Paradise Island, The Bahamas – Leading women at Atlantis now have a forum of their very own. The Leading Women of Atlantis initiative (LWA) seeks to take its participants on a journey to empowerment and helps to effectively propel them to future sustainable success in leading roles. The brainchild is Atlantis VP of Labour Relations Tameka Burrows Forbes, and the effort first began in September 2014.

“In 2013 I was invited to participate in the International Women’s Forum Fellows programme which afforded me training of the highest order and amazing opportunities for networking. I wanted to use what I learned there to help expand the leadership capacity of the women here at Atlantis,” explains Burrows Forbes adding that in 2014, “executive business partners across the resort were requested to identify high potential women in their divisions” to participate in the initiative.

“So far we’ve hosted three amazing sessions featuring three leading professional women within the Bahamian community who shared their experiences with the forum’s participants,” says Burrows Forbes. “The sessions introduced strategies and competencies for continuous learning including self-awareness, reflective thinking and developmental relationships. Through the LWA initiative we are able to provide gender specific information and tools to help participants define their personal success and focus on career management techniques, among other things, and so far it’s been great. We’ve been receiving really positive and encouraging feedback.”

The sessions held in 2014 in the months of October, November and December featured Sonia Brown of Graphite Engineering Ltd. and IWF Fellow on the topic of “Maximizing your Career through Effective Networking,” FT Consultants’ Maria Ferere, also an IWF Fellow, on the topic of “Negotiating for Success,” and Atlantis’ own Senior Vice President of Human Resources Karen Carey on the topic “What’s your Mentorship/Sponsorship Brand.”

“We have already witnessed good progress since we began last year. The LWA initiative has profoundly impacted a shift in the viewpoints and personal visions of the participants, which has translated into a positive impact on their careers and we look forward to continuing and growing in 2015 and having an even more profound impact.”