Women to watch in 2013

Senior journalist Janet Silvera has on her watch list prominent women who are on the cusp of becoming power brokers in their own right. They are:

Dianna Davis-Smith

Dr Dianna Davis-Smith is president and senior adviser to Edge Management Services. In this capacity, she directs the organisations consultation assignments in the areas of strategic management, education, and entrepreneurial initiatives. During her career in the local financial sector, Davis-Smith became distinctive in the area of debt management and collection strategy. Today, in addition to her current assignment within the hotel sector, she serves as a member of the executive team of the Council of Voluntary Social Services, chairing the gender and community services sector. This distinguished career mother has two school-age children and enjoys playing Kalooki. We will be watching her in 2013.

Shura Gibbs

Gibbs is parish manager of Jamaica Publlic Service, St James, and is new to the job.

Her vision is to see JPS becoming a more customer- centric organisation, delivering affordable electricity to every household in Jamaica. Prior to becoming a team member to the light and power company, Gibbs spent most of her adult life within the airline industry. She has worked at AJAS Limited, Avianca Airlines and US Airways. It, therefore, follows that one of the things she enjoys doing is exploring new and different cultures. This desire has already pushed her to visit 30 countries! Let's watch the vision unfold.

Luz Marina Longsworth

Longsworth is the new director of the UWI Mona, Western Jamaica Campus. Her focus right now is to "expand the Mona excellence to the West so that the students there can feel a part of it". Her vision is to grow the campus to serve Montego Bay and its environs even more. This will entail developing programmes specific to the needs of the region. With 800 students in approximately 12 programmes under her portfolio, she has no doubt there is a platform for growth. We will note her growth and developmet come 2013.

Other powerbrokers to watch are:

Portia Simpson Miller

Since January 5, 2012 Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has reigned as Jamaica's 10th prime minister. She replaced outgoing Prime Minister P.J. Patterson in March 2006, becoming Jamaica's first female head of government and the third in the Anglophone Caribbean, following Eugenia Charles of Dominica and Janet Jagan of Guyana. Going into the new year, Madam PM has a heavy political and economic weight on her elegant shoulders. A balancing act is what she must do to bring the country back from the brink. Is she equal to task?

Imani Duncan-Price

At 36, Duncan-Price is group marketing manager of the powwerful Jamaica Money Market Brokers (JMMB) Group. She has been called restless innovator, relentless in her drive. Imani Duncan-Price has been group marketing manager for the JMMB Group since April 2009 with responsibility for the design and execution of marketing strategy for JMMB's operations in Jamaica and the Dominican Republic (DR), and more recently, Trinidad & Tobago, as the company has succesfully expanded to offer a wider range of offerings. She is a dynamo and definitely one to watch!

Thalia Lyn

She is one of the island's leading entrepreneurs who, unlike others who went brand shopping to establish a foothold in the Jamaican business landscape, opted to fashion and create her own home-grown brand - Island Grill. This she has grown to become a household name in Jamaica. The indefatigable Mrs Lyn is committed to philanthropic endeavours. Thalia Lyn has more goodies to offer in 2013, you bet!

Minna Israel

A distinguished business fellow, Minna Isreal joined The Mona School of Business (MSB), University of the West Indies, in March last year after resigning from RBTT Bank Jamaica. This brilliant business scholar now works with the executive director of MSB to manage and transform the school of business into a world-class business school, targeting both local and international students. Let's watch her do it!

Paola Byles

Director of cruise business at Chukka Tours, she plans to continue revolutionising the company by making inroads in to the region.

Byles, explaining what Chukka means, describes it as playtime. "In every country around the world, play and sport is part of the culture, and at Chukka we help guests play.

"When they ask what does Chukka mean it is simply 'Time to play'." Chukka is now in several islands across the Caribbean - Jamaica, Belize and Turks and Caicos.

Kelly Tomblin

She has single-handedly transformed the image of the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS). The affable Kelly Tomblin was appointed president and chief executive officer of the JPS in April 2012. She is an accomplished senior executive with more than 20 years of diverse leadership experience in the regulated utility and independent energy sectors in the United States of America. She is a leading socialite and has a lot of energy to unleash in 2013. We will be watching Mrs Tomblin.