FIRST Lady Arya Ali inspires Guyana with her public role, quickly rising to become a national celebrity, fashion icon, and a deeply motivating figure in community affairs. Ms Ali took on the task of cleaning up a hang-out spot of Georgetown, the seawall aback of Kingston, bringing a welcome aesthetic feel to this relaxing leisure park overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Since then, she has embarked on a national environment beautification agenda, aiming to make Georgetown a natural wonder. That project started a series of engagements from the First Lady, defining her role in the society. Ms Ali now serves Guyana as a role model, a shining inspiration for young women and an initiator of several humane programmes of compassion and charitable relief to the less fortunate. The First Lady has outlined her care and advocacy for the community of differently-abled persons, for children living in orphanages, and for young girls.
Today, First Lady Ali is a household name with her humility, gentle nature, and smiling face a refreshing picture across the Guyanese society. People everywhere look up to her with admiration and a sense of awe that she is so graceful in her public duties. In fact, the First Family of President Ali, First Lady Ali, and their toddler son, Zayd, make for gorgeous photography, a fairy tale family, young, inspiring, full of energy and verve and colour; cheerful, and a great symbol of a Guyana young, optimistic, and facing a future of glorious promise.
Guyana today needs every hand on board in the task of propelling the society to its potential, and to reach every corner of the land sharing hope and promise to the people, ensuring that citizens everywhere benefit from the burgeoning development now happening. In the First Lady, the country sees that kind of leadership, an exemplary tackling of issues that show up and needing her leadership and her influence.

The role of First Ladies is an interesting one, as the world sees with those of the United States. Mostly, First Ladies work quietly in the background, performing ceremonial duties and gracing social occasions in tow with their Head of State spouse. Around the world, First Ladies are not headline makers, generally. In Guyana, most of the First Ladies historically played somewhat token national roles. In Ms Ali, Guyana is seeing youth, vigour, charm and grace on its national stage, and this is a graphic representation of the journey the country is on now, at this point of its history, with such breathtaking exponential growth of its socioeconomic development as a global oil nation happening. Her role as First Lady goes way beyond the merely symbolic, tokenism and ceremonial, because of the air she exudes to the nation. It is an air of youthful hope, of looking to a new future, of inventing a Guyana that is fashionable and world-class and cheerful and brimming with confidence and goodwill. Ms Ali is the ninth First Lady in Guyana’s history, and the youngest. Educated at the University of Guyana, the First Lady knows what it is to grow up in this society, and to self-develop to achieve her dreams. Ms Ali could speak with personal experience to the life of young women today in Guyana who face their future, dreaming of developing and becoming educated, self-actualised Guyanese.

Young women across the society would especially look up to Ms Ali, seeing in her what is possible for them in today’s Guyana; that they could aim high and dream big; that the modern Guyanese woman is empowered, capable, and ready for the big stage. The First Lady’s personal story of how she grew up and became a national symbol of hope, class and grace is fascinatingly interesting. Like so many young women, she had to overcome odds and challenges, and learn how to tackle life with that winning attitude. Ms Ali is part of a generation who did not settle only for high school education, but was determined enough to finish university. A whole generation of young Guyanese of her age group now populate the society, young professionals with university education, scores of them doctors and lawyers and professionals. It is a new age for Guyana, with this generation of home-grown professionals of excellence and world-class standards and international ability about to lift the Guyanese nation to a whole new height of global success.
How the nation cherishes its new First Lady as she settles into her role as a national figure of youthful influence! Ms Ali has already become an adorable icon on the national stage.
Guyanese are not historically accustomed to having national figures who are their role models. There are many heroes, in politics, sports, entertainment, the arts, but hardly any who stand out as literally a role model for the young, especially young women. Today, here is First Lady Arya Ali gracing the Guyanese stage with such humility and charm and optimistic cheerfulness, such grace and elegance and class. For all Guyanese, Ms Ali stands out as a dynamic symbol of what’s possible in the new Guyana, and for young women; she represents a refreshing new role model to emulate and look up to and see what’s possible, illustrating that service to the nation is a high, noble, graceful calling.