THE achievements and contributions of 25 outstanding Guyanese women will be celebrated at an awards gala slated to be held on June 18 at the Guyana Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown.
The women were selected from over 200 nominations that were submitted in May for the 2022 25 Influential Women Leaders Awards.

Director of the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA), Ann Greene; columnist and youth activist, Marissa Foster; the Medex Training Programme Coordinator, Sarah Daniels; Member of Parliament (MP) and former Magistrate Geeta Chandan-Edmond and reigning Miss World Guyana Joylyn Conway were included in the list which was released on Monday morning.

The other awardees are Althea Daniels-Stuart, Bibi Aladdin-Karan, Cristal Robinson, Ertenisa Hamilton, Francine Wintz, Heather Wilson, Kalawattie Datt-Singh, Latoya Gooding, Lavonia Springer, Mischka White-Griffith, Narda Mohamed, Natasha France, Nikoya Alleyne, Reshma Persaud, Shabakie Fernandes, Sharon Alexander, Shinelle Bayrd, Susannah Isaacs, Tandika Harry, and Wenyss De Florimonte.

During an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Foster said she was honoured and humbled to be among this year’s awardees.
“It’s a bit shocking to me that I won because I saw the list of the nominations and there were some really inspiring and older women, and I’m just 21-years-old. But I am very elated and thankful for the recognition…I’m also so thankful to my family because they nominated me for the award,” Foster said.

A social worker who graduated earlier this year with her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, Foster has been involved in volunteering and youth activism since the age of 15. She credits this to her family’s background in volunteerism.

“I actually come from a family of service. My father has his own NGO so I gain inspiration from him. That journey about being taught the importance of giving back and serving others when you are in a place of being able to help it just started in my family,” Foster shared.

Hailing from the Berbice, Foster is also the founder of the women-led group “Empowered Fem”, which uses social platforms to do various projects that involve empowering women through education, leadership and entrepreneurship. She was also a youth ambassador through the U.S. Embassy.

In her weekly column, “Youth Perspective” which is published in the Guyana Chronicle, Foster writes about topical issues affecting youths all across Guyana.
Meanwhile, Greene who also spoke to this publication, noted how she too was honoured to have been nominated and then going on to win the award.

She said she doesn’t know who nominated her but she is grateful to that person for thinking of her and submitting her name as deserving of the award.
“I am humbled and thankful that people are recognising the work that I do, because with the work that I do, there’s not a lot of thanks,” she added.

Greene has been at the head of the agency since its establishment in 2009. Prior to that she was a probation officer for over 30 years, retiring as the Chief Probation and Social Services Officer in 2005.

She then returned to the Ministry of Social Services and Social Security that same year as a technical officer for orphans and vulnerable children under a programme with UNICEF. She has been in the public service for 50 years.

Inaugurated in 2019 by female entrepreneurs and exemplary leaders in their own right, Michelle A. Nicholas of The NICO Consulting Inc. and Lyndell Danzie-Black of Cerulean Inc., said the awards honour women who have impressed their peers and neighbours with their commendable contributions and hard work in various fields, including business, community service, health services and other areas of development.

According to the organisers, the 2022 awardees were selected based on them having demonstrated a deep commitment to the development of their organisations, agencies and communities.
Recognised as Guyana’s most prestigious accolade, the award captures the essence of excellence, extraordinary achievement and dynamic leadership, distilled in the women who bear the distinction of receiving the award.

“Since 2019, fifty women have received this award and have benefitted from various tailored programming geared to further their empowerment, intellectual advancement, social growth and leadership, as well as advance their commitment to community service,” a statement from the organisers said.