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Women of Distinction

Jacqueline Sharp, a lifetime of understanding change

Published:Sunday | April 4, 2021 | 8:32 PMLennox Aldred/Gleaner Writer
Jacqueline Sharp

Jacqueline Sharp has held every post at Scotiabank you can think of, including CEO of the Scotiabank Group, a position she held between 2013 and 2017.

Her journey in the banking sector, and the number of changes to perspective she had to make in order to fulfil all the roles she has, set her up to be successful for the next phase of her life – taking on farming.

Sharp’s beginnings as a management trainee at Scotiabank in 1997 was just the first step she would take in a long career featuring a minefield of different roles she could have stumbled to play at any point. She never did.

Sharp went from learning branch operations to leadership roles in Treasury, Finance, Private Banking, to enterprise-wide oversight and board appointments. It might be easier to list what she hasn’t done at Scotiabank.

She steadily grew at the bank, taking over as country head in September 2013.

She was not the first woman appointed to head a country operation in Scotiabank's regional ecosystem, as she came behind appointees like Minna Israel, who once headed up the Bahamas operations, and Anya Schnoor, who currently manages Trinidad, both of whom are Jamaicans.

The Campion College and University of the West Indies (Mona) Alum would, however, become the first female to head the region for the 128-year-old banking group, with her significant contributions to the sector along the way, earning her the respect of her colleagues regionally.

In addition to her seat on the various Scotia Group Subsidiary Boards, Sharp served as a member of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC), which was instrumental in monitoring Jamaica's economic performance under the IMF regime.

She also served on the Jamaica Banker’s Association and was President of The University of the West Indies Alumni Association.

Sharp’s family had always been big players in the coffee industry and this is where the next steps on her journey would take her.

Sharp believes that with her years of experience in the financial sector, spanning finance, administration, banking, and insurance, she is well placed to add value and support to the growth of coffee.

"Richard started growing coffee on the family farm in the Blue Mountains in 1985. This is when the coffee journey started. The business has grown over the years into what is now, a fully integrated coffee business, which is currently run by Richard and Jason [husband]. They have driven the growth in the business, and Coffee Traders Limited is now the largest exporter of Blue Mountain coffee in Jamaica," Sharp told The Gleaner back in 2017.

"With 40 per cent market share and growing, we are also the largest coffee roasters in the English-speaking Caribbean. The company now has aggressive expansion plans in all areas of the business, including farming, processing, roasting, and wholesale and retail sales, and the Café Blue coffee shop chain, as well as expansion into other areas of speciality foods," she added.

Sharp has maintained that with age and energy on her side, she will continue to do her best, as she looks to chart the way forward with strategic directions for the company, with the added benefits of spending more time with her family.

Perhaps Sharp is not quite done with the corporate world entirely, as she has indicated her willingness to play a role in various associations in the private sector to contribute to Jamaica's growth agenda.