BRAND Youth Global (BYG), in collaboration with the Institute of Gender Studies at the University of Guyana, hosted the BYG Women’s Forum Series 2026 on Sunday at the University’s Education Lecture Theatre, Turkeyen Campus.
Brand Youth Global is a community of purpose-driven entrepreneurs who deliver value, individually, through ventures and collectively through transformative movements. It was founded by Mr. Selwyn Collins less than 10 years ago.
The event was hosted under the theme, ‘From Tradition to Transformation: Moving Beyond Barriers, Shaping the Future of Women’, and served as an opportunity for women to be engaged in important conversations surrounding women’s leadership, influence, entrepreneurship, and transformation across local, national and global spaces.
The forum featured two panels of women and asked the questions: What do we keep? What must we break? And What do we become? engaging women leading in different sectors across Guyana.
One of the panels featured President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), and Vice-Chairperson of the Private Sector Commission, Ms. Kathy Smith.
She shared that as women we have to navigate those male-dominated spaces. These may seem unfair, but she expressed that some 100 years ago, women had no interest in the corporate world, and were comfortable taking care of their loved ones.
“I don’t want women to think that if you say you have to navigate the space, it means that you’re doing something very technical. The space wasn’t designed for you. So, what you got to do now, you got to go into the room. You got to navigate the space. You got to fix the space for you,” she expressed.
Ms. Smith related that she takes her role as the first woman President of the GCCI with honour and privilege. She told the audience, which included men, that they should not try to undervalue being called the first.
While noting that she knows she was not the only eligible woman, Smith said, “me being the first, heavy scrutiny, the quiet resistance…the ability to prove myself were some of the things that women did not want to do.
“The space given as a woman, the first of anything, male-dominated space, you have to go into that room and redecorate it. The space wasn’t designed for us.”
The GCCI President underscored that men aren’t the enemy. Women must ensure they know their purpose, why they were placed in a certain role, and what it is that they want to achieve.
Communications Specialist Debra Francis mentioned that there are challenges in this field, as well as areas to celebrate.
Reflecting on her time as a Public Relations Officer, Ms. Francis shared that while she had no technical knowledge of the area of focus, she emphasised her strengths in communications, and how to navigate that space she was in.
At present, as a woman in media, there are many biases in that field, she said. “So many perceptions, misconceptions, and it’s a space where we have to, again, be very conscious of our purpose.”
“If you go into a space and you just want to be visible, coming back to this question of visibility…visibility could mean different things to different people. And oftentimes, people think visibility is just about showing up, and people don’t want to know who you are, but it’s really an intentional, a very strategic action,” she shared.
In offering advice to women, Ms. Francis said if they truly want to be visible, they have to know their purpose, why they want to be visible and what they hope to achieve from said visibility.
