THE road to finding her life’s passion and job fulfilment materialised from the uncharacteristic path Gina Tomlinson-Williams decided to traverse.

Currently the director of organisational development and change at the Jamaica Public Service (JPS), Tomlinson-Williams’ non-linear professional roadmap to the seat she now sits in began as a classroom educator.

She would transition to a regional auditor, then a customer service manager, and move on to strategic planning. “I believe your purpose is greater than yourself. At the end of the day, your purpose is to serve other persons in some way, shape or form,” she reflected on the valuable lesson learnt from the job pivots.

Grounded and guided in her Christian faith, she doubled down on seeing a bigger picture in her working life. “It [my belief] drives me and is why I do what I do in that service to others.”

The back story of her career journey unfolded in a sit-down, following a pep talk the JPS senior exec delivered at a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workshop hosted at her alma mater Faculty of Science and Technology (then named Pure and Applied Sciences) at The University of the West Indies (The UWI), Mona, recently.

The workshop, a joint partnership between The UWI and the JPS Foundation, came on the heels of the signing of a memorandum of understanding in 2023. With a total spend of $16 million by the foundation over a five-year period, the workshop aimed at high school students sitting STEM subjects in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exams (CAPE), is offered at a reduced price to students, from potentially $5,000 to $1,500.

The price is held at $1,500 for five years.

Addressing fifth- and sixth-form students in a faculty lecture hall where she too had sat two decades prior, Tomlinson-Williams told the country’s future workforce, “have an open mind towards work, and be willing to explore job opportunities.”

“The way industries are going now, you are at a disadvantage if you only have experience in one particular area” she advised the secondary school youth. “Many organisations are now looking for persons who have multi-dimensional backgrounds and experience, even coming out of university.”

She told her rapt audience,”the world you’re entering doesn’t need people who have every answer — it needs people who are willing to ask better questions, test bold ideas, learn from failure and try again. STEM is not just about equations, code or experiments. It’s about solving real problems, improving lives, and shaping the future in ways no generation before you could imagine.”

For Tomlinson-Williams, who graduated as head girl at St Hugh’s High School in 1996, she encouraged the students to consider combining science and business subjects in their educational pursuits. “What I wanted to demonstrate was the importance of not placing yourself in a bucket, or in any one particular career definition because there are so many opportunities to be able to expand your experience.”

She recalled being an average student while reading for her first degree in General Physics and Electronics at UWI. “I had no focus while I was here at the time, I was a middling student for sure,” explained Tomlinson-Williams, before making a turn-around. “I also did my master’s in computer-based management systems. They call that the CBMIS programme. I think I was one of the guinea pigs in the early years of that programme.”

By then, she had worked, first on the teaching staff at New Horizon Computer Learning Centre and after, in information technology at Carreras. The latter position, she said, “allowed me to understand manufacturing, IT, business processes, strategy, and HR, so I got exposure to a wide gamut of professions and experiences before I came to JPS in 2007.”

An employed life gave a fresh perspective in tackling that second degree. “Having worked and returning to do that master’s was a big game-changer for me,” Williams noted. “The level of maturity that you bring to learning, and to focus and your own personal development when you are paying for it out of your own pocket is a stark difference.” She also had to contend with the aftermath of being involved in a major car accident. “I had to learn to walk again, and then I was made redundant shortly thereafter at Carreras, so there were lots of life changes during that period.”

With her 20th anniversary at JPS almost at hand, Tomlinson-Williams recounted that in joining the utility company, she came equipped with a worldview know-how from her Carreras tenure.

“I was there during a major transition that they went through when they were bought by British American Tobacco. It allowed me to see how an international organisation operates in terms of standards and processes. It was a complete standardisation and ensured their success and continuity. It helped me to understand the importance of those kinds of things. All that prepared me for the roles I would have at JPS: business analyst, billing manager, customer service manager, then head of customer experience, strategic planning, and presently change management.”

Quizzed as to whether she would advise others to follow a similar professional path to hers, the 47-year-old, now married with three-year-old twin daughters with her building and facilities manager husband Leighton Williams, said, “I was kind of forced by life changes. I think I would be a boring person and not as happy as I am now if I didn’t have all of those experiences. I met so many different people and learnt so many different things.”

Along the career journey which brought her to the here and now, Tomlinson-Williams shared three critical professional life hacks she’s been able to harness that continues to serve her well.

“One is that you have to be adaptable. The second is the capacity to learn for personal development, and the third thing is empathy. I care about people, but it wasn’t instinctive on the job. I had to learn about the customers’ perspective, so I had to start thinking outside of myself and think from their perspective, and what their expectations of the organisation were.”

Moving ahead, Tomlinson-Williams is invested in giving back. While she was once a member of the executive team of the St Hugh’s Old Girls’ Association, the urgent demand of toddler twins has temporarily sidelined that.

In-between interfacing with young adults through the JPS Foundation’s mentorship and internship programmes, what truly sustains her is people development.

“It’s one of my passions, seeing people find their purpose and then align with it. That’s fulfilling for me,” she declared.” It’s part of what I do at work, but even just personally, being able to coach people and share my testimony so others can grow and learn from it. It feels like I am talking to my former self and receiving what I didn’t get at that age.”

Gina Tomlinson-Williams.