The Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry Guyana (WCCIG), the first of its kind for the country, was launched last Thursday evening.
According to a Department of Public Information (DPI) report, the launch of the body was held at the Pegasus Hotel, where WCCIG President Kerensa Gravesande-Bart highlighted the struggle of female business owners.
“We struggle to gain access to capital, access to markets, sometimes even access to networking opportunities. Did you know as well that the average economy gives women three-quarters of the legal rights of men, especially in developing countries? This might shock a lot of us. It means we need better laws; we need better regulatory reform and we need better business practices,” Gravesande-Bart was quoted as saying.
The report added that WCCIG Vice-President Lyndell Danzie-Black supported Gravesande-Bart and noted how the chamber could help. “We also believe that we can help our members to create excellence in doing business. To ensure women-owned businesses and women-led businesses are equipped with sound and technical business procedures as well as market intelligence for decision-making both regionally and internationally,” she was reported as saying.
Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) President Nicholas Boyer was present at the launch and he lauded the breaking of certain stereotypes in the business community by the WCCIG. “I, Nicholas Boyer, a male, am standing here as part of the establishment. We have to, as men, take recognition of that fact. Because if we try to deny it, we would be lying to an entire group that needs us to understand and realise the fact that there is an establishment and for us to step aside, to make room for, not in contention with, women, to break that glass ceiling. We have to start by admitting that fact,” he said.
To date, there has never been a female president at the helm of the GCCI, which was acknowledged by Boyer.
“Our chamber, and now we have this organisation, will promote a new cadre of women who are strong, intelligent and are going to be trailblazers and successful, and that glass ceiling has a time limit, it is women like Kerensa, like Lyndell, that will shatter that glass ceiling,” he said.
According to the report, WCCIG has seven Board of Directors: Gravesande-Bart, who is Chief Executive Officer, Strategic Recruitment Solutions Incorporated; Danzie-Black, who is Managing Director of Cerulean Incorporated; Renata Exeter, Chief Executive Officer, GUYOIL; Anije Lambert, Managing Director/ Researcher, Professional Development Consultants; Sherry Ann Dixon, Motivational Speaker/Journalist; Tamara Khan, Office of the Prime Minister Legal Advisor/Coordinator of Governance Office; and Jennifer Cipriani, Managing Director, ACME Marketing Consultancy.
