The First

Brehanna

01 Feb: Guyanese, Brehanna Daniels, Made History As The First Female African-American NASCAR Pit Crew Member

Brehanna Michelle Daniels made national headlines in 2017 when she made history as the first African-American female to go over the wall in a national racing series, as the rear tire changer. In 2018 she became the first African-American female to work for a pit crew in NASCAR’s prestigious Cup series. Brehanna was born in the US on Jan. 26, 1994 with her twin brother to Kimberly and Luxley Daniels.  She is very proud of her…

First Ladies of Guyana

09 Mar: WOMEN IN HISTORY: FIRST LADIES OF GUYANA

SANDRA GRANGER (current First Lady of Guyana) Sandra Granger is the wife of Guyana’s current President, HE David Granger.  Prior to becoming first lady, she served for 18 years as senior programme manager at the Caricom Secretariat.  She was also a  lecturer at the University of Guyana. She studied English Literature and Portuguese at the University of Guyana and Brazilian Literature at the University of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.  First Lady Sandra Granger is an advocate for women’s and children’s rights in Guyana. DEOLATCHMEE RAMOTAR: (2011-2015) Deolatchmee Ramotar…

veteran-pilot-female-800x537

08 Dec: She Rocks! Guyana’s First Female Pilot, Lucille Dawsey, honoured by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA)

Guyana’s first female pilot, 72-year-old Lucille Dawsey was honored by the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on Thursday, November 13, 2014, at the Silhoutte Restaurant in Georgetown. Ms. Dawsey was recognized for the major contributions she made in the aviation arena, and for the many examples, she set for the other female plying the trade. The Guyanese-born retiree received her pilot’s license in 1961 and was attached to TransGuyana Airways Limited at the now Ogle…

Yvonne Thompson

08 Mar: Meet Dr. Yvonne Thompson: Founder of ASAP Communications & Britain’s First Black Female Self-Made Millionaire

Since starting her own PR company over 27 years ago,  Dr. Yvonne Thompson has acquired and exceptional range of transferable skills that can complement high performing companies and organizations. Born in 1955 in Guyana, Dr. Thompson migrated to the UK in 1961. A dynamic, entrepreneurial business leader with a proven record for building high performing teams, Dr. Thompson has always shown an entrepreneurial flair.  Not taking the usual channel to the small business arena, she evolved…

07 Feb: Women in History: Guyana’s First Female Army Officers

Below, the first female army officers, from left, Brenda Aaron, Clarissa Hukumchand, Hyacinth King and Captain Joan Granger, in their uniforms of green khaki shirts and blouse, green berets, shiny black shoes and shoulder bags at Camp Ayanganna. Reprinted from Guyana Graphic, Tuesday, January 31, 1967 (Winston Oudkerk photo) The four young women are donned military uniforms of green khaki on January 30, 1967 and marched smartly off to begin a course of training as…

12 Dec: She Rocks! Meet Hon. Madam Justice Minnet Hafiz-Bertram – First Female Justice of the Belize Court of Appeal

Hon. Madam Justice Minnet Hafiz-Bertram is a Guyana-born Justice of Appeal, and is the first female judge to be elevated to the Belize High Court of Appeals. Before her appointment, Justice Hafiz-Bertram served as a Supreme Court Judge, Register General, Registrar of the Supreme Court and Crown Counsel in the Attorney General’s Ministry.  She studied law in Guyana and at the Hugh Wooding Law School, Trinidad and Tobago, where she received her legal education certificate…

09 Dec: She Rocks! Guyana’s First Female Foreign Affairs Minister Awarded Argentina’s High Distinction

Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett was born in the Amerindian Village of Santa Rosa, Guyana. She received her early education in Santa Rosa and then move to the capital Georgetown to attend a private school.  Minister Rodrigues-Birkett then left Guyana for Saskatchewan, Canada, on scholarship, to pursue studies in Business Administration and Indian Studies. Following her return to Guyana in 1993, she read successfully for a degree in Social Work at the University of Guyana, while simultaneously managing…

11 Nov: Pauline Melville: First Guyanese to win the Commonwealth Writers’ (Best Overall) Prize

Pauline Melville was born in Guyana in 1948 and has emerged as one of the most accomplished talents on the modern literary scene. Her pre-school years were spent in the then British Guiana. Her father was “mixed-race Guyanese, part South American Indian, African and Scottish”, and her mother came from a “big working-class family” in south London. The family moved to south London in the early 1950s, when she was “five or six”. A professional…

22 Jul: She Rocks! Meet Nan Mattai – Aerospace Engineer, Avionic Magazine First-Ever Woman of the Year

Among the senior vice presidents at Rockwell Collins; the Iowa-based provider of avionics and information technology systems and services, Nan Mattai is the only woman. “Just the thought that something I say or do may change a life inspires me to be the best I can be,” Ms. Mattai, the Senior Vice President for Engineering and Technology, wrote in an email interview. “So, as a successful woman in a traditionally male-dominated field, I will try…

Denise Grant

10 Jun: She Rocks! Meet Denise M. Grant, Esq., International Corporate Litigator

New York-based lawyer Denise M. Grant was born in Guyana and is a Partner in the  Project Development & Finance Group, Shearman & Sterling,LLP. She is the daughter of Guyana’s former ambassador to the United States, the late Hon. Cedric Grant and the second oldest of four girls (three of whom are lawyers). Denise was raised in England before migrating to the United States in 1982 where she graduated with an International Relations degree from…