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Elaine Gray is new Chamber President

New President of the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce

 

Carey Olsen partner, Elaine Gray, has been elected the new president of the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce – becoming the first woman to hold the position in the organisation’s 212-year history.

Elaine has served as vice president of the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce for the past year. She was elected as president at Chamber’s July AGM, replacing Barrie Baxter who had held the position since 2018.

In a recent in-depth interview with the Guernsey Press about her priorities, Elaine highlighted working parents:

“I’ve been here for 14 years and I’ve lived in other jurisdictions including Scotland and the Cayman Islands. One of the things that I found very hard coming to Guernsey was the sense that the infrastructure didn’t necessarily support the working parent demographic as well as it could do.

“…Do we have the bus timetables right to make sure we accommodate parents? Could the schools open earlier and close later so that it matches better to the working day or could things be done more flexibly whether it be in terms of opening or closing times, or term times?

“It sounds quite humdrum, but actually given the huge number of working parents that we’ve got, it just feels to me that there’s scope there to make things better.”

More info:

Chamber media release – New president Elaine Gray in role.

Bailiwick Express article – Elaine breaks 212-year record.

Guernsey Press article – First women president of Chamber of Commerce.

Elaine’s Carey Olsen biography.

Elaine Gray, new President of the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce

Guernsey’s iconic women of the future?

Thank you for nominating a young woman or girl for our future iconic Guernsey women campaign to celebrate International Women’s Day!

Nominations close on Sunday 6 March at 17.00.

Please fill in the details below.

miriam-makeba-SA

Miriam Makeba - South Africa

Nominated by: Christine James

Zenzile Miriam Makeba (1932 to 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, United Nations goodwill ambassador, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she was an advocate against apartheid and white-minority government in South Africa. In 2020 she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 women of the century. 

South Africa is ranked 12th in the world for percentage of women in national parliament: 45.8% (source: data.ipu.org) 

Are you from South Africa? Please email hello@womeninpubliclife.gg if there is a social or cultural group for people from South Africa in Guernsey.

Want to learn more about public office vacancies in Guernsey? 

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The original image “The Hague Jazz 2008 – Miriam Makeba” by Haags Uitburo is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. 

jacinda-adern-2

Jacinda Ardern - New Zealand

Nominated by: Martin Lock

Jacinda Ardern (born 1980) has served as prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. In 2019, she led the country through the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque shootings, rapidly introducing strict gun laws in response, and throughout 2020 she directed the country’s widely praised response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ardern was the world’s second elected head of government to give birth in office when her daughter was born in 2018. ‘An inspiring Prime Minister who brought a nation together with true leadership, empathy and compassion.’

New Zealand is ranked 4th in the world for percentage of women in national parliament: 48.3% (source: data.ipu.org) 

Other iconic women: Dame Whina Cooper, nominated by Claire Fisher, and Kate Sheppard, nominated by Anna Cooper.

Are you from New Zealand? You may be interested in joining the ANZACs in Guernsey Facebook group

Want to learn more about public office vacancies in Guernsey? 

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