Photo by William Foster Custos, Bishop Carmen Stewart
Bishop Carmen Stewart, bishop of the Pentecostal Gospel Tabernacle, has dedicated her life to God and helping others.
Bishop Stewart and her late husband, Wilbert, formed the Pentecostal Gospel Tabernacle back in the early 1960s. Following the death of her husband in 1967, she took over shepherding the church. After she was appointed pastor of the organisation, she went on to create a church which became an institution in the community, running one of the largest basic schools in Kingston and a skills training institute for Jamaicans of all ages.
In 1976, in memory of her husband, she started the Wilbert Stewart Basic School which, today houses more than 400 students and 14 teachers. She also created the Pentecostal Gospel Temple Skills Training Project through the HEART Trust Programme. The latter programme has been in existence for 10 years and more than 40 students have been enrolled in commercial food preparation and housekeeping skills.
Health education
Bishop Stewart, a graduate of the University of California in Los Angeles, also holds a master's degree in public health, specialising in health education. She was director of the Bureau of Health Education in the ministry of Health in the 1970s.
Although she retired from the Ministry of Health to concentrate on her church work, she was to remain active in civic affairs. This led her to be appointed Justice of the Peace and eventually Custos of St. Andrew. She is the second woman in the history of the island to be so appointed.
Bishop Stewart also served as deputy Governor-General of the island in 1996 (the first female to hold that distinction) and she was given the Order of Distinction for Health Education and Religion in 1986. She was the recipient of the Prime Minister's Jamaica 21 Award in the field of religion.
Last month Bishop Stewart celebrated her 39th pastoral anniversary as head of the Pentecostal Gospel Temple at 111 Windward Road in Kingston.
Paula Llewellyn
Flamboyant, dramatic, passionate, articulate and highly persuasive, are just some of the adjectives used to describe this woman. Paula Llewellyn, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, is well known for her expertise in the courtroom.
She is the first woman to be so appointed and was also the first to be appointed acting Director of Public Prosecutions. As a child, she was considered a bookworm, always reading. Later, she discovered within herself an ability to be articulate, a love of persuasive arguments and a flair for drama, which included a healthy measure of flamboyance.
Her journey as a prosecutor began after she graduated from the Norman Manley Law School in 1984, taking up her first post as clerk in the St. James Resident Magistrate's Court.
In the courts, she performed with precision and aplomb and by 1986, she was promoted to act as Crown Counsel in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. In March 1999, she was appointed as senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions and in May 2005, she became the first woman to be appointed to act as Director of Public Prosecutions.
High-profile cases
Over the years, she has been associated with high-profile cases such as the Caldon Finance Group debacle, the Braeton killings and the Joel Andem case, but she says that success for her has never involved notoriety. She was also involved in the Donald 'Zekes' Phipps, Kevin 'Richie Poo' Tyndale and Mary Lynch murder cases in which the Crown successfully secured convictions.
Llewellyn has gone up against many top defence attorneys including former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, Attorney-General A.J. Nicholson, former Government minister K.D. Knight, Lord Anthony Gifford, Frank Phipps and Churchill Neita, all Queen's Counsels.
Ms. Llewellyn has made many strides and is a highly respected prosecutor in what has traditionally been seen as male territory.
Doreen Frankson
Doreen Fankson, president of the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association Ltd., has excelled tremendously as businesswoman over the years.
She was born in Manchester to Winston Frankson, Q.C.- barrister-at-law and Ruby Lewis, housewife. She attended Ryerson Polytechnic Institute and Harvard Business School. Through hard work, discipline and commitment, she has become quite a name in the world of business. She is the co-founder and Managing director of Edgechem Jamaica Ltd. since 1990. She recognised that there was a need for automotive finishes in Jamaica and about 16 years ago she founded Edgechem. She is also the co-founder and general manager for Steinol Chemicals Ltd.
She is the chairperson for Jamaica Business Development Centre; commissioner of the Financial Services Commission and a director of Quality Chemicals and KLAS FM.
She was nominated Caribbean Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in 2001, and in 2003 by the Kiwanis Club of New Kingston in celebration of women. Last year, Frankson was awarded the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander for contribution to the manufacturing sector and advancement of industrial production.
Andrew Smith/Photography Editor
Audia Barnett
Great possibilities exist in the food we eat and the plants we grow in Jamaica. It is the responsibility of science to harness these possibilities.
As executive director of the Scientific Research Council (SRC), Dr. Audia Barnett helps to do just that through her work. Dr. Barnett is responsible for promoting the use of science and technology in national development and growth. And true to its mandate, the SRC has done extensive research with many of the common foods we eat in Jamaica. Its research for instance in yam and banana is well documented.
Dr. Barnett has held the post of executive director since 2002. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and biochemistry, a Master of Science degree in food science and a Ph.D. in chemistry. Before joining the SRC, Dr. Barnett was a research fellow at theMIGAL Galilee Technological Centre in Israel and the Agrotechnological Research Institute in the Netherlands.
A Gleaner Honour Awardee in 2005 in the category of science and technology, she has done extensive work in food, science and technology. She served as a consultant for the food industry for a number of years and was the executive director for the National Commission on Science and Technology Secretariat.
