Michelle McKenzie: ‘Tech-ing’ leadership to a new level

ALTHOUGH strides have been made over the years, women remain under-represented in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at most levels, as evidenced by the less than 35 per cent representation of women at senior levels at top global tech companies like Microsoft and Apple.

Michelle McKenzie, group technical services manager at JMMB, is not daunted by this reality; instead she is up for the challenge and excited to make her mark in the male-dominated space, sitting as a role model to encourage other women to take their seat at the table with their male counterparts by adding value and their unique perspective.

From an early age, McKenzie had a love for computers, and would often spend hours playing around with a computer that she had inherited from her late uncle, who was also in the field. “As a child, I remember enjoying just playing and using it for hours. This love only blossomed during my years at St Andrew High School for Girls, as I was drawn to the problem-solving aspect of computers, and wanted to pursue a degree in computer engineering, either overseas or at The University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine.”

As destiny would have it, although McKenzie got accepted to the actuarial programme at The UWI, Mona, because of her strong analytical and mathematical aptitude, she soon discovered that she did not have a passion for the programme and the course content was vastly different from her expectations. She therefore opted to pursue a degree in computer science, and has no regrets with her choice, coming full circle into her purpose.

Now armed with her degree in computer science, McKenzie made her first stop at PeopleCorp Technologies, now defunct. Interestingly, this company provided her with an introduction to JMMB, as it was a third-party supplier, little did she know then that all roads would lead her back to JMMB Group.

With her sights set on broadening her horizon, experience and knowledge, she migrated to the United States for a few years. “The experience proved invaluable for me as someone who was young and eager, as I got a First-World experience as a database developer,” she said.

She also built great friendships along the way in her new home. No stranger to being in a male-dominated space, and even being one of the few black women in the IT space at the company at the time, McKenzie saw this as an opportunity versus a disadvantage. “I ensured that I worked hard, and my work spoke for my expertise,” she said, explaining that this garnered respect from her colleagues. Additionally, she bolstered her academic qualifications with several certificates to ensure she was on par with her peers.

Feeling homesick, McKenzie headed back to Jamaica where she did stints at Fiscal Services (now E-Gov) as a senior database administrator, JPSCo, which she credits for accelerating her professional growth, and then Jamaica Broilers Group where she was IT infrastructure manager.

This self-professed challenge-seeker, who has spent almost seven years at the leadership level, shared that her decision to join the JMMB team came at a critical junction for the company, with the growing need to accelerate digitisation during the midst of the pandemic. Not daunted by the uncertainties, hard work and sacrifice ahead to ensure that JMMB Group had the robust systems and infrastructure in place, McKenzie came on board and decided to steer the ship through a globally challenging time and now “thankfully less eventful days”. She credits the solid support from the JMMB Group leadership team in providing the necessary resources and environment for her to leverage her expertise and identify solutions that have redounded to the benefit of the company ensuring that the JMMB promise to offer clients service in a manner that is consistent with best interest, is met.

Additionally, McKenzie credits her team for making it seamless to lead the charge of implementing and testing company-wide disaster recovery strategy and programme for business critical services and begin the implementation of cloud strategy to ensure the stability of JMMB Group’s IT infrastructure, which supports a range of the company’s business operations such as ATMs, IP phone system, videoconference and other IT infrastructure devices.

“I have a very good team that has made many sacrifices, without complaining to get the job done, and I am so grateful for them,” she shared.

Reflecting on her leadership journey, she laughs that her first taste of leadership was a “humbling experience”. In fact, the African proverb, “Calm sea does not make a skilled sailor; rough seas make the best sailor”, describes her tumultuous experience, which today, she is thankful for as it shaped her into the leader she is, leading with heart.

The now seasoned IT leader shared that she was thrust into a leadership role after a few months as part of the JPSCo team, as an IT specialist. Although hitting her targets, McKenzie felt there were gaps in her team, and so the consummate problem-solver, she went in search of solutions.

“You think there is a way a leader needs to be and I realised I had some misconceptions of leadership, and my team gave me some honest feedback which I took. Undaunted, I was introspective and saw some areas that I needed to change [and did just that].”

While planting her feet into this new role, she took another leap of faith when the opportunity presented itself as head of infrastructure solutions and services, admittedly with a mix of excitement and trepidation.

“The experience [at JPS] helped me to recognise my genuine love for people and helping them to achieve their greatness through personal development. Since [those early days] I have enjoyed a great rapport with the teams I have led and also sought out additional leadership training to improve how I lead and make a difference in my team,” she said.

With such a key IT role, McKenzie is laser-focused on helping JMMB to use agile technology to support its growth path and enhance its client experience, with IT infrastructure solutions. When this tech-junkie is not busy keeping the JMMB Group’s systems operating optimally, she can be caught having a great time with friends or seeking out a new adventure — whether soaking up some sun on the beach or jet setting to a new country to enjoy the culture and food.

Her advice for others looking to pursue a career in IT can be summed up in this quote, “Move outside of your comfort zone, you can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward, uncomfortable when you try something new”.