The Chamber of Commerce was pleased to welcome its new President, Joanne Lawson – the Chamber’s fifth female President – at the 58th AGM at the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort on Wednesday, 28 February. Joanne Lawson is the Chief of Staff at Dart Enterprises Ltd.

During her speech, Lawson shared her vision about what it means to be a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and how members can work together to make a real and positive change.

“The Chamber of Commerce has been here supporting the success of Cayman businesses and helping to build a solid foundation for sustainable growth for almost 60 years,” she said, “we are united in our commitment to ensuring that the business community has a voice and hand in shaping the future of the Cayman Islands.

“But we are not just working for our fellow members. We are catalysts for positive change – for all of Cayman,” she said. “The fruit of our economic success is not just defined by profitability, customer satisfaction and employee retention, but also in building a future where our children get a quality education, lead fulfilling lives.”

One of the key areas for the Chamber to focus on in the coming year would be ensuring that it creates value for its membership: “We intend to deliver on our promise to you, our members – to promote and protect Cayman businesses and ensure that your voice is heard within the Government,” Lawson said. The Leadership of the Chamber is here to listen, support and take action to continue the good work that you expect of us,” she said.

“As part of our commitment to prioritise communications with membership, we are adding a new Member Engagement Coordinator this year to help ensure greater cohesion throughout our large and diverse group of members. This person will be a trusted resource for our Council to ensure we are consistently soliciting more direct feedback from across the membership that will help shape the advocacy agenda of this organisation.”

The Chamber would also be working with its membership and government to establish a sustainable approach to preparing Caymanian students and adults for careers of the future, Lawson said: “There is so much good talent out there and this reinforces my optimism about the strength of Cayman as a jurisdiction, but there are still gaps in many professions. Gaps between what many businesses need and what the local talent pool can provide. Some of these gaps will require amonumental effort to put systems and processes in place to get students ready for future roles in a variety of industries.
“We each can also do our part to ensure that our businesses maintain workplace cultures and business practices that support our efforts to develop and retain worldclass talent in Cayman.”

“I encourage membership to think about how they can provide small stepping stone opportunities for staff to develop leadership skills in their workplace. I started my involvement in the Chamber as a 2013 Leadership Cayman graduate and have taken on leadership opportunities since. One small opportunity at a time.”

As the 5th woman President in 60 years of Chamber History, Lawson said she was mindful that she was joining short but distinguished list.

“While I embrace the opportunity before me, I also call on all my ‘superwomen’ out there to step forward and make your presence felt. Let’s show the impact women can have as leaders sitting at the table. Let’s all work together to ensure that both the businesses and the young people of Cayman have opportunities to be a part of our economic prosperity.”