SUNDAY 3 MARCH 2019 – UWI TODAY
7
Sharon Christopher and Associates, Ms Christopher has a powerhouse professional history in
law, finance and corporate governance. She’s sat on the boards of numerous private and public
sector organisations, regionally and internationally. In addition, she was a key member of the
entity involved in developing the National Code of Corporate Governance. Ms Christopher
has even found time to be an advocate for social justice and the empowerment of women,
serving as the founding chair of the advisory board of the Institute of Gender andDevelopment
Studies (IGDS) at The UWI.
When asked about her many professional successes, she is surprisingly modest:
“I don’t know if I would call myself high achieving. One thing I would say, is that I only
do things I believe in. I have to believe in what I’m doing. Then, once I’m doing it, I give it
my all. That really feeds me.”
When it comes to her almost 30-year career at First Citizens, Ms Christopher most
definitely believed in the mission and gave it her all. She calls her time there as “one of the
defining moments of my life”. The bank itself is as outspoken in recognising her contribution
to its success. When she retired as Deputy Chief Executive in 2016, First Citizens issued a
statement saying “she was instrumental in growing First Citizens from a local commercial
bank to a financial powerhouse with subsidiaries and a solid presence in Barbados, St Lucia,
St Vincent and the Grenadines and Costa Rica…. We owe much of our growth and success
to Sharon Christopher.”
While she is undoubtedly proud of First Citizens’ achievement (the company went from
its US-born CEO declaring it should be scrapped and sold to bringing in a billion in revenue
in the space of 25 years), Ms Christopher is very clear on who should be applauded for their
success.
“When you are doing the kind of work (we did), being relentless in the execution of our
vision, it is critical that every single employee is part of it,” she says. “It got to a stage where
people would say if you cut a First Citizens person they would bleed green (the company
colour). First Citizens people were so loyal to the organisation.”
A shared vision from which all actions flow, complete buy-in from staff, maximising
strengths in technology and customer service and communicating your achievements so that
the society at large can understand and appreciate the work being done - these were the keys to
First Citizens success, Ms Christopher says. She believes they will also be useful forThe UWI.
“I have seen the University’s current strategic plan and it is very robust. What I would really
bring to the table is just an understanding of what we did (at First Citizens), what worked, and
sharing ideas about other things that can be done at the University,” she says.
She has two concerns about The UWI. Branding and communication with the wider
society is the first one. “I really think it is important for the university to be totally relatable
and relevant to the society,” she says. “So much good work is being done, especially in terms
of research but how is it feeding back into the public in a way that they can understand?” The
second is the shared vision of staff. While organisations might have well-articulated visions,
missions and strategic plans, she says, if these do not become part of the psyche of your people.
Then they remain just part of the records of the organisation and no more. I know coming
out of the corporate world that this is a serious problem. It is why many strategic plans don’t
work. People don’t feel it.”
She’s not dismayed by the potential hurdles. After all, she has overcome them already.
And more importantly she understands the importance of the University and of education
in general to the development of individuals and societies.
Born in Grenada, she moved with her family to Trinidad and Tobago when she was almost
two-years-old. Her father was a military man who served as aide-de-camp to the Governor
General at the time, before eventually becoming commanding officer of the Trinidad and
Tobago Regiment, and then after retirement an Anglican priest. Her mother is a housewife.
“She’s going to be 90 in a few months,” Ms Christopher says. “She is a truly forward thinking
person. At her age she gets up early every morning and is using WhatsApp on her laptop
or tablet. She is always encouraging us (she has three siblings) to do our best and to really
understand that the world is somewhere exciting to be.”
That combination of parental discipline, dynamism and openness to life was enhanced at
school. She attended Bishop Anstey High School, which experience “had a significant impact
on many of the decisions (she) took in life” and then studied law at The UWI, before going
to Europe and studying at the London School of Economics and Political Science
Now she returns to The UWI to contribute to its further development they way it
contributed to hers. “The University has been such a significant institution for national
development throughout the entire Caribbean and it is the duty of everyone connected with
tit to ensure that it continues,” she says. “It is up to all of us to ensure that this university is
sustainable and continues to be credible and continues to perform a very important role in
the area of national development.”
Sounds like an exciting place to be.
OUR CAMPUS
The UWI St Augustine is saying
farewell to Mr Ewart Williams
after 10 years of service in the role
of Campus Council Chair.
Ea ch UWI c ampus ha s
its own Council, which serves
as its governing body, with
repres ent at ives f rom ever y
department as well as the student
body and various other private
and public sector stakeholders.
The Chair is appointed by the
Chancellor to serve a five-year
term.
Before taking up his position as Chair, Mr Williams
worked for 30 years at the International Monetary Fund,
retiring in 2002 as Deputy Director of theWesternHemisphere
Department. He was appointed as Governor of the Central
Bank of Trinidad and Tobago in 2002 and served two five year
terms, leaving in 2012.
Mr Williams was passionate and enthusiastic to give back
to The UWI, the institution that has contributive so much to
his formative years. He credits much of his success at the IMF
to his studies at the University, where students were taught to
question the established orthodoxy and to analyse economic
issues, taking into consideration the social and institutional
characteristics of the countries under review. He thought
that his undergraduate experience, which emphasised clear
thinking and high-quality writing skills, served him very well
in his journey through the IMF.
As Chair of the Campus Council MrWilliams felt strongly
that the University should take a more active role in seeking
to resolve the problems faced by the host country and other
regional members. In addition to advocacy and discussion
fora, he urged that the University’s considerable resources be
made available through hands-on technical assistance to the
Government and communities. Mr Williams provided strong
support for the policy of encouraging faculties to introduce
community projects into their course work.
During his two terms he was a champion for the Campus’
student-centred focus. In particular, he urged that graduates be
made more workplace ready, so that they are able to enhance
their contribution to their work environment and community
much faster.
Mr Williams is very satisfied with progress that the
Campus has made over the past few years, notwithstanding
the financing challenges that it has had to confront. He points
to the expansion in programme offerings to satisfy the needs
of the community, the impressive increase in postgraduate
enrollment and the increasing collaboration with the private
sector. He is confident thatThe UWI is well on the way to being
the kind of university to which we all aspire– a first class global
university, deeply rooted in the development of the Caribbean.
“I’m really convinced that there is strength in numbers
and if you could succeed in transferring that passion and that
enthusiasm to the people you work with, then people will be
enthusiastic about what they do,” he said.
Look out for the next issue of UWI Today where we will
have an in-depth interview with Mr Ewart Williams about his
thoughts on his time as Campus Council Chair.
A Passion for
PROGRESS
