Be you ! Inaugural Women’s Empowerment Workshop Considered a Success
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By Carlena Knight
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‘Being authentic yourself’ was one of many mantras reiterated during the 2022 Future is HER workshop yesterday at Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium.
The initiative was a joint effort with the Guidance Counselor Department at Princess Margaret School (PMS) and an institute in Barbados, the LeadHERship Institute, which focuses on empowering adolescent girls from several secondary schools in the island and gives them life skills they can use to achieve their goals.
LeadHERship Rep Roshanna Trim spoke to this newsroom about the importance of an event like this.
“It’s super important because we still exist in a culture that socializes girls in a certain way so they’re fewer and darker, because we don’t want them to have the rude or sassy, but there’s also a level of confidence required, and I remember being young, and even some of the young women on the teams that worked alongside us here and in Barbados, said they wanted certain things when they were younger to help them feel confident.
“So instead of waiting until you’re 20 to learn this, or until you’re 25 trying to get into a career, or being already in the middle of a career, why not start right in school ? Why not teach them to speak properly? How to speak boldly. Don’t apologize for just saying “no”. How do you make sure they know there are women out there supporting them who are older than them and want to empower them and equip them with the tools to take on the world,” Trim said.
A similar program also took place in Barbados on Tuesday.
It is in commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child which was recognized yesterday.
The one-day event saw sessions like the Inspire Her segment to boost their self-esteem, a confidence club, an In HER bag session aimed at teaching them good budgeting practices, and a health-focused Let’s Talk period. sexual and reproductive.
Senator Gail Christian delivered the keynote address.
Other speakers included entrepreneur Zoe Teague, gender advocate and writer Linisa George, and communications manager Angelica O’Donoghue.
Navida Edwards, guidance counselor at PMS and one of the organizers of the event, shared her excitement at the success of the workshop which was attended by 26 young women.
She says the plan is to have the event every year and even hold a similar seminar for the boys.
“We will plan for the boys which will take place in May. It’s just all kinds of excitement in the consulting department, Ms. King and I just sat down and said what we could do this year and came up with a number of ideas. We are always looking for new ideas, new initiatives and we have a few more programs that we intend to implement,” said Edwards.
One of these programs is an entrepreneurial initiative to which they will also invite other secondary schools.
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