By Deandrea Hamilton & Dana Malcolm

Editorial Staff

#TurksandCaicos, November 25, 2022 – Another promotion announcement from Grace Bay Resorts cements their reputation as being welcoming of local Turks and Caicos Islanders at the executive level of the company, which manages award winning, luxury properties across the island of Providenciales.

For the Turks and Caicos and The Bahamas, there is a cause for rejoicing as the trio of elevated staffers have heritage in both nations.

“One of our values and mission for the organization is a brand that we can all be proud of.  We provide employment in the local community, we invest in our people and we give back in terms of educational opportunities as well as ensuring that we not only employ Turks and Caicos islanders but that we employ them at every level in our organization,” said Sheba Wilson, HR Director the Grace Bay Resorts Group of resorts.

Wilson, native to South Caicos is among the first Turks and Caicos Islanders to have been promoted to an executive level at the Grace Bay Resort, she is the HR Director for the group and easily agreed that the company’s culture embraces a hands on approach which has opened the door wide to local talent.

Making the spectacular leap is again Lindy Rigby, who is also a TCHTA Star Award winner.  Rigby is now on a second significant promotion with Grace Bay Resorts.

Having always been interested in the hospitality industry Lindy took the plunge around 12 years ago and worked at Beaches Resort Turks & Caicos before migrating to Grace Bay Resorts. In seven short years, Lindy was promoted from Executive Assistant Manager – Rooms at Grace Bay Club to now, the new General Manager at West Bay Club.

Rigby, at the age of 43 years old has been entrusted with one of the more celebrated boutique properties in the country’s tourism mecca, Providenciales.  Described as “subtly sophisticated”, the resort has 46 studios and suites settled sweetly on Grace Bay Beach in the Lower Bight.

“I’m excited that Grace Bay Club has allowed me to take over one of their properties, as a local it is always humbling. It puts more pressure on you to be the GM of a property because you’re on stage and people are looking to you to see if you can do this,” said Lindy, his voice brimming with pride as he expressed his gratitude for the opportunity and congratulations to others who have been advanced.

Lindy added, “I’m also excited for my two colleagues.  My best friend and brother, Almando Rigby for his new step in him being the director of rooms at the new Rock HOuse and for Kendi, as new director of HR at South Bank. I can say that Grace Bay Resorts believes in locals and promoting talent from within and that is such a unique thing…”

Lindy Rigby is a founding team member of Magnetic Media which started in 2008, officially.  While mass media was a passion for him, his heart belonged to hospitality and with anticipation we saw him pursue the dream with impressive zeal.  Therefore his appointment and refreshing humility at this feat, for a boy who went from running around in Eight Mile Rock, Grand Bahama to now running a world class resort brings our organization tremendous joy.  He shared how he continues to achieve such towering accomplishments.

“I also want to thank persons like yourself.  Persons like you for always believing in me, you were always telling me that I’m a leader, even when I wasn’t leading people and telling me you have something to offer this world.  Those types of encouragements from people like you, Sammy Williams, (the late) Peter Stubbs – all persons who believed in me, all persons who gave me opportunities to lead and who allowed me to display my personality and who I am.  I want to say Thank you.”

Almando Rigby and Kendi Jones are also enjoying very successful careers at Grace Bay Resorts.  They both leave the anchor property for newer developments.

Almando was moved up from Executive Housekeeper at Grace Bay Club to Director of Rooms and Senior Leader at the Rock House which is explained as a majestic 14-acre oceanfront site with 600 feet of frontage and peaks soaring up to 95 feet above sea level.  It’s considered Capri in the Caribbean.

“I’m excited about the new opportunity given to me by a company that I can say definitely believes in locals, believes in promoting locals.  Even before my promotion, as I sat around the table at the mangers’ meetings at Grace Bay Club as I looked around the table, I would always see people that looked like me.  And for a company like Grace Bay Club, that runs a luxury five star resort to see that locals are in key positions, it was always appealing to me,” said Almando.

He explained to us, the positions were not token, but given with the expectation that these individuals could support decision making and influence the direction of the company in meaningful ways.

“That pushes you and propels you to want to do good because when you do good, you pave the way for others behind you.”

Also raised in the western side of Grand Bahama Island in The Bahamas, specifically Jones Town, Eight Mile Rock, Almando is Lindy’s older brother and has been planted in the land of his heritage – Turks and Caicos Islands – for nearly two decades now.

Seven years ago, Kendi Jones tells us she was just starting out at Grace Bay Resorts.  Today, the young woman who is connected by birth to the Jolly and Hamilton families of the Turks and Caicos and the famous Jones Communications family in The Bahamas is living a dream come true.

Kendi Jones is the new Director of Human Resources at new South Bank, which is a luxury waterfront development offering oceanfront and beachfront homes on the market for up to $7 million.  Ms. Jones manages the team that manages the three intimate neighborhoods: The Ocean Estate, the Lagoon, and the Launch.

“I’m very excited about this new chapter in my life,” Kendi, a Johnson & Wales University graduate shared with us in a phone interview.

“I’ve been with the Grace Bay Club for the last seven years and I’ve been able to grow and develop with them from internships, straight up to this stage in my career.  I am excited for the new opportunities, new challenges and new victories I am about to embark upon and I am very thankful to the organization for giving me this opportunity.”

Kendi believes this promotion is another stepping stone, noting that she is looking to even more heights being reached with the company.

It is a glowing string of testaments for the resort group. And make no mistake, driving this enviable corporate culture is Sheba Wilson, who was also hailed for her leadership by the newly promoted team.  In fact, 12 years ago Wilson was the only local senior manager at the table.

Wilson explained that as a growing business Grace Bay Resorts was already looking for shining stars in the country’s high schools and the community college to take up positions across their companies.

“It is a part of our strategic HR plan— we have a very robust training plan in house” she explained. “We do a lot of facilitation especially in terms of leadership development and also developing emerging leaders in the organization to prepare them for promotions.”

Wilson maintained it was all about building a legacy of creating and developing leaders and empowering and equipping others so that the company’s legacy continues.