In the fifth and final part profiling Bermuda's top women in business, business reporter Alex Wright talks to Pamela Ferreira, owner of The MarketPlace and Senior Alderman of the Corporation of Hamilton, about next week's Women's Bermuda Athena International Leadership Awards & Business Summit, her remarkable life and career journey and helping to promote women's empowerment and leadership.

From running one of the biggest businesses in Bermuda to raising a family single-handedly, Pamela Ferreira has been there and seen it all.

Ms Ferreira, who will be speaking on a panel about women at the helm of commerce and public agenda, alongside Culture Minister Neletha Butterfield, at the Women's Bermuda Athena International Leadership Awards & Business Summit (entitled 'Navigating Success: Keep Rising') next week fulfils a range of responsibilities, including corporate attorney and an Alderman of the Corporation of Hamilton.

She is also one of the largest employers of women on the Island and was nominated and honoured as one of the leading women entrepreneurs of the world at the Leading Women's International conference in Australia in 2004.

Her past duties have spanned from being one of the original members and past president of the International Women's Club of Bermuda and sitting on the Harvard University JFK School of Government Women's Leadership Board.

And she attributes her success to being a well-rounded individual - from being an employer looking after her staff's welfare to representing the interests of the electorate as a public figure and a mother caring for her children – enabling her to help others to reach their personal and professional goals.

"Success doesn't come to you – you have to go to it," she said.

"Both Neletha and I will be trying to convey the message that you should strive to be a woman of value rather than a woman of success.

"We will be looking at ambition and what drives it, and we want to try to talk to the women about instilling confidence in their own ability and following through with it.

"Another aspect will be being able to take risks and not be afraid to fail, because only those who dare to fail greatly can also achieve greatly."

Ms Ferreira plans to draw from personal experience, highlighting the fact that crisis reveals a person's character rather than develops it and how facing life issues and challenges head on can make you into a better businesswoman.

She will also be stressing the importance of making the right choices, getting the right education and how to plan and put it into action to meet your targets, allied to having a good sense of humour and integrity in everything you do, as well as making the most of opportunities that come your way.

Ms Ferreira will be looking forward to watching Bermuda's Emerging Professionals in action and believes attendees will have access to the legal and financial tools to help improve the conditions and aspirations of their families, communities and country.

"Truly, I feel privileged to speak with such an extraordinary group of women – many of whom I know as colleagues, and many more of whom I know as friends," she said.

"You don't just talk about Navigating Success when you are surrounded by women leaders in our community who work tirelessly to realise it.

"Keetha Lowe has organised a group of women who show concern for those who will come after us and act as both an inspiration and a model of mentorship.

"In my generation, many of the women who made their way to the top pulled up the ladder after them. I am thrilled and proud that the women involved in this summit take their responsibility to the next generation so seriously.

"It is going to be exciting to listen and share ideas about how we as Bermudian women can discover our own power and help unleash our potential. The challenges are tremendous, but so are the opportunities: opportunities to tackle the disadvantages women face, from low incomes to violence, from ill-health to illiteracy; opportunities to equip women with new tools to build better lives for themselves and their families; opportunities to empower more people with a stronger sense of connection an obligation to one another and our shared future on this Island.

"Women are gaining equal justice, equality in the schoolhouse, in the marketplace, and under the law. And, in many places, women are breaking through traditional barriers, earning election as leaders. I am honoured to be part of this conference whose aim is to be a resource of support by investing in the potential of women, and I look forward to sharing my own life experiences and I'm grateful for the opportunity."

Ms Ferreira studied political science at university before going on to read law at the University of Bristol, prior to attaining her Masters degree and practising in the UK for about 11 years and Bermuda for five to six years, now working as a consultant to a firm in the UK.

However, while at university, her husband died at the age of 46 and as a young mother at the time she was left to pick up the pieces and move on with her life, looking after her children on her own and making the decision to return to Bermuda and take over the running of The MarketPlace, with strong support and good people around her.

On completion of her law degree in the UK, Ms Ferreira's daughter Kristen followed in her mother's footsteps, with the pair in 2000 becoming the first mother and daughter to be called to the bar in Bermuda, before becoming a securities and exchange lawyer at XL for eight years and then joined The MarketPlace.

Meanwhile, her son David won the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to study law at the University of Oxford and now works for a top law firm in the UK and is also set to come back to be called to the bar in Bermuda in October.

Ms Ferreira was elected as a Common Councillor of the Corporation of Hamilton in 2007, prior to being voted in as an Alderman a year later and then retaining her post again at last month's Corporation of Hamilton elections.

Outside of her working life, she has co-authored a Bermuda cook book and raised millions of dollars for local charities, as well as listing past chairman of the board of the Masterworks Foundation among some of her most significant callings.

Ms Ferreira is currently a member of several school boards in Bermuda, the UK and France and serves on the Paget Parish Council, in addition to giving her time to The Family Centre.

For more information about the conference, call 292-2663, e-mail info@navigatingsuccess.bm, or visit the website at www.navigatingsuccess.com