From left) Okelia Parredon, executive investment advisor at Mayberry Investments Limited, poses questions to panellists Michelle Chong, CEO, Honey Bun; Jackie Stewart Lechler, director, Stewarts Automotive Group; and Audrey Hinchcliffe, CEO, Manpower & Maintenance Services, during the Mayberry Investor Forum on Wednesday at the Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston.

It is obvious from the answers from three prominent Jamaican women involved with major businesses locally, at Wednesday night’s Mayberry Monthly Investors Forum, that the “glass ceiling” is still unbroken.

However, their responses to a very attentive audience suggested a few things, including that that they are not afraid of the mythological “glass ceiling” and they see themselves a genuine nation builders.

CEO of Manpower and Maintenance Services Ltd, Audrey Hinchcliffe, brought the house down after arguing that the essence of her nation building is the amount of taxes that her company pays.

And she wrapped an irrefutable ring of authenticity around that, explaining that her Manpower, which provides janitorial, building and grounds maintenance services to health care institutions, now employs 1,800 people and is about to increase that figure to approximately 2,000.

“But in terms of giving back, I have a foundation that supports education and sports. And every year there is a back-to-school programme for the employees’ GSAT (Grade Six Achievement Test) students, and our clients have collaborated with me on that back-to-school programme,” she noted.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business-report/businesswomen-take-on-nation-building-and-the-glass-ceiling_112368