Upcoming Symposium: “Diversity In Leadership”
The Men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity incorporated and MenSpeak of Bermuda College invite the public out to their Symposium, which aims to create a scholarly environment for dialogue on critical issues that impact our community also to find solutions that will drive the island in a positive direction.
The theme of the discussion will be “Diversity in Leadership: Has the glass ceiling been broken or merely cracked: Re-examining gender/age/race/sexual orientation”, and it will be held at the Bermuda College, Lecture Hall G301 on March 16th from 6:30 – 8:30pm.
The Panelists include:
- Mr. Craig Bridgewater, Managing Director KPMG
- Rev. Nicholas Tweed, Pastor of St. Paul AME Church
- Mr. Cordell Riley, Managing Direct of Profiles of Bermuda / Professor
- Ms. Kim Caines, Associate at MJM Limited
- Mr. Jason Hayward, President of the Bermuda Public Service Union
- Mr. Chan Foley, Associate at Sedgwick Chudleigh Barristers & Attorneys
- Christi Hunter-Arscott who will join the panel via Skype
- Moderator will be Dwayne Caines
Alpha Phi Alpha President Philip Trott said, “The symposium is an awesome start to Alpha Week 2015. Our goal is simply to educate, enlighten and ultimately change Bermuda for the better.”
Some of the questions the Panelists will be asked are:
- 1. Is it true that one year working in an international market is equivalent to 5 years working experience in Bermuda?
- 2. Are women considered as equals in the local business community?
- 3. If a woman goes on maternity leave and then comes back to works and asks for flex time to manage her home life, would she be respected by her male peers?
- 4. Is Bermuda an effective training ground for strong leaders?
- 5. Are the communities of faith leadership model dynamic enough to deal with the changing population and the emerging needs of our community?
- 6. Are the grass roots social clubs meeting the needs of the people in their communities in 2015?
- 7. Is there still a distinct difference culturally with white and Black leadership (how it is perceived and also how the community responds)?
- 8. Is there an effective voice and leadership for Seniors in Bermuda.
- 9. Can someone from the LBGT community openly lead in Bermuda?
- 10. Is there a belief in Bermuda that you do not have a real value until you are post 50 years of age. [is their leadership model dismissive of youth leadership]
Good lineup but a pity that leaders like Sir John Swan, Arlene Brock, Giorgio Zanol, David Cash & Brian Duperreault are not involved
You are the reason we have no progress and all the young bright people are leaving. How can a panel of yesterday’s people as suggested by you have any relevance for the issues of today?
@ Huh,
Sir John Swan was a feature in the past symposiums, and we respect his voice… however many of the persons that you are seeing on the panel represent of the generation that we are trying to understand their perspective. please come out and hear views from different voices in the community.
Thank you. With all due respect, I also think some of your questions are a bit silly. Question 1, where did the ratio of 1 to 5 come from? Is there some data/research backing this up? Questions 4, 5, 6, 7 & 10 – is data going to presented or just “feelings”?
Answer to question 8 is obvious – YES – Age Concern. Suggest you invite Claudette Fleming.
O&O
Good line up, I think not! 6 men and 2 women. Diversity in Leadership? What about Diversity on the panel? Let’s start with LBGT? What about ethnicity? Rev Tweed, what about Rev Dill? In order to discuss diversity we need to practice diversity.
The AME church is formally homophobic in its policy. How can a homophobe address diversity?
Diversity is not limited to gender and sexual orientation. Introversion vs Extroversion is a much greater issue within the workplace when it comes to leadership and mobility. Our knowledge of diversity issues in Bermuda is really outdated and I hope that this discussion can be a broader one about Difference and how we as people can go about understanding and leveraging Difference in workplace.
That was the panel in 2011…Panellists included former Premier Sir John Swan, former Premier and present MP Alex Scott, former Bermuda Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith, Bermuda Democratic Alliance MP Shawn Crockwell, Digicel CEO Wayne Caines, businessman Corey Butterfield, Resseguros XL Brasil vice-president Gino Smith and political analyst and commentator Walton Brown.
This year…diversity…
Not a very diverse panel for a symposium on diversity.
@ Scotty Chan Foley will be representing the views and thoughts of the GLTQ community
To men of Alpha thank you for trying to do something for the community…..as a person that comes to most of your events I am always blown away at the quality of the event and the discourse it creates for change
See you on Monday
I was a student a Bermuda College who participated in the Symposium last year. I learned so much and I also saw men in action.
I will be there again, without my hat this time lol lol
Can you please share what you learned and what actions you saw from the men?
shut up and take a chill pill
Mr. Craig Bridgewater, Managing Director KPMG Representing Business and leadership perspective
Rev. Nicholas Tweed, Pastor of St. Paul AME Church representing dynamic church leadership
Mr. Cordell Riley, Managing Direct of Profiles of Bermuda / Professor representing business trends and perspectives (academic)
Ms. Kim Caines, Associate at MJM Limited Young Female Perspective
Mr. Jason Hayward, President of the Bermuda Public Service Union Union leadership perspective
Mr. Chan Foley, Associate at Sedgwick Chudleigh Barristers & Attorneys LGBTQ Perspective
Christi Hunter-Arscott who will join the panel via Skype :white female and Bermudian Female activist
some different faces ……. also some of the perspectives are new….please simply have an open mind and come out and see listen and learn….
Since you’re being all pc it might be nice if you spell Mr Foley’s name correctly.
LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS
Proactive vs. Reactive
The exceptional leader is always thinking three steps ahead. Working to master his/her own environment with the goal of avoiding problems before they arise.
Flexible/Adaptable
How do you handle yourself in unexpected or uncomfortable situations? An effective leader will adapt to new surroundings and situations, doing his/her best to adjust.
A Good Communicator
As a leader, one must listen…a lot! You must be willing to work to understand the needs and desires of others. A good leader asks many questions, considers all options, and leads in the right direction.
Respectful
Treating others with respect will ultimately earn respect.
Quiet Confidence
Be sure of yourself with humble intentions.
Enthusiastic
Excitement is contagious. When a leader is motivated and excited about the cause people will be more inclined to follow.
Open-Minded
Work to consider all options when making decisions. A strong leader will evaluate the input from all interested parties and work for the betterment of the whole.
Resourceful
Utilize the resources available to you. If you don’t know the answer to something find out by asking questions. A leader must create access to information.
Rewarding
An exceptional leader will recognize the efforts of others and reinforce those actions. We all enjoy being recognized for our actions!
Well Educated
Knowledge is power. Work to be well educated on community policies, procedures, organizational norms, etc. Further, your knowledge of issues and information will only increase your success in leading others.
Open to Change
A leader will take into account all points of view and will be willing to change a policy, program, cultural tradition that is out-dated, or no longer beneficial to the group as a whole.
Interested in Feedback
How do people feel about your leadership skill set? How can you improve? These are important questions that a leader needs to constantly ask the chapter. View feedback as a gift to improve.
Evaluative
Evaluation of events and programs is essential for an organization/group to improve and progress. An exceptional leader will constantly evaluate and change programs and policies that are not working.
Organized
Are you prepared for meetings, presentations, events and confident that people around you are prepared and organized as well?
Consistent
Confidence and respect cannot be attained without your leadership being consistent. People must have confidence that their opinions and thoughts will be heard and taken into consideration.
Delegator
An exceptional leader realizes that he/she cannot accomplish everything on his own. A leader will know the talents and interests of people around him/her, thus delegating tasks accordingly.
Initiative
A leader should work to be the motivator, an initiator. He/she must be a key element in the planning and implementing of new ideas, programs, policies, events, etc.
Finally – a very good sense of humour
Dont know much about this Alpha organisation but at least they are engaging the public on some level, instead of calling a talk show or writing contrarion drivel on a blog.
Oh I forgot you negative bloggers all volunteer and contribute to local charities and spend and reinvest all of your net income back into the Bermuda economy, hence entitling you to take the moral high ground and critique everything that isnt, need I say it………
Good luck with the Symposium Men of Alpha. This looks like a very interesting panel discussion. Well done on putting this together.
So I guess the know it all has such an overflowing cup of wisdom that they felt the need to take shots at the community service of others, while simultaneously teaching a lesson on leadership under the alias “huh”. Well I can say that these men of Alpha are showing leadership by organizing this event while you sit back and type on your keyboard. It’s a pity when people feel the need to tear down the positive work of others.
Diversity is a topic that extends way beyond the scope of gender, race, and sexual orientation. What about the mobility of introverts within business? How about the generational divides and their impact? To place such emphasis on ethnicity and sexual orientation alone minimizes what looks to be an educated discussion on a highly complex topic. I am glad to see this great organisation putting on another event that has the potential to create educational dialogue. I look forward to attending and learning some new perspectives.
The panel looks great in terms of the collective perspectives that should be brought to the discussion. I will be there and bringing along my son.
To the men of Alpha Phi Alpha, thank you for organising this event and for all of the work you do in our community. These are selfless acts of service that go noticed by many of us in Bermuda. Please continue to make our community a better place and ignore the negativity of some.
when i saw nicholas tweed in the lineup, i checked out…at a loss for what he could bring to the table.
Including a man of God on any panel raises its profile and seems to give it more credibility – but only to stupid people who don’t realize what a load of complete BS that is.
Why would a religious man be an expert at anything – other than being religious?
All he does is try to convince weak minded people that his imaginary friend is real. People have been locked up for less.
Where’s d youth voice? No youth voice going to be heard?
Young people don’t get a voice?
Glass ceilings only exist in people’s minds.