Governance Champion Connie Smith Receives ICSA: The Chartered Governance Institute’s Highest Accolade
LONDON, UK / AGILITYPR.NEWS / September 17, 2020 / ICSA: The Chartered Governance Institute is pleased to announce that Connie Smith FCG, Managing Director at Tricor Caribbean, Barbados has been awarded the Institute’s President’s Medal in recognition of the work that she has done to promote good governance in Barbados and beyond.
Chair of ICSA: The Chartered Governance Institute’s branch in Barbados since 2014, Connie is the twenty-second recipient of the illustrious award, which was established in 2002 as a means of rewarding distinguished or meritorious service. A Fellow of the Institute, which qualifies and supports governance professionals living and working in Barbados and in more than 60 other jurisdictions across the globe, Connie was named as the 2020 recipient of the medal by John Heaton FCG, President of ICSA: The Chartered Governance Institute, a division of the global qualifying and membership body the Chartered Governance Institute.
Speaking about why he chose Connie for this award, John said:
“Connie has fought hard in a very male dominated business environment and has risen through the ranks to achieve considerable success. She started her career with EY where she became a Partner of Ernst & Young Caribbean before continuing onto her current position with Tricor. She became a chartered governance professional in 1995, a Fellow in 2000 and is a brilliant ambassador for the profession. Connie completed her second term as President of BIBA, the Association for Global Business in Barbados in June 2015 and still sits on its Board of Directors. She is passionate about the development of Barbados as a global business centre which is demonstrated in her chairmanship of BIBA’s Service Providers and Business Facilitation Committee, through which she contributes to initiatives relating to legislation, growth and practice policies for the sector. Earlier this year Connie was named as a Woman of Influence in Barbados and invited to speak as part of the Dwellings Barbados Women of Influence series. She became Honorary Consul of Spain in Barbados in 2018.”
Connie concludes:
“I am absolutely delighted and very humbled to have been selected for this prestigious honour. Barbados’ economy, like many around the world, is experiencing significant strain and challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a Chartered Governance Professional and Chair of the Barbados Branch of the Institute in Barbados, I am particularly pleased to be able to use my qualifications, experience, network and access to contribute to any governance policy enhancements aimed at improving our governance model, jumpstarting the economy, diversifying our product offering and making Barbados more competitive.”
About Us
The Chartered Governance Institute is the qualifying and membership body for governance with over 125 years’ experience of educating and supporting governance professionals. With a Royal Charter purpose of leading ‘effective and efficient governance and administration of commerce, industry and public affairs’, we provide professional development, guidance and thought leadership, and work with regulators and policy makers to champion high standards.
The Institute has divisions in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong/China, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Southern Africa, the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe. The division headquartered in London (known as ICSA: The Chartered Governance Institute) represents and supports members in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Crown Dependencies and associated territories, which include the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Mauritius and Sri Lanka.
The Barbados branch of ICSA: The Chartered Governance Institute was relaunched in 2014 and offers CPD and networking opportunities for members who live and work in Barbados to meet and share best practice with other members, students and professionals in the region.
Connie Smith is the Managing Director of Tricor Group’s operations located in Barbados, Tricor Caribbean. Tricor acquired the corporate administration services division of Ernst & Young Caribbean in April 2007. Prior to this, Connie was a Partner of Ernst & Young Caribbean and was responsible for the development and management of Ernst & Young Caribbean’s office in the British Virgin Islands for a number of years
Connie served as President of the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA) twice and currently still is a Director and Chair of BIBA’s Service Providers Business Facilitation Committee, through which she contributes to initiatives relating to legislation, growth and practice policies for the sector. In her role as President of BIBA, Connie served as a Director of Invest Barbados, the investment promotion agency of the Government of Barbados, and also Director of the Barbados Private Sector Association.
Connie has participated in a number of consultations and engagements with the Government of Barbados and other stakeholders, including regulatory bodies and international rating agencies often in the areas of legislative reform, policies and procedures. In her position as Director of BIBA, Connie served as a member of the Task Force formed by BIBA, and recognised by the Government of Barbados, to examine Barbados’ suite of legislation impacted by the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Action Plan, (BEPS), understand the impact of same and make appropriate recommendations to the Government of Barbados with respect to the amendments required to Barbados’ legal and regulatory environment. Related to this, Connie served on a sub-committee of the Task Force focused on the Economic Substance regime required to be implemented as a result of BEPS.
Connie, a Governance Professional, is a Fellow of The Chartered Governance Institute in the United Kingdom, Chairman of the Barbados Branch of The Chartered Governance Institute, and a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.
Connie is an active philanthropist. Some of the causes she is very engaged with include:
- Deputy Chair and Director of ASPIRE - The Barbados Charities Support Network, whose mission is to develop and improve the sustainability of registered Barbados charitable enterprises.
- Trustee of Waste 0 Resources Trust, formerly Plastic Oceans Trust, Barbados - The Trust seeks to have all Barbadians join us in the reduction of waste and therefore the diversion of waste from our landfills by practicing the six R’s: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Regenerate and Recycle thereby enabling us to work towards creating a sustainable model for our future. Our goal is to build partnerships with government and other stakeholders across the island and position Barbados as the leader in alternatives to petro-based single-use plastics enterprises as we tackle this global dilemma, locally.
In May 2018, Connie was accredited as the Honorary Consul of Spain in Barbados. In January 2020, Connie was appointed as Secretary to the Consular Corps of Barbados.
Connie is from Barbados where she currently lives with her husband, Mark Young and their two young daughters.
Contacts
Maria Brookes
Media Relations Manager
mbrookes@icsa.org.ukPhone: +44 (0)20 7612 7072 Mobile: +44 (0)7890 649 143