AUDREY HINCHCLIFFE is the new president of the Jamaica Employers' Federation (JEF).
This is the first in the organisation's history that a woman has been elected president. The election took place at the JEF headquarters in St. Andrew at its 45th annual general meeting yesterday.
"I will neither feminise nor genderise the Federation," she said in her acceptance speech. She said she would help support the efforts of the executive body to create the type of organisation best suited for the needs of its members.
She succeeds Herbert Lewis, president for the past three years, who did not seek re-election.
BEST MAN
Mrs. Hinchcliffe is "the best man for the job," joked JEF executive director Jacqueline Coke-Lloyd. "We feel she can bring the right brand of expertise, management and people skills to bear on the JEF as we prepare our employers for exemplary 21st century leadership."
The chief executive officer of Manpower and Maintenance Services Group, Mrs. Hinchcliffe founded the company over a decade ago. Under her stewardship, it has been transformed into the largest janitorial and maintenance company of its kind in the English-speaking Caribbean, with over 1,600 employees.
The JEF was founded 46 years ago to represent and safeguard the interests of employers in their relationship with government and organised labour.
"We will need to work with our colleagues in the trades unions and the MOL (Ministry of Labour), ILO (International Labour Organisation) and other associations and trade groups, Mrs. Hinchcliffe said.
