A non-profit organisation formed by women to help young women gain the confidence to speak in public settings has appointed a new chairwomen and two new board members.

WeSpeak Bermuda will be chaired by EY senior executive Carolyn Myers while Tracey Berkeley, the interim CEO of the Bermuda Tourism Authority and Puisne Judge Shade Subair Williams join the board. Kathleen Faries, co-founder and outgoing chair of WeSpeak, remains on the board.

WeSpeak is dedicated to helping women project their voices by inspiring women and girls to step up, stand up and speak up in any room, whether it be in boardrooms, meeting rooms, conference rooms or classrooms.

It does this by hosting a range of formal training via boot camps and events, offering one-on-one public speaking coaching and providing direct access to a community of talented peers or mentors.

Ms Myers is the global client relationship leader for EY and has more than 30 years of business experience and significant non-for-profit expertise having served on several non-for-profit boards. Ms Myers has been a WeSpeak volunteer since its inception in 2019 and joined the board shortly after.

“It is a great honour to take on this new role. I certainly have big shoes to fill and want to commend and thank Kathleen Faries for her vision, tireless energy and leadership, not only for co-founding WeSpeak but steering us to success. I am extremely proud of what we have been able to accomplish so far.

“More and more women realise that public speaking is a critical part of their career success, yet an overwhelming majority are not confident enough to speak up. This means that every day, women and girls remain in silence or are often not heard. We are on a mission to change that.”

Ms Berkeley is the first ever female leader of the BTA and has been a member of several public and private Boards, professional associations and is a 2024 CDME candidate. Prior to taking on her recent role at the BTA, Ms Berkeley was head of Talent & Culture at Rosewood Bermuda, led the Bermuda HR division at Aspen Re and headed the Bermuda Hospitals Board’s Human Resources and Operations team.

Mrs Subair Williams is the first female judge to have been appointed to the Commercial Division of the Court. She is also the Supervising Judge of the Criminal Division and has had previous appointments as a Justice of Appeal in the Court of Appeal. She was previously Registrar of the Supreme Court.

Ms Faries said: “It has been an incredible experience to work so closely with such a distinguished group of women and fellow board members, to not only increase the number of confident presenters and speakers across all industries and sectors in Bermuda, but to have enabled an important network of women encouraging and pushing one another to step out of their comfort zones.

“I would like to thank all my fellow board members for the continued commitment to this important work and I look forward to supporting Carolyn in taking the organisation forward. We are excited about the future and expanding our reach in the coming years.”

WeSpeak has recruited and trained 120 WeSpeak Coaches and hosted over 20 training events, inspiring more than 1,000 women of various ages and backgrounds, representing all cross-sectors of the community. In 2020, WeSpeak Teen was launched and since has trained 200 teenage girls.

WeSpeak’s other Board members are: Kirsten Beasley, head of Bermuda office, Willis Towers Watson (WeSpeak vice chair); Tammy Richardson, partner corporate, Appleby Bermuda Ltd; Kendaree Burgess, chief operating officer, Bermuda Business Development Agency; Fiona Luck, non-executive director, Lloyd’s of London Franchise Board; Grainne Richmond, executive vice president, head of captives, Aon; Suzanne Williams-Charles, director of policy & regulation, Association of Bermuda Insurers & Reinsurers (ABIR); Laura Taylor, president, Nephila Holdings Ltd; Malika Taylor, managing director, Expertise Group; Jo Stanton, head of finance, Tangency Capital; Gemma Godfrey, chief operating officer, The Whitfield Group; and Sarah Demerling, partner, corporate finances and funds group, Walkers Global.