars and funding sessions for women whose businesses were damaged.

Following her appointment, President Miller Simpson said small business operators are crucial to the country’s economic rebound.

“The engine of growth in our economy is our small business operators, and women are central to that recovery as they reinvest in their families and communities,” she said.

She noted that recovery in the tourism sector depends not only on major hotels reopening but also on the return of smaller operators.

“Visitors come to meet our people, taste our food and experience our culture and energy in the streets, not just remain within the walls of a hotel,” she said.

Miller Simpson added that disasters often worsen gender inequality.

“Natural disasters disproportionately impact women due to existing gender inequality, leading to increased vulnerability, loss of livelihoods, especially in informal sectors, and heavier caregiving burdens,” she said. “With the expected reduction in economic growth, we anticipate a worsening of gender inequality, as women are more likely to leave the workforce to manage household responsibilities.”

WENC says it will continue coordinating with partners to support women entrepreneurs as they work to restart their businesses.