TWO of Jamaica’s top academic leaders are now working on a national roll-out strategy to equip Jamaican women to thrive in the digital era, following their participation in a recent United Nations Development Programme/United Nations (UNDP-UN) Global Leadership Academy on Women Leading in the Digital Era in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Management Institute for National Development (MIND) CEO Dr Ruby Brown, and The University of the West Indies, Mona Professor Gunjan Mansingh joined more than 60 diverse women leaders across politics, institutions and civil society, connecting five continents, in the four-day December 2025 event hosted by the UNDP and the United Nations Electoral Assistance Division.

As delegates, Dr Brown and Professor Mansingh were equipped to champion digital equity & inclusive leadership in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on developing personalised leadership journey maps and concrete action plans to promote women’s leadership in the digital space within their institutions and communities in Jamaica. Their plans are expected to form the foundation for national implementation strategies, enabling participants to share lessons while scaling the Academy’s impact across sectors and generations.

Long after the 2025 global academy, the initiative intends to build a global alumni network of women leaders who continue to collaborate, mentor, and support one another.

“This is not just training; it is a movement for future-ready, values-driven leadership. By investing in women’s digital leadership, the academy contributes directly to inclusive governance, stronger institutions, and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The UNDP Multi Country Office here in Jamaica was delighted to nominate these two outstanding academic leaders to help further the participation of women in the digital age,” said UNDP Resident Representative Dr Kishan Khoday.

Said Dr Brown: “Participating in the academy was a timely and highly practical experience that strengthened my approach to inclusive, future-ready public leadership.“

She said lessons learned will support institutionalising leadership development in MIND’s implementation of the Public Sector Learning and Development Policy and its learning framework and help embed leadership values and behaviours to sustain transformation across the public service.

“The conversations went far beyond theory. I gained practical frameworks and tools for transformational leadership that challenged my long-held belief that leadership is either innate or learned only through experience,” Professor Mansingh recalled. She said a key takeaway for her is that technology, when guided by diverse and inclusive leadership, can become a powerful force for systemic equality.

The four-day immersive programme featured expert sessions, labs, and storytelling circles anchored on four AI-enabled curriculum pillars: Transformational leadership; strategic communications; intergenerational leadership; and leading in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world.

The academy’s mandate is shaped by evidence of systemic exclusion of women, youth and persons with disabilities from systems which shape the future, demonstrating the urgency of inclusive design and leadership. Globally, women hold only 10-11 per cent of tech leadership roles, 22 per cent of AI jobs, and 27 per cent of parliamentary seats, leaving half of humanity out of digital and political decision-making. AI is also advancing faster than institutions can govern it, disproportionately affect women, girls, and marginalised communities. For example, 75 per cent of girls and young women reporting exposure to harmful online content, while youth Internet access ranges from 40 per cent in Africa to 97 per cent in Europe, reflecting global divides in education, employment, and civic participation.

The 2025 edition of the Leadership Academy was co-designed with national partners in Morocco, including the Moroccan Parliament, reinforcing the academy’s commitment to institutional leadership and nationally led transformation.