The Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) is celebrating 20 years of service to Jamaica in its signature style of empowerment of women with a forum and awards ceremony, recognising the accomplishments of five distinguished female media practitioners.

The event at the AC Marriott Hotel in Kingston, will have as its special guest former United States Ambassador to Jamaica Sue McCort Cobb, who founded the WLI, a special committee of the United Way of Jamaica, with a vision of “building bridges for a better Jamaica”.

Since then the WLI has earned national respect and several awards for its flagship project at the Voluntary Organization for the Upliftment of Children (VOUCH), where it has funded a number of infrastructural improvements and provided educational tools, including computers and equipment for special-needs children.

Its “Darkness to Light” Programme, which has funded training in the prevention of child sexual abuse for hundreds of educators and employees of state agencies and facilitators from stakeholder agencies. They include infant and primary schools, who are now sharing their knowledge with their peers at the workplace and in the community at large. Over 50 representatives of civic organisations, public and private sector support agencies and human rights advocacy groups have also been trained as authorised facilitators to deliver the training.

The WLI launched “Conversation with Boys” in 2018, with a focus on giving young boys a forum to discuss matters of concern to them, including respect for women and girls, empathy for other students, avoiding and surviving cyber bullying and peer pressure and the pitfalls of drug and alcohol abuse.

The WLI has also hosted a Mentorship Programme, which has provided scholarships to several young women. A number of them are now graduates of tertiary institutions, among them attorneys-at-law, financial analysts and public sector administrators.

Among those receiving WLI 20th Anniversary Awards of Excellence are: Susan Simes, media entrepreneur, host of The Susan Show on TVJ; Simone Clarke Cooper, executive producer, host, SIM Soul Sessions, TVJ; Novia McDonald Whyte, associate editor, lifestyle and social content, creator of Page 2 , Observer Food Awards and ‘Take Style Out’, the Jamaica Observer; Dionne Jackson Miller, producer/ host, Beyond the Headlines and All Angles RJRGleaner Group; and Kerlyn Brown, broadcast journalist, host of Inspire Jamaica, CVM TV. All have been working in media in excess of 20 years.

Sponsors of the WLI 20th Anniversary and International Women’s Day Forum and Awards are the AC Marriott, Island Grill, Sagicor Group, GraceKennedy Financial Group, Edgechem Paints, FLOW, First Heritage Cooperative Credit Union, Citibank, Jamaica Observer, Gleaner Company (Media) Limited, Jamaica National, Derrimon Trading Co. Ltd., J Wray & Nephew and Burger King.