Tracey Weekes – Manager, Financial and Strategic Investments | The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago

“I am ambitious and I’m not quite sure why we have to apologize for it. I expect us to articulate our personal goals and work hard to achieve them. Nobody said it’s going to be easy and there will be hindrances along the way but that should never deter us from our aspirations."

Deborah Benjamin - Managing Director | ASCO

"It’s important that we don’t push inclusion by ensuring somebody else’s exclusion.. if there are 10 seats (with) 7 men and 3 women, let’s make it 14 seats. We push to make the table wider so that inclusion widens the ability for more people to be included and doesn’t sacrifice somebody else being excluded.”

Kathryna Baptiste Assee - Group General Counsel/ Corporate 
Secretary | Angostura

“Inclusion means to me creating that environment where everyone you come into contact with feels welcomed, valued, and respected regardless of gender, background, identity, or perspectives. It also means giving that person a voice and making them feel comfortable to be their most authentic self.”

Jarod Perryman - Managing Director | ScotiaLife Trinidad & Tobago Limited & Director, Wealth | Scotiabank Trinidad & Tobago Limited

“Inclusion for me is an individual making a decision to stand up and say that I am at the table and making a difference. It requires intentionality. It is not going to happen by chance. The organization has to be intentional and be able to follow through on those plans that you do have.”

Jenifer Neidhart de Ortiz – Deputy Chief of Mission | U.S. 
Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago 

“Competition is something that we weren’t really acculturated in the United States and in many places. But that’s changing. It changed with the 
introduction of women’s sports. I and other women of my generation grew up playing sports. We competed. We lost sometimes. We won sometimes. But we were IN the game. So, ambition is not a dirty word.”

Group Captain Kemba Hannays – Commanding Officer | Trinidad 
and Tobago Air Guard 

“We really do not need to be better than each other. Each of us has a job to do. Each of us are able to be the best we can be and exist in the 
same space. So, there’s no need for that competition.” 

Dr. Sharda Patasar - Writer | Researcher| Musician | Composer | 
Independent Senator 

“I don’t know if I like the word (inclusion) that much because I feel as though it presupposes that there is somebody doing the “including”, 
and I don’t like feeling as though I’m a victim.” 

Kieron Bailey – Sr Vice President: Country Compliance Officer - 
Trinidad / LATAM Compliance Monitoring & MCA Lead | Citi 

“We need to move beyond the outdated notion that ambition is only synonymous with professional success, and we need to celebrate women’s diverse ambitions and choices. Ambition to me is about simply setting goals and going after them with courage and the audacity to succeed. It 
doesn’t matter what those goals are so long as they are yours and they resonate with you.” 

Jane Wight – CEO | The Business Supply Group Ltd. 

“If you do not see your team members and those that you work with as humans, you will not know when they’re not feeling safe, or when they’re not feeling heard. To realize if somebody’s feeling safe in a workplace, you need to know what it looks like for them to feel safe. To tell if somebody’s feeling safe is to know what unsafe looks like in their eyes, in their body language, and how they sound.”

Vitra Gopee – Chief Operating Officer | DigitalEra Group 

“Although it’s called microaggressions it does have a major impact on us. So, the first thing is just not to minimize that. You really have to be a student in terms of being aware of it and recognizing it. How does it show up right? Where does it show up? Why does it show up? The second thing is after you’re aware of it, decide what are you going to 
do about it. Because part of being true to yourself is that you should say something about it. That’s part of the confidence. That’s part of living in your truth.” 

Zara La Fleur – National Under 20 Chess Champion 

“I think emotion is a strength in women and girls. When you’re in touch with your emotions, you’re better off for it. It’s also important that we encourage men to be emotional because it can be 
unhealthy with later outbursts and problems with mental health when they don’t show (healthy) 
emotions.”

Breanne Mc Ivor – AwardWinning Author & Freelance Writer 

“Whenever you’re thinking about saying yes to something that you should say no to, start enforcing boundaries, even if you’ve never enforced them before... Your boundaries and your goals don’t mean that we’re in opposition with one another, it means that we can work together to create an environment that everybody here wants to be a part of.” 

Adrian Vincent – Manager, Human Resources | Methanex 

“Dare I say it, the proverbial boys club, the days are numbered. It’s been proven it’s not the way to run 
organizations or to lead people. I think very soon acting like an ally would not be an option. It’s going to be a critical skill that we all need to learn.”