“Choose well the people you take on your journey with you. Make sure they are going to encourage you up the mountain, however long, however difficult, however challenging; make sure the people we choose to journey with us are going to encourage us on the journey,” challenged Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) 21st Anniversary honoree the Right Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin as she accepted her award.

Hudson-Wilkin, the first black woman to become a Church of England bishop, was the last of five honorees to accept but left a lasting impression with a telling tale about her daughter’s career choice. “I want to say in particular, to the young people, that it is not where we are coming from, and our early beginnings. It is about where we want to go. One of my daughters when she was four years old wanted to be a vet. And then she got to age seven, and wanted to be a doctor, right up until she was 17. Then she came home [one day], I was in the kitchen cooking, and she said, ‘My friends say it’s going to take too long to study to be a doctor, so I’m going to be a nurse’. I looked at her, placed what I was doing down, and said, ‘But darling, you’ve always wanted to be a doctor. We definitely need nurses, but you do have the ability to be a doctor, so tell you what, get rid of your friends!’ Today she is practising as a doctor in the East Midlands,” she said as the audience applauded.

Hudson-Wilkin was one of five visionary leaders honoured on Sunday, March 9 as the WLI commemorated its 21st anniversary with its annual International Women’s Day (IWD) Brunch & Awards 2025 at the Jamaica Pegasus ballroom. Lillan Limited CEO Andrea Cowan; American Friends of Jamaica Executive Director Caron Chung; communications leader, philanthropist, and Toronto Metropolitan University Chancellor Donette Chin-Loy Chang; and Jamaica Stock Exchange Managing Director Dr Marlene Street-Forrest were honoured individually, with Select Brands presenting Cowan’s award; Jamaica Pegasus presenting Chung; Island Grill presenting Chin-Loy Chang; First Global Bank presenting Street Forrest; and GK Financial Group presenting Hudson-Wilkin.

The WLI — a committee of the United Way of Jamaica — was launched in 2004 by former Ambassador of the United States to Jamaica Sue Cobb. Its philanthropic efforts address education and health issues through the Voluntary Organization for the Upliftment of Children (VOUCH). Over 21 years, the 50-plus-member committee has widened its scope to include advocacy and mentorship activities while staying true to its focus on early childhood education. Their over-two decades of work have not gone unnoticed.

“I really have to commend you on the work you have been doing, in terms of lifting the marginalised,” said Dr Marlene Street-Forrest as she accepted her award. “…Many times people say they’ll contribute, and then they don’t… So this is an encouragement to continue doing what you’re doing. And I encourage every person in this audience, that little is much, and I’m going to say when God is in it. And that it can go a far way in terms of lifting our situation”.

Honoree Donette Chin-Loy Chang shared similar sentiments during her address. “First of all, I wish to thank WLI for the honour. I applaud you for the extraordinary work you do with marginalised communities, gender-based initiatives, and overall caring for the voices that are never heard. Bravo to you and to your teams for these decades-long of caring for our community,” she said. “As you know, I am a Canadian citizen (my country of choice), a country that stands firmly on the principles of equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation. As we know these values are under attack right now… as a journalist my role was very clear: To report truth without bias or opinion; we were trained to tell the truth. And as a public relations strategist, our campaigns are centred on truth. We are now at inflection point where hard-won freedom is being eroded, and where facts are too often overshadowed by conspiracies and half-truths and are taking second place to conjecture, conspiracies and half-truths.” she continued.

“I urge all of us to seek truth, tell truth and embrace truth. Simply by the work you do at WLI, you are standing in your truth — advocating for hundreds who have no voice or whose voices have been drowned out for decades. I stand with you firmly, doing the right thing — peacefully and resolutely,” said Chin-Loy Chang.

Honoree Caron Chung was also reflective. “The recognition today means a lot to me. The opportunity to share and hear the content of what was shared here today, by our special guest Minister Dana Morris Dixon… it has been an incredible experience just sitting here through today’s proceedings. As Minister Morris Dixon said, we balance so much as women, as professionals, as mother, partner, and daughter. So the responsibilities are wide, and we do it all so well. We try to balance it and it’s not an easy journey. But we do it, and we are empowered to do it, through the support of our sisterhood here today,” said Chung.

Earlier in the proceedings, Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon in her ‘Accelerate Action’ keynote speech — in which she discussed how women support each other, the importance of breaking into new fields, and the unique challenges women face as mothers — highlighted the representation of women in Jamaica’s Parliament as a symbol of progress.

“Women in Jamaica are rising to new heights in every sphere of leadership,” said Morris Dixon. “A lot has changed. Twenty years ago we could only dream of the level of representation and influence women now have… For the first time in our nation’s history, we have a record number of women serving in Parliament. And this is in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. And after the last general election and various appointments thereafter, 17 women now hold seats in our 63-member House of Representatives. And there are eight of us in the 21-member Senate.”

The 2004 Fulbright Scholar who took on the role of minister of education, skills, youth and information last October, and was early in her career mentored by WLI founding member Pat Ramsay, said it is the highest percentage of female representation ever seen, while underscoring its significance.

The celebration of women continued as honoree Andrea Cowan expressed gratitude for being chosen. “WLI, thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for the recognition today, but most of all, thank you for building my character. Helping to build me up, through the efforts that we do together… Thank you very much to my sisters, who thought I would fit in with this auspicious, very special group… I don’t want to stand up here too long, except to say that I really appreciate being recognised for the efforts I’ve made over the years, and it’s really just been from my heart. I’ve done it all because I’ve had good examples from my parents, as I mentioned earlier. My mother and my father, they’ve been good role models,” she said.

International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating parity for women.

Photos: Garfield Robinson & LH Photography