IN 2019, Michelle A. Nicholas and Lyndell Danzie-Black asked a question that would change the national conversation about women’s leadership in Guyana: what happens when you shine a light on the women already changing this country? Six ceremonies and 150 women honoured later, with over 1,000 nominations received, the seventh ceremony on 9th May 2026 is poised to carry that legacy to 175 women and a defining new chapter.
The Question That Started Everything
The 25 Influential Women Leaders Award (25IWLA) was born of the recognition that Guyana had no dedicated platform to honour women leaders across all sectors simultaneously. Not one industry, not one discipline, but the full breadth of women’s contribution to Guyanese society. Its co-founders, Michelle A. Nicholas, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The NICO Consulting, and Lyndell Danzie-Black, Managing Director of Cerulean Incorporated, have known each other since 2016. What brought them to the 25IWLA was not a single moment of inspiration, but years of shared conviction—a mutual recognition that the women leading across every corner of Guyana deserved to be seen clearly, celebrated loudly, and connected deliberately.
When the platform launched in 2019, the co-founders described their founding question as deceptively simple. As they have reflected: “We asked ourselves, what happens when we shine a light on the women already changing Guyana? The answer has been extraordinary.” When the global disruption of 2020 forced a pause on public gatherings, the platform did not falter. It adapted, deepened its work, and returned with renewed purpose—a resilience that mirrors the very quality it celebrates in every woman it honours.
The Women Behind the Movement
Michelle A. Nicholas has built her career at the intersection of strategy, service, and transformation—from the halls of JPMorgan and the US Fund for UNICEF to the boardrooms of Westchester, and back to the communities of Guyana, she has never stopped serving. She has served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity and Community Development Officer at PCSB Bank, credited as the architect of its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy, and as the Executive Director of Girls Inc. of Westchester County. Recognised as one of Westchester’s Power 100 by NY City & State, a Notable Diverse Leader in Banking and Finance by Crain’s NY Business, and honoured with the Woman in Business Award by 914Inc Magazine, she brings a record of impact that crosses sectors and borders. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the United Way of Westchester and Putnam and the PCSB Community Foundation, on the M&T Bank Directors’ Advisory Council, and on the board of the Westchester Medical Center Foundation. She is the founder of SAFEGuyana, supporting victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in Guyana and the diaspora.
Lyndell Danzie-Black, MSc, BA (Hons), is a globally recognised business strategist, governance advisor, and architect of inclusive economic growth. As Managing Director of Cerulean Incorporated, a premier corporate training, project management, and business consulting firm established in 2012, she has transformed institutions across the Americas and the wider Caribbean, advising multinational corporations, governments, academia, and multilateral agencies on leadership capability, organisational performance, and ESG strategy. More than 1,000 business leaders and entrepreneurs have been directly shaped through her mentorship. A co-founder of the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Guyana, the first of its kind in the Caribbean, she has redefined the landscape for women’s economic leadership across the region. In November 2025, she received the Global Recognition Award, and in 2022, was honoured with the Women4Africa International Change Maker Award in the United Kingdom. She currently serves on the UN Global Compact Network Caribbean Regional Advisory Board for 2026/27 and previously mentored youth leaders across Guyana, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica through the Queen’s Young Leaders Programme.
A Platform Built on Rigour and Reach
The selection process is rigorous and transparent. Each year, an independent panel of judges drawn from Guyana and the diaspora evaluates nominees on professional achievement, community impact, ethical leadership, and alignment with the Award’s core values of leadership, innovation, integrity, impact, influence, and collaboration. Since its inception, the award has received over 1,000 nominations from across Guyana; from that pool, only 25 are selected each year—a ratio that speaks to the rigour with which the platform approaches its mandate. To date, 150 women have been honoured across nine sectors, including business, education, healthcare, technology, public service, and the creative industries—leaders whose collective influence now extends far beyond Guyana’s borders.
The annual gala, held at the Guyana Marriott Hotel in Georgetown, draws more than 400 leaders from across Guyana and the diaspora. Sponsors, including ExxonMobil, IDB, M&T Bank, GTT, Massy, and TechnipFMC, have aligned with a platform that corporate Guyana recognises as a genuine demonstration of commitment to gender equity. The United States Ambassador and the British High Commissioner are among those who have spoken from its stage, affirming the 25IWLA’s place within the broader international commitment to women’s advancement.
Beyond the ceremony, the co-founders launched the Women’s Leadership Programme (WLP) in 2022—a nine-month executive leadership experience described as “a community, not a classroom.” Open to all nominees and awardees, the WLP provides mentorship, peer coaching, networking, and community-building, ensuring the platform’s relationship with its women extends well beyond a single evening of recognition. Honourees also participate in the quarterly Changemakers Series, a dedicated forum that keeps the network active, connected, and advancing their impact throughout the year.
Leadership at a Defining Moment for Guyana
The 25IWLA has always understood that it operates within a national context, and that context has never been more significant. Guyana’s emergence as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies has placed the country at a defining crossroads, and the platform has consistently held that women’s leadership is not peripheral to that moment; it is central to it. The mission has always been clear: creating an empire of women leaders—not a moment, not a movement of convenience, but an empire deliberately built, sustainably grown, and unshakeable in its purpose.
Nicholas captured the full weight of that mission: “The strength of any nation lies in the leadership and contributions of its people. These women do not wait to be invited into rooms. They build the rooms. They do not wait for tables to be set. They set the tables and hold the seats for the women coming after them. That is what this award has always been about—not just recognising excellence but unleashing it. Creating an empire of women leaders, one cohort at a time, until Guyana can no longer imagine itself without them.”
“What makes this recognition award especially significant this year is the world and the time in which it happens. Globally, the United Nations and women’s rights leaders are raising urgent alarms. Hundreds of millions of women now live in or near active conflict. Women still hold only 64% of the legal rights of men in most parts of the world. The UN Commission on the Status of Women convened under the theme of ‘women’s access to justice’, a reflection of how much ground is still being contested. Across peace tables, boardrooms, and legislatures, the strides of women for decades are under pressure, and locally, our women continue to suffer at the hands of the people they love,” cited Lyndell Danzie-Black.
That vision is reflected in the Award’s evolution across seven years. From early emphases on visibility and representation through cycles that confronted systemic barriers head-on, each year’s theme has been a statement about where Guyana is and where it must go. The platform has never reflected the national conversation; it has helped shape it.
The Seventh Ceremony: A Milestone for the Nation
On 9th May 2026, at the Guyana Marriott Hotel in Georgetown, twenty-five women will be inducted into the 25IWLA network, carrying the platform’s cumulative total to 175 honourees and marking the most significant milestone in the award’s history. They are: Dr Aartie Devi Somwaru-Jhagru, Bonita Lowenfield McDonald, Chandrowtie Sarran, Christell Chesney, Christine Samwaroo, Dellon Patricia Adams, Doneeta Ramlakhan, Jacqueline Cummings Johnson, Jessica Nathalia Callender, Dr Kamela Bemaul-Sukhu, Kimbely Yearwood, Lenise Morgan, Madonna Ghanie, Marisa Morgan-Bonie, Munirah Reedon, Dr Nandishaw Ramsingh, Dr Pamela Rose, Dr Renuka Tewari, Rhonda Maxius-Lansiquot, Salome Marina Ann Henry, Savitri Tularam-Kaulesar, Sonja Sampson, Dr Theresa Sarju, Upasna Mudlier, and Younica Sanchara.
Each of these women joins a network that is among the most formidable concentrations of women’s leadership in the Caribbean and the diaspora. Each will gain access to the Women’s Leadership Programme and the Changemakers Series, ensuring that the platform’s relationship with its honourees extends well beyond a single evening of celebration.
On 9th May, the seventh ceremony will carry the weight of everything the 25IWLA has built—six years of operation, over 1,000 nominations, 150 women already recognised, and a growing ecosystem of programmes shaping the next generation of executives. When the evening concludes, 175 women will stand in that network. This is the legacy that the two women, who first recognised their shared conviction a decade ago, have built for their country.
The question Michelle A. Nicholas and Lyndell Danzie-Black asked in 2019 has been answered compellingly, repeatedly, and with the full weight of Guyana’s most powerful women behind it.
What happens when you shine a light on the women already changing Guyana?
Guyana sees itself more clearly. And its women lead more boldly.
The 7th Annual 25 Influential Women Leaders Award ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at the Guyana Marriott Hotel, Georgetown. Tickets are available via Eventbrite at https://bit.ly/3IAPJ8Z or via MMG to +592-743-1144. For further information, visit www.25iwla.com or follow @25InfluentialWomenLeaders on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
