Saluting 6 women pioneers

FOR years women have made strides towards equality in all aspects of their lives, but regardless of the fight put up, some professions remain underrepresented. However, in celebration of International Women’s Day, under the theme Accelerated Gender Parity, All Woman salutes six female pioneers in traditionally male-dominated fields:

Ava Tomlin — BMR Jamaica Wind Energy Limited

As an accomplished operations leader, project manager and engineer, Ava Tomlin has always worked in male-dominated fields. She has a track record of performance in the aviation, construction and utilities sector. Tomlin began her engineering career as a civil engineer at the Jamaica Public Service Company Ltd (JPS), where she served for six years, managing the construction of commercial buildings, electrical substations and communications towers. She then went on to Alumina Partners of Jamaica, where she facilitated the completion of an alumina processing plant upgrade. This was followed by her appointment to the Water and Sewerage Company in St Lucia, where she coordinated treatment, transmission and distribution of potable water. In 2003, Tomlin accepted the position of director of engineering and planning for the Airports Authority of Jamaica, where she distinguished herself in the facilities management of an international airport and four domestic airport facilities. Three years later, she took on the mantle of entrepreneurship, offering project management and consultancy services. Between 2012 and 2014, Tomlin returned to JPS, where she functioned as parish manager for Manchester and St Elizabeth. In this capacity, Tomlin had overall responsibility for aspects of service delivery, operational, customer care and field service matters pertaining to the geographic area. In 2014 she joined BMR Jamaica Wind Energy Limited, where she holds the post of regional director.

“I’ve always been results-oriented, and I’m drawn to industries that are about improving quality of life. Being female in a male-dominated industry is never an issue — it’s about being driven by one’s passion. My passion is to improve people’s lives and enhance their experiences, and being in energy provides that opportunity for me,” says Tomlin.

Hillary Alexander — Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (MSTEM)

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (MSTEM), Hillary Alexander will be among the names of powerful women presenting at the Women in Energy Conference to be held at the Jamaica Pegasus March 10 – 11. This seasoned professional, with over 13 years’ experience in international procurement, logistics, and general management, has overseen a major corporation and has managed several international lines of credit and aid programmes for Jamaica. She’s also an entrepreneur who operates her own business in manufacturing and project management in the tourism sector. Alexander brought all that experience with her into the public sector where she says she wanted to make a difference. She joined the public sector modernisation initiative in Jamaica in 2002, and led the public sector modernisation division of the cabinet office as the chief technical director from 2007-2009. Alexander went on to become the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Mining in 2009, which later became the MSTEM. She explains that she enjoys working in the energy industry, as it is so dynamic.

Alexander also wants to inspire young aspiring leaders at the conference, as she strongly believes in mentorship. “There is no substitute for it,” she says. She explains that mentorship is important for the transference of institutional knowledge, and that it happens at several levels. “For the women I have recruited, I support them, I empower them, and allow them to grow.”

Dr Natalie Whylie — Senior Medical Officer at Kingston Public Hospital

“It is an honour for me to be the first woman to have been appointed as the senior medical officer of the 240-year-old Kingston Public Hospital. The hospital has played an important role in the delivery of health care to the island of Jamaica and the English-speaking Caribbean and to Jamaicans in the Diaspora. The journey to my appointment required my attainment of the professional qualifications, not only as a consultant ENT/head & neck surgeon, but also in post-graduate management. My appointment is also a result of consistent hard work and dedication to improving standards in my area of specialisation, the KPH, and by extension, to the patients the institution serves.

“The public health care system is facing significant challenges due to increasing service demands; the changes in the diseases affecting Jamaicans; and the increasing threats of new and emerging diseases like Chik V and the Zika Virus. My role of senior medical officer has called for more emphasis on increased efficiency in utilisation of resources, strategic partnerships with other agencies and the private sector, and a focus on improving the customer service delivery.”

Camaria Spalding — Female Lineman at JPS

Camaria Spalding — Female Lineman at JPS

Camaria Spalding believes that she “can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. This philosophy led her on a mission to becoming the second female lineman/journeyman in JPS and the entire Caribbean. This young lady, who is from Whitehall near Middle Quarters in St Elizabeth, became interested in electrical installation while attending St Elizabeth Technical High School. It was a course she had to do while pursuing studies in information technology, but she soon realised that her preference was for the electrical field.

“I was like, this is so cool. This is so much better than IT! So after exams I continued in the field. I wanted to know as much as I could,” she said.

She got an opportunity to visit the JPS Rockfort Power Barge and this heightened her love for electrical work. Spalding was relentless in pursuing her dream, spending several years as an assistant to an electrician. She says she has received a lot of family support, despite the fact that the field she works in is male-dominated. “My family knows I wanted to work in the electrical field. My dad always encouraged me and they were so excited to see the dream becoming a reality.”

Dionne Nugent — Electrical Engineer at JPS

Dionne Nugent is an electrical engineer, and currently the head of generation special projects at JPS. She has served in several engineering leadership positions over her 20 years of service to the company. These positions include head — engineering and transmission and distribution planning, and senior engineer — special projects. Nugent possesses master’s degrees in electric power systems (University of Bath, UK) and engineering management (University of the West Indies) and gained her bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of the West Indies. She sees herself as a visionary, passionately and enthusiastically inspiring her team to remain determined, optimistic, and committed to driving transformation in energy and engineering. She is integrally involved in the process of bringing gas to Jamaica as part of the country’s fuel diversification thrust.

“It is really exciting to be part of this historic milestone for Jamaica. My job will help to support economic development initiatives for the country, while ensuring greater energy security, affordability and sustainability,” says Nugent.

Ingrid Christian Baker — General Manager at Jamaica Private Power Company (JPPC)

Initially employed to JPPC as the head of the Finance Department, Christian Baker would ask a lot of questions, much to the annoyance of the employees who were mostly men. Subsequently, after getting over that hurdle, she was later appointed as general manager for the 20-year-old company, and wondered how her fellow co-workers would receive such news.

“I’m the first woman, first Jamaican, and the first non-engineer to head the company. So I wondered how they would receive so many firsts here,” she said. And so, when she wasn’t clear on issues, her questions were prefaced with, “I’m not an engineer, however…” But she has now crossed the divide where she’s confident enough to question employees about anything in the plant.

“I spent time sitting down with engineers. If you did this or that, how would it affect the business? So spending hours working different scenarios to prove them wrong, or looking at what they said even if it took hours to ensure I knew it was correct, not because a model said so or an engineer said so, gave me more confidence in my tasks,” she stated.

She said it’s great to be the first woman, but it’s important never to get complacent. “Since I got the position and I look back I realised there were a few women who did say to me, “girl power”, or “it’s good a woman has finally got the job”. However, this achievement forms the example for women of things they can achieve. I can set a pace and be a beacon for someone else. Also, I say, challenge yourself and try to go beyond the call of duty,” Christian Baker stressed.