Hundreds of women from the public and private sectors met Friday on St. Thomas to ponder resilience. That was the theme of the annual conference organized by former Senator Janette Millin Young.
Antilles School played host to this year’s gathering — billed as a networking event. Organizers encouraged attendees to mingle and greet one another, and to share stories about the ups and downs of life.
The day was split between speakers giving examples of meeting everyday challenges like money management and broader discussions focused on building a stronger economy. Breakout sessions held after lunch offered workshops on self-care, personal branding and marketing.
“Our day would not be complete without providing our guests with tips to help you strategize for overcoming your challenges and losses,” Millin-Young said.
Former Education Commissioner Racquel Berry-Benjamin led participants through an exercise called “Let’s Get Financially Lit.” It was a way of introducing her new pursuit as a financial literacy expert.
Coming from a background of poverty, the guest speaker said her interest in changing her circumstances began at an early age. “We have to be resilient to become financially empowered,” Berry-Benjamin said.
She was one of a roster of speakers, including Meg Cory, owner of the ReNew/ReUse Emporium; psychologist Carolyn Clansy-Miller; life coach Shena Geroge-Esannason; and tourism lecturer Gemma Wenner.
Wenner told the group about her adventures in agritourism — a niche market where tourists visit farms and ranches to learn, be entertained, or to experience farm-to-table dining. Adventures that she said began with her leaving her Virgin Islands home after a major hurricane.
Through those adventures, she said, she learned about onion farming in New Mexico and promoted a coconut festival in Guyana, interacting with college students along the way.
Agritourism has established itself in different parts of the world but is relatively new to the Caribbean, Wenner said. Those who want to see the market grow say the kind of things that draw tourists to a destination change, she added, and this particular market comes with an added benefit.
Local producers can participate on any scale, from growing herbs on an apartment terrace to cultivating groves of fruit trees, she said. It could also help ease the territory’s dependency on produce shipped in from off island.
Attendees were also treated to a Women of Resilience Panel discussion featuring a cancer survivor and one woman’s struggle to expunge a wrongful arrest from the justice system.
Representatives of government agencies and local corporations sent staff members to the conference in a show of support. They were welcomed by Viya Chief Executive Officer Geraldine Pitt.
Pitt and her company were among a host of sponsors attending the conference. “Thanks for the invite; we are always going to be happy to be part of the conversation about women,” she said.
Other sponsors include Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, Antilles School, Tropical Shipping, Oriental Bank, FirstBank, Merchant’s Bank, Banco Popular, Coral World, Southland Gaming, Liberty USVI, Guardian Insurance, Backitups, the Virgin Islands Daily News, the V.I. Departments of Tourism and Labor, and the Economic Development Authority.
Friday’s Women of Resilience Conference was the first event held as part of Millin-Young’s business called Notable Events. She has also organized and hosted 10 annual Women Striving for Success gatherings in previous years.
The organizer said she was pleased to see signs of engagement among those who joined the event in the morning and stayed throughout the day. “I feel grateful about the wide range of women who participated no matter the rung of the ladder they are at in their careers,” Millin-Young said.
