GEISHA KOWLESSAR-ALONZO
Senior Reporter
geisha.kowlessar@guardian.co.tt
In a call to dismantle the archaic architectures of corporate power, Jason Cummings, vice-president financing/head of Caribbean financial advisory services and managing director at RBC Merchant Bank (Caribbean) Ltd, opened a dialogue on the future of leadership during an International Women’s Day 2026 forum at the Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business on Friday.
The event’s theme was “Collaboration Over Competition: The Behavioural Playbook, Leadership Reciprocity and Allyship Over Competition.”
Speaking alongside Cavelle Joseph-St Omer, president of the Arthur Lok Jack Alumni Association, Cummings moved beyond the standard rhetoric of corporate social responsibility to present a data-driven indictment of the status quo.
His message was clear: the current trajectory of gender equity is not just slow; it is mathematically failing the next generation.
Drawing heavily from the 2024 McKinsey and LeanIn.Org study, Cummings said a longitudinal look at the corporate pipeline that reveals a sobering reality. Despite a decade of diversity initiatives, women still occupy only 29 per cent of C-suite roles globally.
More alarming to Cummings was the “broken rung”—the systemic failure at the very first step of the management ladder.
For every 100 men promoted to their first management role, only 81 women make that same leap.
This initial gap creates a compounding deficit that becomes insurmountable by the time talent reaches the executive level.
As a banker, Cummings framed this disparity through the lens of long-term investment and loss.
“At the current rate of change, gender parity in senior leadership is 48 years away. My daughter will be turning 60. Now, I’ve been in financial services for a long time. I understand what 48 years means. It means this is not on track to resolve itself.
“Now here is the part that doesn’t make the headlines: this is not because women are less qualified, less ambitious or less capable. The data is unambiguous on that. The barrier is not at the top. It’s at the first step up,” he said.
Cummings urged male leaders to transition from the passive role of mentorship to the active, high-stakes role of sponsorship.
While a mentor provides advice behind closed doors, a sponsor puts their own social capital on the line to advocate for someone when they are not in the room.
This, he argued, is where the real work of allyship happens—in the private spaces of influence where careers are truly forged.
Expanding on this “Behavioral Playbook,” Cavelle Joseph-St Omer delivered a stirring keynote that reframed gender equity as a core leadership priority necessitated by a world in flux.
Under the global theme “Give to Gain,” Joseph-St Omer argued that the modern landscape—defined by rapid digital transformation and the existential threat of climate change—no longer supports the “winner-takes-all” mentality of the past.
Historical systems often pitted individuals against one another in a zero-sum game of knowledge hoarding and guarded opportunities.
However, the complexity of 2026 demands a cross-functional approach where shared goals and transparent communication take precedence over individual ego.
Joseph-St Omer defined this new era of collaborative leadership as one built on mutual accountability and the firm belief that organisations go faster and further when they move together.
She challenged the audience to view allyship not as a static slogan or a badge of virtue, but as a continuous verb.
“Allyship is not a slogan. It is action. It is:
• Calling out bias when it’s convenient and when it’s uncomfortable;
• Amplifying the voices that are often dismissed or interrupted;
• Advocating for equal pay, equal access, and equal protection; and
• Sponsoring women into rooms they deserve to be in.
And yes—allyship often requires those with privilege, influence, or authority to intentionally use it on behalf of someone else.
Allyship is the bridge between awareness and change,” she explained.
Joseph-St Omer further noted that the world is in a moment where the global gender gap, at current rates, could take more than 200 years to close.
That is not just unacceptable—it is wasteful, she added.
