CURRICULUM VITAE SANDRA HUSBANDS

Transcription

1 CURRICULUM VITAE SANDRA HUSBANDS CANE GARDEN, ST. THOMAS, BARBADOS bdsinc@caribsurf.com PURPOSE The nations of the Caribbean face the greatest threat to their existence since independence in finding an economic and social pathway to manage and increase their resources to provide citizens with the maximum opportunities to live their best lives. There is an urgent need for the restructuring of our social, economic and political systems to breathe new life into the efforts of citizens and businesses to navigate this world environment and seize its offerings. My purpose is to work towards the renewal of our systems at all levels to explore and research new opportunities; analyse our current performance and identify new creative approaches to managing a small economy through transformation of our businesses, work and service performance. The best opportunity for this region is through CSME which offers a regional approach to our economic and social issues. There is much work to be done and in my capacity as a Management Consultant and Human Development specialist, my personal goal is to be part of the army of regionalists working towards the transformation of the thinking of our workforce to create a better, more focused Caribbean individual who brings the knowledge, attitudes, skills and habits necessary to be an exemplary and effective manager and employee. My aim is to work as a partner with management teams around the region and the globe to improve our work processes to produce higher levels of efficiency which will transform our enterprises into globally competitive entities. This I believe will strengthen our economic performance which will provide the resources to transform our social systems and provide the platform for a better life for our peoples.

2 OWNER PAGE 2 RELEVANT KEY PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS I was privileged to have the opportunity to research and develop culturally relevant material to address Work Attitudes and Managing the Caribbean Human Resource. At the moment it is the only one of its kind in the region. We have designed an approach which impacts the underlying psycho-cultural values which impact work and service performance as well as attitudes to life and citizenship. It has been extremely well received, as it captures the motivations and outlook at Caribbean people. It addresses the issues which management has had difficulty in communicating and it challenges the underlying assumptions and expectations of the Caribbean workforce that are unrealistic in this current reality. It is our view that the untenable situation which exists in relation to Caribbean work attitudes is the failure arm management with the awareness, skills and culturally relevant approaches to tackle performance issues in the Caribbean. Our unique programme does just that building the confidence to manage performance in a relevant manner that brings sustained change to performance in the organization. It has been my privilege to share this with our clients across the region from Jamaica to Guyana and from Belize to St. Lucia. We have been privileged to work with many tourism clients, financial services, retail and some manufacturing using these new approaches. RELEVANT KEY ACHIEVEMENTS IN SME SECTOR I was privileged to lead the Barbados Small Business Association board for five years to grow the organisation from a 100 member association with 15 Active members to over 700 members including two group associations. We collaborated with government as a strategic partner to plan for the growth of the SME s and saw the establishment of 10,000 new enterprises in Barbados during my presidency. The sector now contributes over 40% to the Gross Domestic Product and generates employment for over 30,000 persons. Our strategic objective was to promote growth of the sector through the following:-

3 OWNER PAGE 3 1. Established benefits such as reduced advertising costs, and internal professional advisory service to attract a more diverse set of members from new sectors including the professional class. Later added a health insurance programme, discount programmes, business promotion service, and website support. 2. Leveraged our growing numbers to attract strategic partnerships with government and the private sector. We were able to improve access to more favourable financing with the private sector banking institutions BNB and Scotiabank. 3. Improved loan approval rates to 80% through joint strategic partnership between the banking sector and government. 4. Collaborated with government on a new funding policy to have central bank guarantee up to 90% of viable SME loans. 5. Secured government financing for a venture capital window to move key enterprises forward in sectors critical to national development. 6. Developed an internal collaboration mechanism to allow members to successfully tender jointly on large government contracts to deepen their profitability and develop standards for work performance and contract execution. 7. Built the institutional capacity of the association from an administrative officer and the volunteer work of our board members to a professional seven member agency complete with administrative and accounting staff, marketing and research officer, business development officer, member relations officer and Chief Executive Officer. 8. Stronger and higher profile resulted in government collaborating and consulting with the BSO on all matters pertaining to the SME sector and having responsibility for projects or inclusion in yearly major projects to move the sector forward. These include the Small Business Development Act to improve the business environment and offer incentives for growth; massive training programme for over 1000 SME s to improve performance and efficiency; some limited improvement in business facilitation for key sectors; concessions, subsidies and reduced taxation for the sectors to promote growth. 9. Moved revenue of the Association from $100,000 to $1.3 per annum over a three-year period.

4 OWNER PAGE 4 FORMATION OF CARIBBEAN ASSOCIATION OF SME S (CASME) Through leadership we were able to coordinate the other associations across the region to form the Caribbean Association of SME s (CASME)to lobby at a regional level for similar collaboration with government on domestic and regional policy impacting the SMEs. Some eight members formed the initial group. I was elected president for the fledgling organisation and served for two years. Our goal is to improve conditions for business through smart partnerships with government and the private sector and promote trade in Caricom. This was an urgent matter for the region as negotiations for the EPA with Europe were being concluded and it was imperative for SME s to position themselves to take advantage of its provisions to grow international trade. Hence the promotion of regional trade would provide the growth platform for developing and improving competitiveness and expertise to look towards Europe and the use of the other trade treaties across the region. The organisation has continued the work across the region especially in critical collaboration between its members and regional organisations.

5 OWNER PAGE 5 EDUCATION UWI, CAVE HILL MASTERS IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE POLICY 2005 MSc. In International Trade Policy(University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, ) Introduction to Trade Theory, International Trade Law, Introduction to Trade Policy, Regional Integration, International Business Strategy, Trade Negotiations, Business, Government and International Environment, CSME, Globalisation and Governance, Contemporary Issues in Trade, Quantitative Methods, Trade and Tourism(audited), Intellectual Property (audited). WTO field assignment for three weeks in Geneva and a work attachment with Ministry of Economic Affairs. B.Sc. Sociology and Law 1983 BSc in Sociology and Law (University of the West Indies, Cave Hill ) Caribbean Economic Affairs, Economics, Sociology, Policy of Social Administration, Organisational Theory and Behaviour, Law and Society, Family Law, Constitutional Law, Maths and Statistics, Politics, Research Methods, Criminal Law, and Labour Law. ADDITIONAL SHORT COURSES Adult Learning (Business Development Services ), Business Process Management (AIIM2008) Advanced Leadership Training (Haggai Institute 1991) Training of Trainers, Covey Leadership Facilitation Training(Advantage Management Inc 1996); Total Quality Management ( H.W.G 1992) AWARDS Spirit of Caricom Award 2006 Valedictorian, Leadership Studies, Singapore 1992 Jaycees Outstanding Young Persons Award 1990

6 OWNER PAGE 6 CONFERENCE SPEAKER REGIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FINANCIAL ADVISORS JAMAICA EMPLOYERS FEDERATION HUMAN RESOURCES ASSOCIATION OF BARBADOS BR. VIRGIN ISLANDS BUSINESS OUTLOOK CONFERENCE FIPA PARLIAMENTARY FORUM OF THE AMERICAS MARRIOTT LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN MANAGERS CONFERENCE MANAGEMENT CONSULTING EXPERIENCE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES INC LEAD MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT responsible for servicing client needs in developing strategic plans for organisational transformation. Liaising with top management and working with the management team in identifying and implementing key initiatives to bring about the desired results. These have included new product launches for the Barbados market; startup manufacturing enterprises to produce further processed products; established businesses seeking to quantum leap to seize more of their market share or improve internal processes. As part of our community service and corporate responsibility we provide a voluntary advisory service to SMES seeking financing, seeking performance improvement or business start-ups. LEAD CONSULTANT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT responsible for creating culturally relevant human development interventions on behalf of clients to improve work performance; build team integration; and improve customer service and service management. These services have been in demand by private and public sector entities both large and small across the region. These include employee satisfaction audits, skills audits, leadership, work performance and service management training. Success by clients in raising their internal and international service performance scores; better retention of management skills and improved team performance in dynamic cross-cultural organisations are some of the results produced by these interventions.

7 OWNER PAGE 7 FACILITATOR UWI CAVE HILL, CO-CURRICULAR COURSES FOR STUDENTS I was assigned responsibility to develop a syllabus and course structure for training and preparing students for leadership. The course Leadership with Service is designed to strengthen the leadership skills of students as they prepare to return to regular life and take up positions in organisations and in their communities. RESEARCH & POLICY PAPERS Developing a Culture of Investment to Finance SMEs Strategy for the Mobilisation of the Diaspora for Investment in Barbados SME Sector Needs and Government Policy Considerations LANGUAGES [English native language] MEMBERSHIP ORGANISATIONS Past President, Barbados Small Business Association Past Chairman, SBA Enterprises Inc. Past Chairman, National Council on Substance Abuse Past Founding President of Caribbean Association of Small and Medium Enterprises Trustee, Enterprise Growth Fund Past Board Member Rural Development Commission Caribbean Facilitator s Network Past Board Member of FIPA (Parliamentary Association)