About Us

Who We Are


When the Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) decided to use its philanthropic efforts to address education and health issues, it specifically selected VOUCH, Voluntary Organization for the Upliftment of Children, for close attention. Over the past ten years the 50+ member Committee has widened it scope to include Advocacy and Mentorship activities while staying true to it’s focus on early childhood Education.

The Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) is a committee of the United Way of Jamaica and is governed by the principles of that organization. We were launched ten years ago by former Ambassador of the United States to Jamaica, Sue Cobb who remains an Associate Member.

We achieve our mission as a Sisterhood of women implementing and sustaining projects in the areas of education, health, advocacy, mentorship and women’s development.

Our members are dynamic women at varying levels of leadership in a cross section of professions and sectors of Jamaica, and who have a strong social responsibility and the desire to serve her community.

Mission Statement

To build bridges of cooperation in developing, implementing and sustaining projects, which contribute to the well-being of all Jamaicans.

Our Vision

Building bridges for a better Jamaica.

 

Committees

The three main committees are:


  • Education
  • Advocacy and Health
  • Mentorship

These committees are charged with the responsibility of spearheading the fulfillment of the organizations mission and vision by developing and implementing projects in their respective areas.


The support for the organization  consists of the following functionalities:


  • Treasury
  • Public Relations, Fundraising & Event
  • Membership and Orientation


Each committee and functionality is headed by  a Chair and a Deputy-Chair.

The Women's Leadership Initiative (WLI) is very active in Early Childhood Education. When WLI decided to use its philanthropic efforts to address education and the upliftment of women, it specifically selected VOUCH, Voluntary Organization for the Upliftment of Children, for close attention. The Education Subcommittee directed its efforts towards the Sylvia Foote Basic School and the Mary Issa Infant School which are both housed and administered by VOUCH.


The objective was to enable these facilities to better serve the academic and social needs of the young children and their parents living in the surrounding Fletcher’s Land and Allman Town communities.

  The goals are:

  •   To provide guidance and assistance in the delivery of quality education including special education for children attending the nursery, pre-school and the basic school at Vouch.
  •   To assist where possible with the establishment of a Screening, Assessment and Very Early Remedial programme (SAVER) at Vouch.


  Sylvia Foote Basic School and Mary Issa Infant School


  The Sylvia Foote Basic and the Mary Issa Infant School serve residents in adjoining communities, as well as employees of businesses in the neighbourhood. The WLI supports the activities of the group by financing infrastructural improvements, curriculum enhancement, a programme catering to children with special challenges and staff development opportunities. The activities and the group is well underway in terms of achieving its goals in this sector.

  • The principal, who holds a first degree, leads the team of teachers, comprising of a special education teacher and twelve other academic staff members.
  • The facilities were renovated and upgraded by the WLI. Several millions in cash and kind has been injected into these facilities to carry out infrastructural work, enhance the learning environment, and aid teacher training and certification.
  •  Following the onslaught of hurricanes Dean and Gustav, the group also sourced the necessary funding to carry out repair work at the basic school, as well as the nursery and the clinic.
  •  The WLI provided salary support for a Special Education teacher, in order to adequately care for a small group of special need students, until it was successfully incorporated into the Ministry of Education. The school remains the only Basic School with a degreed Special Education teacher.
  •  A proposal was submitted to the Ministry of Education and approval received to establish a Screening, Assessment and Early Remedial Programme on the VOUCH complex. The Programme, partially funded by WLI, became operational in October 2014.

HEALTH COMMITTEE

WLI has supported a health Clinic  (located on the  same compound as the Sylvia Foote Basic School and the Mary Issa Infant School ) operated by HOPE Worldwide primarily through the financing of the salaries of the doctors. The clinic served the neighbouring underprivileged communities, offering primary medical and dental care as well as an adolescent HIV\AIDS Prevention Maze.  Regrettably the clinic was closed in 2010 when the major donor agency ceased its operations in Jamaica.

The Health functionality has been merged with the Advocacy Committee. 

ADVOCACY COMMITTEE

The Women's Leadership Initiative is committed to help train adults to detect and prevent child sexual abuse.  We seek to work diligently to raise awareness of the prevalence and consequences of child sexual abuse and the steps needed to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to this reality.  We will continue to build bridges of cooperation to contribute to the well being of our nation's children. 

One of the vehicles that we have introduced to help us end Child Sexual Abuse, is our WLI funded “Darkness to Light: Stewards of Children” training workshops.

Darkness to Light is a U.S. based nonprofit organization, located in Charlestown, South Carolina.  Its main mission is to raise awareness of the prevalence and consequences of child sexual abuse, by educating adults about the steps they can take to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to this reality. Its training programmes have been scientifically proven to increase knowledge, improve attitudes and change child-protective behaviours.  This training incorporates a combination of survivor stories, expert advice, and practical guidance.  . It offers practical prevention training with a conversational, real-world approach.

It is a proactive answer to child sexual abuse prevention.

In May 2010 we initiated and launched the Darkness to Light, Stewards of Children programme in Jamaica.  Since then we have trained facilitators from several stakeholder organizations to effectively deliver and implement the “7 Steps to Preventing Child Sexual Abuse” Stewards of Children training, and how to assist youth serving organizations in creating and implementing organizational policies that protect children.  It should be noted that the Early Childhood Commission and the Ministry of Education have vetted this training programme and we have their full support. 

WLI has also sponsored a Stewards of Children training workshop in May 2012, September 2014, and May 2015.  The organizations that have participated in these WLI funded trainings are from a wide cross section of Government agencies, NGOs, and Principals and Teachers from Basic and Infant Schools surrounding the VOUCH Basic School, which has been a project of the WLI since our formation ten years ago.

Some of the organizations that have participated in these WLI sponsored trainings include :

  •  Child Development Agency
  •  CISOCA (Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse)
  •  Hope for Children
  •  Children First
  •  RISE Life Management
  •  Social Development Commission
  •  Jamaica Council of Churches
  •  Early Childhood Commission
  •  National Parent Teacher’s Association of Jamaica
  •  MOE, Guidance Counseling Unit
  •  Professor in school of social work
  •  Ministry of Health
  •  The Office of the Children’s Advocate
  •  Parenting Partners
  •  Children’s Registry
  •  Jamaica Independent Schools Association
  •  National Centre for Youth Development
  •  Department of Correctional Services: Juvenile Remand Center

The following Basic Schools in and around the VOUCH Basic School community:

    • Sylvia Foote Basic School (VOUCH)
    • St Barnabas Basic School
    • St Pauls Basic School
    • Allman Town Basic School
    • Allman Town Infant School
    • Salvation Army Basic School

 

Our training in May 2015, focused on training the entire staff from VOUCH so that they could meet the necessary requirements to become a Darkness to Light “Partner in Prevention”. They received this special distinction by  successfully meeting the following guidelines:

  •  90 % of their employees completed the Darkness to Light “Stewards of Children” training.


  • They maintain a record of who has been trained.
  • They have a policy is in place that requires all employees to renew the training at least every 3 years.
  • Background checks are completed for employees prior to, or at the start of, employment.
  • They require (either as part of a child protection policy or in practice) that one adult-one child situations be observable or interruptible.

If we safeguard a child, we secure a Nation!


 WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

 Consistent with our advocacy program we have supported certain women’s issues relating to their status.

  Recent WLI Events in this regard  are:

 (1)    International Women’s Day (IWD)

 For the past two years we have hosted very successful IWD events:

  •  2013 - Luncheon around the UN theme: “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women”.
  •  2014 - Breakfast  in “Salute of Women On Boards”, where we acknowledged public and private sector companies with women on their boards


(2)    Partnership with Mona School of Business and Management (University of the West Indies) and Institute for Gender and Development Studies Mona Unit to stage a public lecture by U.S. Ambassador Pamela Bridgewater under the theme “Women’s Leadership: Transforming Self, Community and Country”

 

(3)    Support for the Motion: To Advance Women in Leadership in Politics and Decision Making proposed by Senator Imani Duncan Price and passed with unanimous support in the Senate in May 2014.

 

(4) WLI has a strong tradition of honouring Jamaican women who have distinguished themselves in the areas of Health, Education, Philanthropy, Volunteerism and the Arts


Mentorship Programme

A WLI Mentorship Programme was formally launched in May 2007, with an aim to “build bridges through long lasting relationships that foster the mutual growth and support of mentees and mentors”.  

The programme sought to provide a channel through which the women of the WLI could provide guidance and support for young women, by connecting highly motivated young women, with mentors from the WLI membership who can provide guidance, experience and support as they make their own personal and professional journeys through life.

 We are proud of the achievements of our  most recent mentees, who despite their challenging circumstances have continued their education and in one specific case moved on to graduate studies.

We have received specific sponsorship from Restaurants Associates which has aided the WLI in providing financial assistance to the mentees for their education where required .

The initial programme structure has since evolved into a broader set of objectives aimed at reaching  a wider cross section of young women  .

The Mentorship Activities include but are not limited to:

1.    Support to Tertiary Institutions on Interview Skills Development

2.    Collaboration with  other Mentorship Organizations

3.    Providing Career guidance/talks in High Schools/ UWI/UTECH

4.    Part financing of fees and other expenses for mentees and needy students.

In January 2015, The Mentorship Committee hosted a Career Forum in collaboration with the Mona School of Business targeting final year students. Four exemplary panelists provided guidance on interviewing skills, entrepreneurship, advancement in the workplace and ethics.

The Mentorship Committee recently established  a partnership with The Queen’s High School Guidance Counsellor Office to pilot a mentoring program with 4 young ladies in need of mentoring at a crucial stage of their academic development.

Shari-Ann: A Mentorship Success Story

Our Meetings

As part of our efforts to ensure accountability and follow-through on activities implemented, the organization arranges meetings on a regular basis to facilitate reporting and feedback. 

General meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month at the Pegasus Hotel and the Executive Committee meetings are held at different intervals. 

Other committees generally meet as the need arises.