The Tribune

SOMETIMES it is not what is in a picture, but what is missing that matters. Say a story about about a little boy and the dog who follows him everywhere, but only the child is pictured, leaving the image of the dog to the imagination. An oversight? Most likely. But the picture doesn’t hit the mark. You know something is missing.

The story of boy and dog is small stuff. What happened this week reflected in the photo above is big. And it’s important.

The Prime Minister held an economic round table, inviting business leaders, presumably those movers and shakers who shape what happens in the domestic economy. I am certain the Prime Minister did not personally create the entire invitation list, though it is likely he suggested a few names.

Both the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Economic Affairs were involved as well as others in the Office of the Prime Minister, the permanent secretary, the special consultant. This is not a blame game and I work with all of them, appreciate them individually, but gentlemen, where are The Women? What were you thinking?

Where was Audrey Oswell, president and managing director of Atlantis?

Where was Deltec Bank CEO Odetta Morton?

Or Nancy Kelly, who transformed a dark and dank tiny purveyor of nails into the best-known store in The Bahamas, Kelly’s House & Home, and grew Kelly’s Lumber? Or University of The Bahamas chairman and former Attorney General Allyson Maynard Gibson?

To be fair, maybe some of the women who could have made valuable contributions were invited and were off the island or unavailable. But what a shame they could not be there to hear the interesting developments and share in the progress for, from what I learned secondhand, much of the information exchanged was not only positive, but progressive.

What a shame we weren’t there to congratulate or to query, to be part of the experience and part of the think tank. Where were all the women when the men in black – and blue and gray – gathered?

Where was Debra Symonette, former CFO and now president of Super Value? Or Youlanda Deveaux, regional vice president of OneSpaWorld that operates most of the luxury spas in the region, including the spa named best in North America?

Where was Davinia Bain who with a leap of faith and courage left the security of the Small Business Development Centre last year to take the plunge into Crypto Isle and is making it work?

Or veteran entrepreneur Earla Bethel who is the holder of McDonald’s franchises in New Providence and a director of Commonwealth Bank? Or Denise Turnquest, who is president of Commonwealth Bank? Or Joan Albury, head of The Counsellors, founder of Business Outlook and producer of the popular morning show, Bahamas@ Sunrise?

Where is Catharina Birchall, whose experience in the stock exchange could help guide ours and who now manages a family office and foundation? Where is Christine Russell, CEO of Corner Bank, among the first, if not the first, to offer Bahamians the ability to invest in international mutual funds and hold shares in global companies? Or Dr Nicola Virgill-Rolle who headed NIB during the roughest and toughest of times following Hurricane Dorian and through COVID and today is executive director of the Lyford Cay Foundation with a whole host of different responsibilities and day-to-day management decisions?

What could the decision-makers have gleaned about the music and entertainment industry from a roundtable that included those like Shania Twain who have performed around the world and chosen to make The Bahamas their home for years? Can you imagine Shania Twain at a business roundtable, what she could have added and what that would have translated into for entertainment tourism ideas?

No one would argue about why Sir Franklyn Wilson was there. But where were the women in development like engineer Sonia Brown or Sarah Morley, project manager of one of the largest developments ever to be conceived on a Family Island? Or her sister, Tara Morley, president of the Bahamas Retailers Federation? Where was Daphne DeGregory Maiolis, who not only farms 120 acres in Abaco and manages Abaco Neem wholesale, but is president of the Abaco Chamber of Commerce?

And speaking of Chambers, how about former Senator and former Bahamas Chamber of Commerce President Tanya Wright, legal tiger in the courtroom who last year won the largest settlement in the country’s history against police and prosecutors for unlawful arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution, an award of more than $750,000 for her client who, the court agreed, suffered years of imprisonment for a crime he did not commit. Surely, the government would want to benefit from her legal, financial services and business innovation background.

Maybe I missed it, but I did not even see the current Bahamas Chamber of Commerce president in the room. Nor the five-time past president of the Bahamas Real Estate Association, Christine Wallace-Whitfield,or her successor, also a woman.

I have absolutely no problem with any of the invitees.

I’ve worked with many of them and have an ongoing relationship doing public relations for several prominent members of that roundtable. I’m glad they were considered important enough to be invited and hope they will be again.

But next time, may they please be seated among the women who also make a difference in the country.

A statement following the Monday economic roundtable said in part, “The Prime Minister emphasised the need for the private sector to be a partner in driving innovation and economic growth, as the government cannot do it alone. The government is committed to working with the private sector to create a brighter future for The Bahamas.”

If leaders mean the government needs help from the private sector, then involve the full private sector without regard for gender, age, ethnicity, a cross-section of thinkers and doers.

I believe the Prime Minister who has been outspoken in his determination to see marital rape become law and shows respect for women in a myriad of ways would react as stunned as many of us were when we saw that picture.

The presence of 25+ men in suits and one woman invited to the economic roundtable was not only an embarrassment at best and an insult at worst, it was an oversight that resulted in a missed opportunity, much more important than the dog missing from the photo with the little boy who treasured his pet but someone forgot to show them together.

Thanks for the correction, Patty Roker

In last week’s column lamenting the fading of the voice of Island FM 102.9, a radio staple for more than two decades, I referred to its airing of an historic debate between two candidates vying for Prime Minister, saying Perry Christie and Hubert Ingraham.

The woman who was among the most prominent voices on the station dedicated to the preservation of Bahamian music, and who I should have included in the tribute, Patty Roker, called to correct me. The famous Palm Sunday debate was between Mr Christie and the FNM candidate Tommy Turnquest. Thanks, Patty, and thanks for all the good times you brought to Island FM. My hand still reaches for that place on the dial that no longer responds.