Leonard Norman Ebanks, OBE

From the tender age of 16 years when he first began working, the career of Leonard Norman Ebanks, JP, has been characterized by his twin passions: for life, and for the welfare of fellow Caymanians.

Yet no one, including himself, could have foreseen what a success he would become.

A can-do attitude and positive outlook helped him surmount everyday challenges but also coloured his entire approach to life. It is not often that persons who have accomplished so much, can look back and utter an emphatic “No regrets!”

Coming from a long line of seafarers, Mr. Ebanks responded to the lure of the sea at 16. Circumstances did not permit him to finish high school; so he found himself on the deck of the Inauga Shipper, run by the West Indian Shipping Company, headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida.

In a very short time this enterprising, bright Caymanian worked his way up from ordinary seaman, the lowest job on the deck, to Quartermaster – entrusted with tasks such as steering the ship.

“I sure learned my lessons in the school of hard knocks,” he comments. He was soon pursuing a Third Mate’s Licence to further his merchant navy career.

However, a chance routing of his ship changed all that. Traversing between Houston and Trinidad his ship’s passage began to take him past the Cayman Islands every fortnight, and the pull of home proved too strong to resist. “It was difficult to pass by every 15 days without being able to set foot on the Cayman Islands’ shores,” he reminisces.

He went back to high school for a brief stint but the harsh economic realities facing his family would propel him to seek full time employment. Having a penchant for numbers, he joined the Customs Department in an entry level job.

Soon after, Mr. Ebanks became one of the Cayman Island’s pioneer seamen-turned-banking executives, when he started working at the Royal Bank of Canada, again at an entry level. This was the start of a long, distinguished career in the financial services industry that has helped him fulfill his dream of making a difference to the country. It also cemented his commitment to community service.

Before his 30^th birthday, Mr. Ebanks achieved the distinction of being the first Caymanian appointed manager of a branch of a major international bank with operations in the Cayman Islands.

Working as an Assistant Manager in Jamaica and then Manager in St. Lucia also provided him with first-hand knowledge of the economic challenges faced by people in other parts of the Caribbean, something that he was able to put to good use when he returned to Grand Cayman.

He joined First Home Savings and Loans as President and Chief Executive Officer, roles in which he continued for over 20 years. First Home would later be known as British American Bank, and then Fidelity Bank (Cayman) Limited.

After that, he served five more years as Vice Chairman of the bank’s Board of Directors and now, even after retirement, still offers consultations to the board. He is proud that under his leadership, First Home was one of the first local banks to offer long-term housing mortgages to Caymanians.

His vast experience and keen mind also saw Mr. Ebanks serving on a number of government boards such as the Currency Board, the Central Planning Authority, the Government Guaranteed Home Mortgage Scheme and Student Loan Scheme.

Acknowledging his exemplary character, the Governor named him a member of Cayman’s first Anti-Corruption Commission, a position in which he continues to diligently serve. He also finds time to be a trustee of the Public Services Pension Board, where he serves on a number of committees.

As a member of the Board of Directors of Cayman Airways Limited (CAL) for five years, and then Chairman for seven years, he oversaw significant growth at the national carrier aimed to spur the Cayman’s Islands tourism potential.

Other public appointments include a stint as National Housing Development Trust (NHDT) chairman, and serving as a board member of Caribbean Utilities Company.

In 2001 he was named one of three Constitutional Commissioners to review the Cayman Island’s Constitution, in recognition of his lifelong civic engagement.

Additionally, he has also been an active member of various service clubs. As a Charter Member of the Jaycees, he helped secure Grand Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach as a public property. Meanwhile as a Lions Club Member, he has served the community in a number of capacities, with a special focus on sight conservation.

Mr. Ebanks served as a founding member of the Cayman Islands Bankers Association for which he held several executive positions. A Justice of the Peace from 1987, and a member of the Youth Justice Panel, he has presided over Juvenile and Youth Court for many years, dispensing justice to troubled youths and their families. His aim always: to be “fair and equitable”.

Retirement has not meant a quiet life but he says he is quite happy to be actively engaged in furthering the good of society. “I am sometimes busier now than before,” he comments.

Yet this dedicated family man also ensures he spends quality time with Carol Ann, his wife of 43 years, their two children and four grandchildren.

Both are active church members, and Mr. Ebanks offers his considerable financial expertise to the world body of their church, travelling to international branches around the globe.

Accepting his OBE, Mr. Ebanks acknowledges with gratitude the many persons who have contributed in one way or another to the values that have enabled him to serve the community. He makes special mention of God and his employers who graciously allowed him to participate in civic engagement while developing his career.

He adds, “To now join other distinguished persons who have been recognized is an honour that I will always cherish.”

Henry Muttoo, MBE

Culture, art and heritage are the bedrock of any society.  In the Cayman Islands they also play an important role in the local tourism industry and economy.  It is fitting then that to the Creative Director of the Cayman National Cultural Foundation (CNCF), Henry Muttoo, these things are more than just a profession; they are his passion.

For the past 25 years, Mr. Muttoo has dedicated his life to keeping the Cayman Island’s culture alive. During this time, the wealth of knowledge and experience in areas such as stage design, directing, painting, and playwriting that he has gained throughout his career, have been reflected in the quality of his work, including stage productions such as: Rundown, One White One Black, and storytelling productions such as Gimistory .

Growing up in a tenement yard in his hometown of Georgetown, Guyana, where storytelling and performance was a rite of passage, Mr. Muttoo was exposed to yard performances and storytelling, especially folk tales and myths.

He began to bring those stories to life at the age of 14, when he performed in his first play.

Four years later, he directed his first production in front of an audience of about 400 people. It was an outdoor stage performance for a youth event in Guyana. The stage was a ‘dray cart’ (a long four-wheeled cart usually pulled by a horse), which he and his friends pulled and set up under a street-light. The actors were all amateurs and there were no microphones.

Over the next few years, having travelled and spent time performing all over the region he realized that, culturally, the Caribbean was in many ways, more similar than different and that he could use his work to underscore this fact.   He has been involved in culture, performance and the arts, ever since.

In 1984, at the invitation of Geoff Cresswell, of the Cayman National Theatre Company (CNTC), he moved to the Cayman Islands, from Jamaica, where he was a Senior Tutor at the School of Drama at Edna Manley College. He took up the position of Production Manager with CNTC and spent two years producing, designing and directing for the company.

Then he left the Cayman Islands for two years, but returned in June 1989 to assume the position of Programme Director of the Cayman National Cultural Foundation (CNCF).  His first major responsibility was to transform CNCF from an organization with a focus on theatre, to one whose mission, as stated in its law, emphasises preserving, developing and celebrating Caymanian culture, heritage and arts.

His work, he says, involved ‘taking the pulse’ of Caymanian society; understanding what cultural treasures lay buried beneath the surface of a rapidly changing culture and creating programmes to present to the CNCF board for approval.

His output included programmes that placed tremendous value on Caymanian culture, heritage and arts, with an emphasis on recognizing uniquely Caymanian individuals and enactments.

It was, he said, “…a tremendous opportunity to do a job I love.”

In 2000, he was named Artistic Director of CNCF.

Under his leadership, CNCF grew from a small, under-resourced office at the Harquail Theatre to an organization that is highly respected both locally and internationally.

Despite the praises that he has earned in a job that he describes as stressful but never boring, he remains grateful for every opportunity that he has had – good or bad – as he says these have been learning experiences for him.

His advice to youngsters interested in pursuing a career in the arts and culture is that success requires hard work, diligence, cultural engagement and an understanding of the world’s heritage.

He ascribes much of his own achievement to his mother, Cecelia, and mentors: Ken Corsbie, Edgar Wilson and Dave Martins; as well as Caymanian icons, Julia Hydes, Miss Lassie, and a great many supporters of CNCF, including the organisation’s board.  In particular, he pays tribute to his wife of 28 years, Marcia, the managing director of CNCF, and his three daughters Anjuli (26), Janelle (23) and Maia (21).