“DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”

#TurksandCaicos, March 9, 2023 – Throughout the world, women’s rights continue to make significant advances and the Turks and Caicos Islands is no exception.

In 1910 Clara Zetkin recommended March 8^th, as a date for celebrating the achievements of working women at the International Socialist Women’s Conference in Copenhagen, and women have been celebrated every March 8th since then.

This year marks the 28^th Anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action which the United Nations (UN) considers to be a progressive road map for gender equality.

The UN observance of IWD recognizes and celebrates the women and girls who are championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education and curtailing the impact of the digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities.

In the Turks and Caicos Islands, women have undoubtedly made their mark in leadership, politics, administration, the justice system as well as in the medical field. Today, women continue to penetrate different industries and are now making their mark in innovation and technology, an area which was once male dominated.

The Turks and Caicos Islands celebrates the women in innovation and technology who are creating a path for young girls and other women and are successfully demonstrating that women can do it all.

In light of this year’s theme the Commission draws your attention to our very own women in innovation and technology.

Giselle James-Wright, is employed with Digicel as Switch Engineer/Mobile Operations Manager. She currently works on the Mobile Switching Centre and other cellular mobile platforms, as well as provide administrative support to the operations of the Mobile Operations and Maintenance/Radio Access Network Team.

Carmaine Ariza, is employed with the Turks and Caicos Islands Government as an Application Support Specialist. Ms. Ariza has over a decade of experience in information technology. She specializes in administrative product training and is responsible for assisting and educating users on using progressive systems and applications as well as troubleshooting application problems.

Kebba Thomas, has worked in information technology for over two decades and is the only female in the IT Department at Fortis TCI. Mrs. Thomas is employed as the Senior IT Officer and has been in the post for over nine years. One of her main responsibilities is to provide support for the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) environment that helps to manage and monitor the equipment that generate, transmit and distribute energy.

Yolande Robinson, Yolande Robinson is a trained Kindergarten and Elementary School teacher and the owner of Learn and Lead Education Centre. She uses technology to deepen the learner’s experience. She has worked in the field of education for over 20 years and knows that for all learners to excel there needs to be multiple approaches. Technology is a tool that Yolande uses as a bridge to facilitate learners from where they are to where they need to be. At Learn and Lead, educational resources are used to aid in intervention with children. In training and coaching, Yolande uses multimedia experiences to facilitate a deeper connection to the material being learned. Her gift to educate, inspire and empower individuals has been heard over the airwaves on positive parenting and teaching techniques, and on podcast episodes that have challenged us all to shift perspective.

When asked about the importance of technology, Yolande states, “I don’t know what I would do without it! Technology makes my work come alive. It helps me move from the vision that I have to the products and experiences I provide.”

Cathrice James-Williams, is the Director of Information Technology at the Turks and Caicos Islands Financial Services Commission and has over two decades in the field of IT. Mrs. James-Williams is a certified Cyber Risk Specialist and owns and operates her own business, Techprise Learning Solutions, where she helps companies automate their processes and provide cyber awareness training. Cathrice, won the Woman in Technology and Engineering Award in 2020 for her outstanding achievements in technology and engineering.

Barbara Ambrister, is a well-seasoned Information Technology Specialist with more than three decades of service in the industry under her belt. Her extensive work in IT began in the Bahamas where she was the Director of Information Technology at the College of The Bahamas. Here in the Turks and Caicos Islands, she was the IT Manager for the National Health Insurance Board where she was responsible for the implementation, system development and design. She was also the Vice President for Information Technology at IBG Bank where her responsibilities included but not limited to oversight of physical infrastructure, installed and managed all facets of banking software and system security. She is currently the Chair for the Turks and Caicos Islands Community College, a Pastor and Author. Mrs. Ambrister is also the owner or Innovative Consultancy Services.

The Turks and Caicos Islands Human Rights Commission recognises that significant progress has been made in terms of gender equality throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands but that there is more work to be done to achieve an equal and enabled society.  Today we to encourage women in leadership to empower each other and to provide a seat at the table where barriers to all industries are non-existent for women and girls.

Happy International Women’s Day!!!!